Not too early for retirement or aibu?

[Orangeriessmellparadise]

Anyone has retired at age 48?
Frugal lifestyle and financially OK. Deciding to retire this year and hope with no regrets, actually cant wait! but friends think I'm too young for this even if I'm able to do it.

What do you do if you are in a similar position? How do you spend your days?
How do you come across people that see you as too young for not being in the workforce? Also health is not the best at the moment and my child is already a young adult so less and less responsibilities in general.
Is it too early or shall I go for it?

Sorry if it sounds like a bit silly question but is a genuine curiosity for your opinions. Thanks!

'You never know what can happen in life'

That's exactly why we retired early. My two closest friends died in theirs 30/50s, my DF died in his 50s and DH's sister died in her 40s.

We retired early because life isn't all about work. Owning your own time feels such a privilege. Every day.

I would say though OP, having structure to your days is important, and you'll spend more than you think.

That's exactly what I think.

Time is so very precious and when you realise how quickly its running out then its often too late.

Friend of mine had this mindset, keep working, keep your head down, you never know what might happen. He dreamt of retirement and often talked about what he would do. Sadly, he did eventually decide to retire and died within 3 months of prostate cancer. Never got to enjoy it.

Another friend retired when she turned 50 and is having a ball! she says her favourite day is now Monday when she lies in bed with tea and toast, reading a book.

Personally, I have kids so structure is not something I can actually get away from 😂

Our friend is 56, retired at 50. He has a lovely life.
He did end up going back to work 2 days a week as he was a bit bored but he (and his wife) have lots of lovely time together.
We are 50 and plan to retire at 55, dh has a very physical job and doesn’t want to be doing that into his 60’s.
If you can afford to retire, absolutely go for it op.

Another friend retired when she turned 50 and is having a ball! she says her favourite day is now Monday when she lies in bed with tea and toast, reading a book

This sounds like bliss. I absolutely despise the early mornings and the rush.

My mum retired due to ill health at the same age. She found that she spent a long time with much older friends before her contemporaries retired a long time later. Her retirement has been badly affected by ill health so not the same as for someone who is healthy. I am older than you but couldn't afford it until later. I absolutely would retire earlier if I could fund it, but I would work for a few more years to make it comfortable rather than really frugal.

I retired at 50, for the first 6 months I enjoyed it, then became very bored and the majority of my friends were working. I found a part time job, problem solved.

I retired properly this year at 66, I'm loving it now.

The full state pension is over £10k. Even if you have to pay voluntary NI to top up your contributions you are in profit after 3.5 years. It’s a good deal.

Precisely why we retired early. So many friends who planned all sorts of things when they retired, did not reach retirement age.

Go for it

I was going to say to op how ridiculous to retire so young but going by this post it sounds amazing. Am well jel!!!

If you have to live frugally, you cannot afford to retire. This might not be sustainable with inflation. You need a lot of money to retire this early. If you live frugally, it’s doubtful you really know how to enjoy yourself anyway so could be bored.

I didn’t go back to work after 40. However dh earned a lot and we’ve done a hell of a lot with our lives and also substantial investments. We’ve given substantial amounts to our DDs. Therefore I’d think about my Dc and what help they might need and decide if a frugal retirement is a great way to live. If you get grandchildren, could you ever help them? If Dh hadn’t earned a lot, I would have worked for much longer. However we maintain a great life and don’t have a frugal bone in my body. Most people I know who are retired and frugal lean on others. They want lifts, don’t join in with meals out etc, and don’t pay their way. It’s definitely lonely as it separates you out.

Retirement is great if you have millions £ at your disposal. If you have £250k, it’s not enough.

If you want to and are financially able to them do it.

Id personally get bored. I’ve always said I’ll start my retirement by going part time and getting an easy low stress job for a bit. Are you part time already? Just it’ll probably be less of a shock than if you went full time to nothing…

As others have said you can always rejoin the workforce if you find it boring.

I retired at 50, now 61. DH made redundant during covid.
we love doing whatever we like . Creatures of Habit. A few jobs around the house a walk in the country park. Home for lunch. Hobbies in the afternoon. He cooks lunch I cook dinner. Spend about 25k each year, no mortgage or debts.

I’ve just retired (not as young as you though). Before that I worked part time; I still have some paying odd jobs.

I worried for about 2 weeks about what I would do with myself but since retiring I have had not one single regret at all and have been so busy I’ve had to give a couple of early commitments up. I’d say go for it and enjoy yourself.

I would echo the value of fully paid up NI contributions - the state pension is definitely worth having when the time comes.

What is classed as enough ?
we are in our late 40s, I gave up work because of our children who are now mid-late teens but also to give my dp the freedom to work hard and all hours.

My dp will be 50 shortly and is hating work
now so looking to go PT or retire. We have 2 properties, one mortgage free one with a mortgage but healthy amount in equity (we just made good decisions at the right time) . Plus we have investments that we can draw on and pensions from 60. I am still scared.

I'm part time by choice and I never run out of things to do! Maybe consider yourself as taking a break from work or get an easy part time job to transition yourself out of work.

My only word of caution is that you are in your peak earning window so a few more years, even part time, could make the difference between frugal and comfortable and your preference might change.

Are you being swayed by an older husband or wife who is considering ir recently retired?

All I'm saying is that you might be able to afford not to work now, but dont rule it out in the future. What does 65 y/o you want? Can you help hour adult child the way you want to? Afford private healthcare for a broken hip?

What does retired you look like in 5/10/15+ years? I want to be available 24/7 for my grandkids and to be able to give my children house deposits. What are your financial plans? Have you spoken with a financial advisor?

It's very easy to witter your time away on MN and other online things.
What will you do?
People travel, play sport, some crafts, do the garden. Bit of volunteering. Childmind sometimes. It's good but not hugely fulfilling imv.

This could also be an argument for retiring as early as you can - anything can happen.

I was forced to retire at 46 due to ill health. I don’t miss work though I’m doing some volunteering now which I enjoy.

What made it work was having several friends who worked part time or not at all, having a lot of interests and the funds to do them and a very supportive husband.

Scrimping and being lonely would have been torture for me.

I'm the same age and wouldn't dream of retiring, but I love my work and would do it till I dropped. I get that's not the case for everyone, but what I don't get is - why you'd not just change your job/career/lifestyle at this stage rather than retire. The fact that you're asking how people fill their days when retired strongly suggests that it's not like you've got some burning urge to do something (or indeed to do nothing) with your time, so why would you retire? At the very least you need some plan or you're looking at maybe 40 years of... what? Very different if you have plans for volunteering or study or past-times or something purposeful, or if you're so ill you really have to do the minimum, but to just stop. The very thought of it makes me feel quite depressed.

I am also worried by the living frugally aspect, as if you’re already living frugally could you afford a rise in inflation or sudden unexpected expense. I think as well as a decent income I would want a good chunk of savings behind me before I retired- in case I needed a new car, private healthcare for a non essential operation, work on the house (like if there’s a flood or boiler gives up). We’re also going through some major changes in the UK, so could you afford to replace your heating system or car (to ground/ air source, and/ or electric over the next 10 years? I know you say financially you’re ok but if retire now, with average life expectancy at about 75ish are you confident that your existing income and savings will be adequate?

Go for it, if you don’t enjoy it you can always go back working again

I think the key is to decide what you want your life to look like. How do you want to fill the days and weeks. Do you have enough money to enjoy life or will it be a very frugal and limited existence?

I am hoping to retire by mid 50s, but want to make sure I have enough money to live a good life when I do. And i',d want to have some plans in place for at least some of my time.

We retired at 46, paid off the mortgage and went to live in the European sunshine for a decade. Back now for various reasons but still travel quite a lot. Made sure we paid our remaining NI contributions to qualify for the state pension and drew our private, albeit reduced, pensions at 60. Never bored.
Fortunately we are both in good health, touch wood, but I did have a couple of health scares this year which made me even more sure it was the right thing to do.