Aibu Retiring at 55 - 30 years of idleness?

[Scotsknowbest]

So this is the thing: so many local friends have given up working in the last few years in their early to mid 50s, aibu to think what on earth are you going to do to stay interested and interesting?
I thought perhaps they would shut the house up and set off on a big trip but holidays have been more like 2 weeks in Greece instead of one.
I thought perhaps they would volunteer but that seems too restrictive for them.
I thought some might use their professional skills to join executive boards as NEDs or in advisory roles. But no.
Some have upped their golf or tennis, some are focusing on the garden (what, every day?) some walk the dog, read the paper.
I just think they will become so boring!
In contrast I caught up with 3 old school friends this evening who I see about once or twice a year. I asked them when they thought they would retire and each thought mid 60s.
Many of my friends have inherited recently and I think this has been the nudge. I have also inherited but I don't feel any different!
Just for context I am 57, work in 2 roles, one executive, board level, one professional but different area (social work) which takes me to about 4 days a week but I also run 4 properties as a landlord and have an aging dad who lives a mile away who I help with admin, appointments, organising stuff. I also have 2 grown kids the youngest at uni, 1st year. So, not as busy as when I worked and had little kids, but pretty busy in a good way. Personally I can't imagine stopping working so aibu, is 50to55 simply too young to be retiring even if the catalyst has been a windfall inheritance?

Yep, God anything my son inherits from us, I hope he uses very wisely to have the best life he can, by wise I mean cutting down on work stress, travel, experiences I hope he spends it making him happy in whatever way he wants.

I know you think your work activities are interesting, but other people might find you talking about them quite boring.

I retired at 60 with my husband. We have travelled extensively, both volunteer (yes, on boards), do sport, look after grandchildren, do academic courses, go the matinees at the theatre, have supported elderly parents - and also walk, coffee and garden. As do most of our friends.

The freedom from work means we can listen to Radio 4 and discuss the fascinating topics (the issues with white working class girls and education yesterday was so thought provoking) and read much more extensively. We have a rule that TV never goes on before 6pm.

You do you as the saying goes but my retirement has made enough a more engaged and engaging citizen and the freedom allows me to manage my own life rather than work controlling me. Like everything in life, retirement is what you make of it.

YANBU to work as long as you like but YABU to say retiring at 55 is generally a bad choice. I'm in my early 50s and I'd retire tomorrow if it was remotely an option for me. Finances unfortunately dictate that it is not, I need to try to keep working for at least another 8 years.

I have no desire to travel - either now or in retirement. I have hobbies - not exciting ones - that I don't have the time or energy for, working full time, that I would love to be able to devote myself to. I only go away on holiday once a year - I have no trouble enjoying myself at home for the rest of my annual leave.

I fantasise about being retired, being 'off work' without a clock constantly ticking in the background reminding me that it's only three days till I go back or whatever.

"Staying interesting" - I couldn't be any less interesting than I am as a working person.

There would be some things I'd miss about work - meeting new people, the satisfaction of being able to resolve problems and transform ideas into reality, wearing professional clothes in the office and I suppose the rhythm of week/weekend - appreciating time off.

But overall, the daily stress, the constant fear of restructures and redundancy - as has happened many times, my world being blown apart by forces beyond my control, how much can hinge on what kind of line manager you have; how some senior thickie with a daft idea can fuck up the entire organisation and there's nothing you can do about it - I would love to be free of all that.

You just described me (apart from the gym bit). Living my best life since retiring mid 50s.

How did they have enough money to retire that young?

And I think a lot of people are soft retiring in 50s these days - many can’t be dealing with the technological shifts in corporate jobs

Not everyone gets fulfilment from work/career and find a quiet, home-based life much more nourishing.
You seem a little unimaginative..

I am 33 and I would retire tomorrow if I could

Each to their own. My sister’s father in law retired at 58, he’d worked since he was 16 lived in a modest house he’d paid off. All set to enjoy his grandchildren and had a massive heart attack at 59. You don’t know what’s round the corner and if they get bored they can always do some part time work (like my dad did) or volunteer.

Something that has stuck with me from childhood…. At secondary school, my Head of Year retired when we got to the end of Y5 (Y11 now). He was 59, and told us that statistically, if he retired now, his life expectancy was something like 20 years, but if he took another year group through and retired in 5 years time, was something like 18 months. I forget the actual numbers, but in those ball parks. It was very stark. I appreciate that healthcare has improved in the last 40 years, but I’m not sure that people’s physical and mental fitness has.

DDad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 50; his health deteriorated very quickly and he died at 61 after many years of a very poor quality of life. My uncle died of cancer before he got to retire, and a very good friend died at 46.

Tomorrow is not a given.

I’m 55. My youngest child is 14. I plan the retire when she graduates. On the meantime, I plan to change role to one than does not require (occasional) 4.30 am starts!

You are assuming they will live for another 30 years, but you have no way of knowing that! It’s their life, not yours!

Its the loss of income getting in my way :-)

I was brought up with a father who told me only boring people get bored.
I'm retired at 55 - now 57. I'm having a ball. I volunteer 2 days, do lots of fitness and dance, see friends I didn't see before, have several hobbies and new friends.
I do have to "cut my cloth" but it's worth it.
Partner is older than me and works part-time - works for him. We've always had seperate finances (for 36 years) so no grief there.
I can't believe my identity was so wrapped up in my job previously.
My volunteering role involves regular ongoing training. I study for interest only, which is very refreshing.
We do have a 15yo, which I guess is unusual. I'm around more for him and have savings to support him in terms of education, setting up home etc. (As does DP but it pays to think independently ).
I feel so much better physically and mentally.
I have a pension which is keeping me ticking over.
I am never bored!

Who says you have 30 years left ? I hope you do but you could be gone tomorrow or become ill or disabled. I was retired mid 40s and a decade and a half later i am not bored. I had a huge health emergency a few years ago and was very close to dying. it came out of nowhere and with no warning signs.In the weeks and months following it i was not lying in a bed regretting not having worked longer.
If work defines you then yes maybe you will wish you had worked longer but more time with my loved ones is all i was begging the doctor for.
i have had to slow down since being ill but luckily it wont stop me.There is so much to see, so much to do and yes you can do it on a shoestring but only if you are willing to hunt for a deal and don't need insta-worthy hotels, restaurants and 1st class travel.
If you are fortunate Life is what you make it and all about what you want it to be and if you want it to be about work then that's what you do. You do you. Here is to the next 30 years for both of us 🍹

Problem is you don't know how many "good years" you've got left so if you want to do challenging things (my dad walked loads of the GR routes in France with his tent in his 60's) then you need to do them when you still can. Plus, everyone thinks they'll be the one who just drops dead at 88 having run a marathon the week before after hopping of a worldwide cruise but those people are notable exactly because they are massive outliers. A friend's job involves working out what people need to live on for the rest of their lives for med neg claims and this is based on aggregated data from huge numbers of people. What people spend between 60-70 is much higher than 70-80 and by 80+ discretionary spend is negligible in most cases. They stop doing exciting things, not because they've run out of money. They either don't want to anymore or can't.

In case of aforementioned DF, he's good for his age but he's definitely not wild camping those GR routes anymore although he does still walk the dog for 90 minutes over the hills. V few people in their late 70's and early 80's have no health conditions/ niggles.

I’m 53. I threw everything at my pension in my 20s and 30s. I built up a huge pension. If I retire at 55 my pensions is £38,000 with a lump sum of £111,000. That’s if I leave at 55 and take it. If I leave work but take my pension at 67, my pension is £47,000 in 12 years time but in the meanwhile I haven’t taken my pension for 12 years. I have a small mortgage. My lump sum will pay for solar panels on the roof, pay off what little mortgage is left and I will still be left with £50000 plus. My husband is on a pension (he took it early at 55) of similar. At 67 my pension then rises to £50,000 as I will get the state pension added in as will he. His first wife died young of cancer. My sister had stage 4 cancer at 38 recovered but now 44 and honestly what the hell, life is too short.

For me I spent years getting up at 5 am and working until midnight, the stress had huge impact on mental health, emotional health, physical health.

I love reading, knitting, my garden, my dogs and my family. I love travelling with DH and seeing my children. The longing to be up at 9 am and potter around with a cup of tea and read etc

We are very lucky but I’m doing 2 more years maximum and that’s it. My job has been all consuming and had triggered various health conditions and I’m looking forward to a rest.

WhoTF do you think you are trying to tell people like me what we should do with our own retirement?!

Bloody cheek 🤣😂🤣

I'm also kind of surprised that the OP knows so many people of a wealth category to retire in early 50's who don't still have dependent children at home. Kind of hard to go backpacking for 6 months when you're kids are doing their GCSE's.......

I'm approaching that age rapidly, and there is no way on God's green earth that I could even dream of retiring. I don't know about executive boards and suchlike, I don't move in those circles.

All I can say is that, people are entitled to do what is right for them without nebby parkers butting in and questioning "why" they aren't doing what others think they should be doing.

I think some people just kind of 'run out of steam' with their job. Certainly I was unable to do mine, became physically disabled and mentally exhausted. (Was 60). DD at uni, elderly mum needing visits.

I got a part time job to top up my pension, then COVID stopped everything. I suspect I'm not alone. Are you sure your friends don't study? Would they mention an on-line French class or an evening class learning to play bridge?

The U3A wherever you go is busy and bustling.

Just out of interest why is there always the assumption that us oldies all want /need to volunteer to have a fulfilling retirement? I have no interest in volunteering with homeless people precisely because I spent nearly all my working life dealing with homeless people! If you want to that's fine, but leave those of us who don't want to do that to our own interests.

The technological shift?

We put the systems in, by hand, in the 90s, using actual wires and hiding cables in the floors or the suspended ceilings, or coded the systems by hand to do what we wanted them to do in the first place. If anything it got slower as these so called 'technologies' came in and forced ways of working that were cumbersome and clunky.

The 'Enshittification of everything' and the hoops to go through just to get one bloody invoice paid and the number of people involved in getting one purchase order. Oh my days.

And lets not talk about the HR processes which were imposed on us that were 'simple' but HR needed to go through and discuss at their own team meetings because they didn't know the answer, before they could come back to us on how we could tag the person we wanted to make an offer to. 2-3 weeks after we had made a decision.

No thanks, it isn't the Technological Shifts it is the UnTechnological Shit that tipped many of us over the edge.

I love this thread
I retired from the corporate world (80 hour weeks) at Christmas. I had turned 60.
I had been given two years to live in January but the diagnosis was wrong. I wasn't working for anymore fuckwit narcissistic company owners. I was going out saying no.

We are planning our retirement for two years time and selling our too big house to make things easier. I just don't want all the stuff anymore. I don't want extra rooms that never get used.
We've been married since we were kids and we're happy watching countdown and going to the shops etc. My DH still plays sport and golf with our son.
We'll have over £1500 a week on retirement plus shares which is enough for us. We've had all the cars, houses and toys and we're knackered.
We are church goers and will build a garden at our final house if we get the one we want. There are few plants in it.
We aim to travel a bit but although I'm still here I have hugely reduced mobility. I'm certainly not spending it on commutes for ungrateful millennials!

I can't really imagine not working, although I am training on the side at the moment for another job that I think I will find more doable in my later years. I don't think giving up work will necessarily make people more boring, though, it really depends what they do with their time and what you and they have in common.

But what if you have no kids yourself? Surely using that money to have a nice life is what your parents would want? Eise the money is just wasted by going to charity or distant family when you die?