To be delighted I'm retiring

[Vengefulpomegranate]

I will be retiring from my coal face NHS job in April 2027. Ive done nearly 40 years, full time except for my preganacies and short mat leaves (5 months longest at that time). Im just finished, I have nothing left to give. My mother started on about 'all my training' and I'm 'still young' - I'm almost 62. For context she retired from her part time secretarial work at 54. ... taken the shine off it a bit from me ...

I retired at 61 from a medical background and couldn't wait
The first few months are daunting and there are only so many times you can rearrange furniture or redecorate your home !!!!
The change in routine takes time to readjust to but it will become easier.
Good luck !!!!!

unlikely to be a babyboomer surely?

but agree, she probably feels old, having a daughter of retirement age

Absolutely you should enjoy your retirement. I retired from teaching at 58 and like you I felt I'd given my all. I enjoy my retirement. I hope you enjoy your retirement too OP. Cheaper off season holidays here you come.

A lot of women of OP's mother's generation were denied the opportunity to work due to social mores and society-wide discrimination.

That generation's 'own struggles' included a couple of decades of campaigning for women's liberation.

Until 1982 it was legal to refuse to serve someone in a pub because they were a woman.

That's the kind of world they lived in. OP's mother would have been 38 before she could be sure of being treated equally over something as minor as buying a drink.

careful @Bjorkdidit
it seems the op herself is a baby boomer

not true, the public sector's retirement age may be 60 but it really is not a huge pension for all, most 62 year olds in the public sector carry on

Congratulations! I’m not jealous, well maybe a bit.
You must have seen some changes in 40 years. Some good some not so good? You could do a brilliant AMA.

OP's mother, who must be in her eighties unless she had OP very young, probably just can't believe she has a daughter old enough to retire!

Hope you have many happy years of retirement, OP.

your mother probably thinks you are 50!

If she retired at w8 why on earth us she saying your ridiculous?

Congratulations - don’t let her take the shine off your retirement or monopolise your free time! Some people can’t be happy for others - most will be pleased for you and realise this is well-deserved.

You've worked for as long as i've been alive! What an achievement. Enjoy your retirement, you've earnt it & thank you for you service 🍾🥂

Worth remembering these dates and thanking the people who campaigned to make them happen:

1970 The Equal Pay Act

1975 The first formal legal right to maternity leave, you needed to have worked for several years to qualify but it was a great advance as before this a woman could be dismissed if she became pregnant
1975 women allowed to apply for credit in their own name
1991 Marital rape becomes a crime this one always shocks me, so a mere 36 years ago a man could still legally rape his wife

I do not doubt there were some women who thought that all this equality had gone too far, that why would a mum want to work, why would they need to be paid the same as a man when a man's was expected to be the breadwinner. After all there were women who thought it would undermine their traditonal role if they were allowed to vote and they opposed the Suffragette movement , Imagine if MN had been around in those days "my MIL says that voting is un-lady like"

Hand hold from me. Despite the therapy, nothing sucks joy quicker than when I hope for a well done from a parent and get (at best) indifference back 😔. And I’m your age…and I’ve (semi) retired from the NHS - and that’s how I had the time to get the therapy 🤭. You won’t look back for a single second. Stay in touch with the colleagues you like, forget the others and honestly, you won’t give the rest of it a second thought other than deep gratitude for the lump sum coming your way from the 1995 pension scheme 🥳

Because that’s (some) mothers for you.

I can't vote because I don't understand which way to vote. I think that YANBU to retire but YABU to let what your mother says affect you.

So did mine! And I did.

38.5 years of full time work and two Mat leaves of 20 weeks each, I didn’t even work for the NHS but corporate grind with the same company.

Wishing you a long and happy retirement OP, well deserved and you deserve a medal for doing the extra two years over 60. 💐

I'm 41 and I'd retire tomorrow given the chance 😂

Enjoy! 🥳

Happy retirement

Suggest do things while you are still young & healthy

If the OP is 62 I don't think her mother will be a Baby Boomer.

I retired from teaching at 60. I could have done a couple of years more but a change of Head made it unbearable. I've never looked back.

i wouldn't see it as a negative but that she's proud of what you've achieved and perhaps still sees you as younger than you really are. I guess a lot of parents don't live long enough to see their children retire.

My mum has always always been the other way around, she thought i shouldn't be working with 3 kids, and especially not full-time (with a side job). I'm almost 50 and been working for 34 years. I work in finance and IT, i'm hoping that AI will make me redundant soon.. but i've heard that before, computers and spreadheets were supposed to replace me years ago 😆

Mum would love it if i said i was retiring. Now my kids are independent she'd expect me to run around for her (just like she did for her mum).

Oh do give it a rest. If op is 62 then possible her mother is silent generation not a baby boomer - I know it's hard to countenance that something is not the fault of that generation but use some critical thinking. I am Gen x , 54 and my mother is silent generation.

I'm going at Christmas at the grand old age of 66. I was a single working parent for a very long time. I'm crying with relief now just thinking about it. I feel like I'm putting down a massive weight. I made it!😁