at 35 I want to retire

[Oranges836]

Changed name for this post.

35 and sick of working dont want to do it for another nearly 40 years.
Changed job and hate working in any job
dont want to do any job im happy doing nothing

thats it thats the thread

I also thought of another thing to add to this discussion. Some people in life derive fulfillment and pleasure from being "maintainers," while others do so by being "creators." On the surface, this fact can be overlooked and one may not recognize the importance, but it is actually a big deal.

For someone that derives pleasure and a sense of purpose in "creating" something, a job in which you are maintaining someone else's creation can be very unfulfilling, boring, and seen as drudgery.

Likewise, for someone that feels undue pressure, or is easily stressed out when forced into a "creative" role, they will navigate to tasks that are maintenance.

There is not one that is inherently better than the other, even though sometimes the "creators" may get more accolades. Without people to fulfill both types of roles, we would not get far as a society.

And, it isn't entirely black and white. What you may find is that there are areas of your life that you are mostly a "creator," but in some other areas you derive pleasure out of maintenance. Edit: "And vice-versa."

How do you figure out what you lean toward? Analyze yourself and think of examples with work and home life that might give you a clue. Examples:

You might be a creator if . . .

1. You love creating a design plan for a garden, and installing it, but you would prefer that someone else do the trimming, mulching, etc.
2. You love painting a portrait . . . before you realize it you've spent most of a Saturday on it and forgotten to eat lunch, but when it comes to touching up the woodwork in your house, you avoid it at all costs.
3. You are given a task at work that requires you to do a lot of self-study to design a new report. You get engaged in the task and enjoy it, but six months later when you've done your 20th report, you find it boring.

You might be a maintainer if . . .

1. You love gardening. You just love being outside and trimming back hedges, applying fertilizer to your beds, but the thought of having to design a whole new mass planting area at the back of your garden stresses you out.
2. You love de-cluttering routinely, and don't mind that repetitive housework like laundry and dishes. Your mind wanders as you do it and you find it relaxing.
3. You enjoy a job with a very clear job description and set of routine tasks, and when you are not given enough guidance and expected to "figure things out" on your own and find creative solutions on your own, you find yourself frustrated easily.

Yes me too.
I'm bored and frustrated by my boring, frustrating job & would rather be out doing fun stuff with other 40-something retirees.

Unfortunately nobody else I know is retired at 40-something and if I give up work I won't have a house & my kid will have no savings.

So I knuckle down & bear the boredom.

What a sad day existence op to feel so miserable about work. I can’t imagine living like that.

surely there’s a job you can would like?

what would you do if you retired? Literally nothing?

I need money because I need travel and fun in my life - I have lots of hobbies that I peruse, concerts, music festivals, theatre, holidays. If I didn’t work I couldn’t pay for these

i plan to keep working for myself when im old/retired (accountant) so il
do a bit ok the side but be able to still do what i like in my own time. And have money still coming in. Otherwise what’s the bloody point of life - I can’t see the point in going on if I was broke and literally getting by when I’m retired - how shite

Over 50 after decades of a tough, useful job is a quite different matter to just dropping out because you CBA to work!

Find a job you love……..and you’ll never work a day in your life!
However, if you don’t work OP how will you manage to live?

I sympathise but unfortunately we all have to earn a crust unless we have a huge inheritance or similar.

Why don't you look around for something more interesting, perhaps retrain? It is possible and you are still young.

Good luck.

Sounds like someone with no hobbies.

I'm now in my 48th year of working, I've gradually cut down from full-time, I'm down to just 2 days a week now as I have had one private pension paying out since turning 60. I hope to stay fit enough to keep going another 2 years until my state pension starts paying out. The secret is to find work that brings in enough to live on but doesn't fill you with dread. Some people think its best to make as much money as you can early on then retire early, but do what? I prefer to make enough but stick with work I don't hate, the thought of one long never ending holiday doesn't really excite me.

Totally understand.

Haven’t read all the comments but predictably saw a couple blaming a lack of work ethic.

Someone will be along in a minute to tell you keep a gratitude journal, find work you love “because then it doesn’t feel like work. I retrained as a Horticulturist and it’s sooo rewarding”, go for walks/to the gym everyday and have you tried practicing mindfulness?

The people saying “oh just see it as a means of making money to do the things you love” are missing the point. Millions of people barely earn enough to put food on the table, let alone practice hobbies. Not to mention some jobs are so physically or mentally draining that there is zero energy left at the end of a working day to do anything. I’m actually a higher earner, have a flexible job that allows me to WFH and I still dream of retiring all the time. I’m mid 40s and have worked in one form or another since I was 17.

I’m done.

I think for most people this is not possible.

i have always worked in a good job, with excellent qualifications, but any spare money has always gone on housing, bills, etc. I have not had any “spare time” - it’s always been work or being a parent.

Lazy?? Who? You?

Only boring people get bored in my experience

This is brilliant and so useful, thank-you 😃
I have spent time thinking about these questions. I am stuck in office work which isn't boring as such but emotionally challenging due to the people I work with. I know exactly what I would love to do but can't afford to retrain and feel too old anyway. So I'm basically counting down the years to freedom to do the job I should have trained to do years ago but will do on a voluntary basis.

Oh me too. I'd love to retire. I'm just too poor. I personally believe there is no job I'd enjoy. Tolerable is the absolute best I could do. But I'm trying to find something in my personal that I enjoy, then start least work has a purpose of funding something I enjoy.

I haven't work for the last 8 years. My days are always full.

There’s more to work than money.

I always worry that if I stopped I’d get dementia, so even though I can afford to retire I choose to keep working. Maybe that’s why I still enjoy it though… I have a choice.

I work thank you its just a figure of speech.

I’ve had various periods where I’ve found myself thinking like this but in reality I think it is helpful to have work as a focus of my day to day stresses. I think if I didn’t work I would just find other things to fixate on being stressed about.

I reckon a three day week would be the sweet spot! I’m aiming to do that from when I’m 45-ish.

Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life

I'm a lot older than you, work 4 days per week and love what I do. I'm in no hurry to retire

A lot of us do. You stick it out as best you can. Is there ANYTHING you’d like to do for a living? If you can think of something, retrain.

Oh God I totally understand. The 9-5 corporate life is utterly soulless and depressing. I really resent having so much of my time taken up, and being at the mercy of managers I quite frankly don’t like or respect.

I’ve worked out that I need to a) be doing something meaningful and b) have full control and autonomy. I just can’t pin down what it is I want to do - it’s like I’m waiting for the day I finally realise my purpose in life. Either that or a lottery win!

I retired at 49 which was 5 years ago. I took voluntary redundancy during covid and cashed in shares to fund me until next year when I can start to take pensions. I had already paid off my mortgage. I don't miss work at all!

Why is it everyone else’s job to feed you when you are capable of doing it yourself?

Can you go selfemployed? DH and I did in our early 30s as he was fed up if corporate BS. Had 30 years doing something we both enjoyed, and gave us an OK standard of living. Reaping the benefits now we have retired, but never really thought about retiring early.

You need to marry rich like the old days.