Aibu to take my work pension early? What age/point did you decide that's enough for me?

[Realworld10]

Well firstly, like many of us, realising you've got to an age when you actually are near to retirement and taking it all in. Seems like yesterday I was the young, vibrant teacher who gave everything to my job above and beyond because I cared and I could. The bonds, love, after school clubs and revision sessions, holiday classes, trips away, fundraising evenings and weekends, I was there. Even with my own DC I worked extra hours but reduced the amount of time I was able to put in.

Suddenly, I'm at an age (56) where I can take my pension early and I've done it! Having calculated, I would have to live to about 86 to make the difference of higher amount 60 plus.

I still work as supply but find the suffocating environments of academies unbearable... assigned 5 different classrooms, login, behaviour for 'hey we have a sub' though I do take control of this attitude but it's repetitive and tiring, dealing with behaviour. You've got to get to know your students and unfortunately we can't do this, but I have had some meaningful encounters where I would love to help them more.

I have another job as well, online tutor, which doesn't have these stresses but the sessions are only a couple of hours here and there and I put in a lot of hours for individual learning.

I'm not 'retirement' age but taking my pension early and still working. I get £867, enough to pay my part of bills while DH works FT WFH. With my earnings to top up all is fine financially as I did also get a payout which has been used for us all as a family.

The thing is, a neighbour at age 55 said Im retired now, she's so young and vibrant so I asked what she will be doing and she said nothing. Good for her, her DH has also retired, have a lovely big house all paid off.

So part of me is thinking why can't be the same as this couple? Well, because we've taken on a bigger mortgage and house move (which I didn't want)

Anyway, this is a situation I feel privileged for. Even though I've worked since age 16 and was fortunate to go to university when loans were zero procent, have worked for 30 years plus as a teacher, part of me feels guilty for retiring so early! Yes I'm still working but not in the role I was, suppose the stepping down and back from a career feels strange 🤔

I'm taking mine in 9 days. Aged 66. Not early but coinciding with my state pension. I started work aged 20, but had 7 years off with the children, 39 years of work, full-time but for two years.

Your neighbour is better off because they planned their finances better.

Why is the tutoring such a bind? DD is a secondary teacher, albeit she's only 28. She's just reduced her hours to 4 days because she has tutoring coming out of her ears, presently doing 6 hours a week, is writing lesson plans for other tutors and, over summer, schemes of work for academies.

Surely if you pack it in and take your pension, you could earn at least £350pw without killing yourself. DD is firmly plugged into the home school market.

Also, I don't think 56 is close to retirement in 2026. You have another 11 years to go.

I totally see how you feel and maybe I have no right to comment being in my 40s but I honestly don't think retiring in your mid fifties is something to aspire to. I have an example of two women in their late 80s in my life. One is an economist who retired at the age of 50, another is a lecturer who still works part time and writes books. Both of these women are 89 and the difference between their cognitive capacity and zest for life is immense! The economist is literally "waiting to die" - she told me that herself on a number of occasions. She likes to read but has concentration issues and very little of her thinking power is retained. She has no hobbies or interests and, again, told me many times she has no energy or motivation to start any. The lecturer still travels internationally, enjoys theatre and museums, hosts large parties and has a large network of friends she sees regularly.
Now, I know this may be down to individual differences but the economist was a sharp, independent woman in touch with the world around her so they were not exactly different in that regard. And I can't help but think 40 years in retirement not using your brain, not having anywhere to go or anything to do will do this to a person.
I know I can't conceivably be working into my 70s at the same capacity I do now but I am scared shitless of retirement and very much hope I can carry on working well into my later years, albeit part time.

£867 for 30 years teaching - seems really low considering the first chunk was in very old scheme and only being taken 4 years early!

I'm 62 and have taken mine and gone part time. I'm now better off because I'm paying less tax on my wages so I can save a reasonable amount. Best decision I've ever made

I retired at 55 but got a part time job just for beer money. We are savers and whilst we eat out often (paid for by the part time job)we dont really spend a lot. So with my wife working part time we have lived off of savings and don't plan to touch our pensions until i am 60 in 2 years.

I have hobbies but worried that this summer i became a bit of a vegetable sitting watching crap TV and YouTube because of the heat.

We have a camper van and go away monthly apart from August, December and January...been abroad twice this year in it

As I said we are savers, because my parents died way too early we paid our mortgage off and so have been able to save much much more than otherwise would be the case.

My advice...get a good financial advisor. We have had 3 brilliant ones in the 35 years we have been together. In the last 12 months we've made £140k

I jumped off the wheel at 50 and spent the next 10 years earning freelance from things I love - singing workshops, photography, arts outreach for young people etc.

Yes it has had an impact on my pension, but I am so glad I did it - retirement brought major heart problems and limited lifestyle, but I had done some great tings before that happened.

I was thinking exactly the same, even accounting for many years working part time for childcare etc.

I will retire as soon as finances allow. I don't think I will be bored or lack challenges, I have an active life and forever have a project on the go. I do think you need to put some thought into managing your time otherwise it can just disappear.

You sound ready to leave your role, maybe you'll want to do something new in a while.

140k in a year?! How??? Asking for a friend.

You don’t have to do paid work to be using your brain and contributing to society. Retirement can be full retirement , slipping away, or it can be a chance to do all the things you wanted to do - pushing yourself to take risks, take on challenges. I am currently so out of my comfort zone organising community events I have nightmares. Learn new things. Explore.

A friend thought something similar & worked until she was 65. Had 3 months of retirement, diagnosed with terminal cancer & was dead just after 66

@NotAnotherScarf 140 K? How exactly?

@Realworld10 I would just enjoy retirement if I were you. Change always feels odd in the beginning.

I’m sorry about your friend

This is something that scares me as well. It’s the reason that I have my eye on early retirement. Well, not the only reason, but stopping doing something you don’t enjoy is just good common sense

Yes and it happened to many people I know too, including my grandfather. Still.. I love my job and if my time comes while I am still working, it's as good a time as any. I have a very good work-life balance and a comfortable, albeit, not luxury lifestyle. I think it is different if one hates one's job in which case an early retirement might be a good goal.

Thanks. It's changed how I think about retirement.

In have quite a few friends who have retired early. You have to be retiring into something. The person I know who is active in retirement studies and does voluntary work. But others just end up saying they are busy, but don't actually do that much.

I retired at 57 and are loving it.
My OH is 3yrs younger than me and went down to 2-days a week but will be dropping even that next year.

Financially secure, life is for living and neither of us had a desire to keep working any longer than we needed to.

I’m going in 2 years at 62. I have been thinking lately of going down to 2 days a week at that point but if a redundancy package is offered I will just take that instead.

I work with DH for our own business, and once he retires/sells the business (assuming the latter will be possible with the rise of AI), my job will go, too. I can't run the business on my own and wouldn't even want to try! I'd like to retire whenever he does, but if something unexpected were to happen, I might need to find something else to do for a while. It's a 'cross that bridge if I come to it' situation.

DH is in his early 50s and I'm in my late 40s, so it's still quite early for him to retire and would be even more so for me, of course, but I'd like to start thinking about it and planning more specifically. He's less of a long-range planner than I am and seems hesitant to think too much about retirement in absolute terms. I'd like a more settled goal to work toward, but at the same time I understand that the future is uncertain, especially in a field that's likely to change rapidly over the next few years, thanks to AI. Maybe it's better not to get our hopes up too high just yet and focus more on the here and now.

In my mind, early retirement would be wonderful. Both DH and I have so many hobbies. I'd love to throw myself into my interests, guilt-free, and I feel life is so unpredictable at the moment that I'd like to start enjoying it to the fullest sooner rather than later. Somehow I don't expect to live into my 80s, though maybe I'll surprise myself.

On the other hand, when I actually do have more unstructured time (long weekends, mainly), I find myself frittering the time away and putting off actually doing the things I think I want to do, during the work week! I feel frustrated with myself and wonder how much of this time-wasting is because I'm constantly aware that the time is limited and struggle to fully unwind. Or will I be the same in retirement? I'm certain retirement won't be as good as I imagine it will be, because there's always something, but I still find myself longing for the freedom of more time. I think I'll have to create more structure in my days to get the most out of them. I'm a creature of habit and routine, and I believe routine will be the best way to for me to fill my days in a meaningful, satisfying way.

I'm 63 and was made redundant at the end of July. I looked at my finances and thought "sod it, I'm not doing it any more." I have a perfectly adequate pension, I'm a single mum, no partner to consider, my house is paid off, my ds is at university.

And yet I cannot throw off the feeling I'm skiving somehow, that I am letting someone down. It's ridiculous. I have 45 years NI paid, 41 years full time work.

A lot of people take a while to accept that they can stop, it's all those years of conditioning to think you should be contributing. Give yourself time to relax, OP. You'll get there.

And I am still contributing. I am on the parish council (unpaid), and help manage the local village hall. I do the quarterly parish pothole survey & chase the highways dept to get them fixed, and monitor water quality in our river.

I'm no shrill for capitalism but I don't think it's good to retire too early unless you have a particular thing you are planning to do. It's difficult to remain as active in mind and body if you are just fussing around the house most days.

But why would you be 'fussing about the house all day'? I know a few people who've retired and they're so busy out and about that they say they don't know how they had time to go to work.

It doesn't have to cost a lot of money either with gym memberships, annual passes for gardens, museums etc, special offers on train tickets, off peak fares or even free if you qualify.

Then you just take a packed lunch and a flask along with the occasional lunch deal, which are plentiful for weekday lunches.

I’m 64 and hope to retire at 65 on a private pension (state pension at 67) but really need to get some financial advice. A friend recently told me that all financial advisers are sharks only out for themselves. How do I find a good one please?

Retired on the dot 50. Decent works pension. Have lived comfortably, not extravagantly for last 13 years.Absolutely the best decision I ever made.

Im absolutely sick of it. Im 64 worked in the NHS for 46 years. The smell never goes away.
I cant afford to retire until 70. Thank God I still love helping my patients or Id be drowning in admin, work place politics etc.