To wish I could retire at 50?

[AnnieKenneyfanclub]

Im bored of working and I think could easily fill my days with voluntary work and pottering about.

There are lots of hobbies I’d like to devote more time to. The garden could look great and I could exercise more. I could write a novel and be more present for my kids.

I don’t have the best of health and don’t expect to be fit and able by the time I’m 67… AIBU to think that retirement will be wasted on me when I am old?

If only I had enough money WIBU to retire tomorrow? Clearly this is all hypothetical and I shall carry on working to pay the bills - whoopee!

I'm 50 and would love to retire! I have so many hobbies and interests that I could easily fill my time.

If only I'm 44 so 6 years but retirement seems so far off (in a magic 50 world)

Though my ex has effectively retired and left me with the kids 7 days a week

So it is doable 👀 if you get my drift 😜

Yes, I m hoping to retire at 50, just another 4 years, fingers crossed I can manage it.

I thought like you that my retirement (at 55) would be filled with lots of enriching activities. However my declining health and reducing mobility have seen an end to that and I am now virtually housebound. Be careful what you wish for

Yes but you’d have that if you were working. How would that be better.

I am 51 and tired of work. And I work an office job so not physically strenuous. Bored, but my job is mentally challenging. Just done and tired of idiocy in the workplace.

YANBU, if you had enough money. I'm semi retired at 50, definitely not feeling ready to completely retire yet though - financially, physically and mentally.

We were at a funeral today of a truly lovely family member who died recently at nearly 90. During the eulogy from his former employer, (he had a big job) while reading out his achievements he let slip he retired at 50! Nearly 40yrs being busily retired.
It was the talk of the wake of us still working age, green with jealousy the lot of us!😂

I’m 40 have been overpaying into my pension from 30 and will continue to do so In the hope to retire somewhere near 50 , can’t face another 27 years..

I'd love to retire now. I would love to do more voluntary work, have more time to write and read all those books I've been collecting over the years. I'd be very happy in my little introvert world.

I did retire at 50! (Quite a few years ago now, and it was allowed under Inland Revenue rules in force at that time. )
I accepted an offer of redundancy there was a general offer in my section of the company and was able to get an immediate occupational pension too under the terms of my employer's pension fund rules. A couple of years later the minimum age restriction was raised to 55.
I know I was lucky but OTOH I was burned out and needed to stop. A month or two later my old boss (who had taken redundancy too) rang me and offered me a job at a new venture he was setting up. I declined, I was enjoying retirement far too much.

I am 36 and wish I could retire at 36.

YANBU

I'm in my 30s and I'd retire now if I could. I have never understood people who say they don't want to retire because they like working. I can think of so many other things I'd rather be doing than working, even when I've had jobs I enjoy.

If I'm having a bad day at work I console myself by logging in to my pension forecast and daydreaming about the round the world cruise I'm going to take with my lump sum. Only 30-something years to go!

My mum retired at 54, and says it was a mistake…for her. She felt she had more to give, albeit in a consultant/self employed capacity. Recession put paid to that. Life long learning is actually what keeps your brain young and healthy op. Maybe you just need a change/pivot rather than a traditional retirement 😊

I retired at 53, DH partially subbed stuff till I could draw my pension at 55 and has now unexpectedly joined me earlier as he applied and got severance last year. He is still doing a little paid work for 2 Universities and runs a European research committee for free but gets expenses. I planned my retirement from age 21. I did enjoy most of my working life it wasn’t about hating work ever it was about doing voluntary work that was never going to pay me enough as a career and just loving free time to do as I please. I had 2 distinct careers as retrained in my late twenties.

I have done quite a bit of voluntary work and belong to various walking groups. We have just bought a Motorhome and have had 2 trips, have big plans but poor MIL has just been diagnosed with cancer. So sort of on hold currently.

I so feel the same and wish I’d been more financially astute in my 20s and 30s. We are both planning to go at 60 and putting more away for it now, but the next 11 years feel like an uphill slog.

I do see the sense in this but I’m committed to staying at my current level of seniority in the same organisation to be able to retire at 60. I know early retirement can statistically lead to earlier decline but I’d be willing to risk it 😁.

I’m 52 and for the last year going to work has just become mind numbing, only half hour commute but the drudgery of the same old shit different day. I really like my job and don’t want to work elsewhere but gosh if I could retire tomorrow I would and I wouldn’t spend a second thinking about work

I am 50, can't believe so many people already retired at this age! I still have 3 children to support through universities. I don't think we can retire for another 10 years.

How much pension and saving do you have to retire at this age??

Glad to know I’m not alone in early 50s would dearly like to walk away from all the corporate bullsh.t but I had my children late so I’m stuck for a few more years gritting my teeth through the next “strategy re-launch”

Both my parents did, I'm 57 and still working 3 days a week. I won't be able to retire until pension age or I won't be able to pay my rent

I feel the same way. I am never bored and would easily fill my days. Work is stressful.
My mum died at 67 and no one in my family seems to live that long.

i put similar in my dad’s eulogy. He retired at 50 and had 25 years of travelling around the world doing amazing things. Then a quieter 7 years as he got “elderly”.

He lived fairly frugally- didn’t care about posh cars or houses. Just enjoyed himself.
Im still working in my mid 50s, but only two days a week and for myself. I call it a wind down job!

I'm 58. I have some friends and relatives who have retired. They stand out as they've losr cognitive ability. They aren't really up with politics or economics. After a while they seem to be wondering around, visiting European cities, alone after their dp has got bored. It's led me to believe it's not all it's cracked up to be.

I think a lot of this depends on money and interests- not everyone has tons of hobbies that keep them busy or plenty of cash. to be honest if I was in the corporate world these days though I would probably feel the same what with non stop targets in many jobs and unrealistic people like something off the Apprentice, and somikar goes for many public service jobs too. luckily we work for ourselves and in an industry that in all honesty is my Hs passion - we get lots of freebies too , gigs, events, trips as part of it so happy to keep on as it stands - I’m 63 and H is 60

I've been paying into a pension since 21 and am now 47 - nowhere near being able to comfortably retire, I'm hoping to ramp up my pension for the next 10 years and go at 57!