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 think about it differently. I always wanted to be a lollipop man as they don't start work until they're 60.

I retired at 49 and was apprehensive at first but so glad I did!

I’m 55 and not retired. Had my kids late so still could be 8 years till the youngest finishes university - and even if I could afford to a wouldn’t see the point in being retired now.

Am hoping instead to push on to mid-60s and be better off in retirement. My parents/stepparents retired in their 50s and, honestly, it looked a bit boring. A few holidays but mainly just doing things like volunteering/U3A to get out of the house.

I'd 100% retire tomorrow if money was no object - I've got enough things to do around the house, books to read, etc that I would be busy from dawn till dusk and definitely wouldn't be bored!

Yabu OP.

We need workers and taxpayers not 50 year olds playing golf all week or doing macrame!

I'm 62 and that feels too young to retire.

@Monster6

There are many other places and ways to engage in lifelong learning other than the workplace.
@Itseatingmeup I really don't understand this argument that retirement means you lose cognitive ability.
What people chose to do with retirement is their choice. If they choose to vegetate and not engage with politics and the world around them, that's up to them.
I'm 60 next month, I left the civil service 2 years ago. I was treading water, not interested in anything it had to offer. I'm not retired as such, can't afford that. I'm now a full time foster carer.
I still watch the news, read books and newspapers. In the next couple of weeks I'm going to 2 book tours, I've got workshops on ASD and ADHD coming up and later in the summer things on intergenerational trauma. I look out for exhibitions and events. I learn every day.
I won't be traipsing around Europe or going on cruises because I can't afford those things.
Of course having some income level helps but I don't think you need to be wealthy to enjoy a happy retirement.

I am 41 and don't feel as if I'd like to retire at 50 tbh. I'd get bored and a bit lonely I think.

Dh hates his job though and I think he'd like to retire ASAP (we are early 40s)

@Ted27 I agree but you need to have an imagination and ideally live somewhere where stuff ( cheap or free) goes on - I intend to join university of the 3rd age.

I would have happily never worked a day in my life, there are too many things to do and places to explore, so of course YANBU!

But I think you have to extremely strict on not pottering around all day. COVID proved it, if it was necessary. Aging people who don't stay very active become old and struggle long before they should.

I’m a pensions adviser, but I don’t want to retire. Plan to work until at least 70

There's a hell of a lot more to do than golf and macrame, thank god.

That said, I am always astonished by the number of people who go from work straight to the sofa to watch tv because they are so "tired" (people like office workers, not anyone with physically demanding roles) and spend their weekend doing chores, have pj days and watching tv.

I am guessing when 30 or 40 years old don't have more energy or drive than this, retirement is not going to be a healthy affair.

I think anyone considering retirement before 60 needs to make sure they keep their brain and body active
I feel otherwise you are on a road to dementia which my poor mum had for 2 years until she passed away its truly awful

I'm fortunate that I was able to retire at 49. I received a sizeable redundancy payment which has funded me for the past 5 years. I will start to take some DC pensions next year.

I do a few jobs such as football stewarding, product testing and exam invigilating. I have learnt a new language which I am fairly fluent in. I failed miserably at school and left with no qualifications so I am sitting my GCSE in English and Maths in a few weeks.

Surely if you have a few jobs, you’re not ‘retired’, you’re just working differently.

YANBU

I’m 46 and have been off for 6 weeks, having been let go. If I didn’t need the money I’d never go back, my health is better, my garden looks great, I’ve been able to spend more time with family and friends. I hope to retire by 60 (some hope!) but if I had health concerns I’d be doing what I could do expedite that.

For those saying they are making additional pension payments so they can retire at 50, don't forget that you cannot access pensions until 55 and this is soon to rise to 57.
You can stop work and live off savings / investments etc but you won't be able to access your pensions straight away.

Retired at 57, best thing I ever did.🙂

Correct me if I’m wrong but these sound like occasional rather than regular jobs. Retired tends to mean from regular full time work. Maybe just my perception.

I'd have retired at 50 at the drop of a hat, if I could have afforded to. As it is, I'm 57 and hope not to have to work too long past 60, certainly not all the way to 67. A long retirement is not a given, for any of us.

I hear you OP… I’m 40 and would happily retire tomorrow if I could afford it.

I think by the time we reach our 40’s/50’s we’ve been working long enough to have been on the corporate bullshit merry go round a few times, and are disillusioned with it. Maybe we’ve dealt with batshit work colleagues or managers, pointless meetings, or petty nonsense and are tired of having to pretend to give a shit.

I’m far enough into my working life that it’s not new or interesting anymore, and I don’t have the enthusiasm I once had - but still too far away from retirement that it’s just a pipe dream.

I’m not sure retired as such has a formal definition, but usually means not working. I’d suggest this is more akin to plural working, or portfolio

I might retire at 42 as im bored off my tits with office life.

I think this sounds quite sad. I’m mid 40’s and no way ready to retire in 5 years. I still consider myself quite young!

But I really enjoy my career, have a great work/life balance, earn a lot but also spend a lot socialising, holidaying, clothes shopping. There’s no way I’d want to be living off a pension, all the fun things I love to do are so expensive.

OP, if you have no possible option to retire before state retirement age of 67, then do you really want to spend the next 17 years wishing your life away? Why not try to make some changes to your working life? Try something different? So you actually enjoy the next 17 years?

@AnnieKenneyfanclub I posted about FIRE on another thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5329524-financial-advice-to-your-younger-self?reply=144097158&utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Maybe I read it wrong but it seemed to me more like a desire to do things OP enjoyed more than work, rather than sad and giving up.

Albeit medically, I did at 46. I spend my time pottering in my enormous garden with the dogs, and seeing friends and family. I can only do a little and would happily return to work in exchange for my health.

I think I'm fortunate financially and to have a supportive DH of over thirty years. It would be a very different story if I struggled alone.

I am currently enjoying having an afternoon every week with DIL while she's on maternity leave with my first GC (I'm now 54), a child I never dreamed I'd live long enough to see and appreciate every moment I have with them and the rest of my family.