Retiring and feeling anxious

[smileylady1]

I’m due to retire from my teaching job at Christmas after 25 years. I’m 61 and my disposable income just for me will be £600 per month from my small annual pension. I plan to invest the lump sum and drawdown when I need it over the next 5 years up to state pension. My husband covers the outgoings so I’m lucky in that respect. It’s the thought of losing so much but I know I have the option to do some supply to top my finances up. Is anyone else in a similar situation and does anyone manage on less?

Congratulations on your retirement. If you can manage without doing supply I would. Maybe look for something less stressful.
I remember someone from one of the finance companies advising teachers coming to speak to us at school and mentioning other roles that retired teachers often do including “ bottom shelf stacker” in a supermarket!
I’d see how you manage. You won’t need to spend as much on clothes, shoes, travel, resources etc.
I had to take early retirement after 35 years teaching full time ( family circumstances) so my pension was slightly reduced and I obviously didn’t get final salary either due to changes.
They should let you know from TP if you are affected by McCloud/ transitional payment, though it’s not a fortune and I’ve been waiting months.
My husband is still working so we are fine.
Good luck and enjoy it!

Nothing has to be forever OP. If you try it and feel you need more money or stimulation (or stress) you can always start supply teaching or shelf stacking in the future. But try it and see - you might just love it and be fine.

So you'll have £600 pm just as spending money? Plus a lump sum that will be invested? Who pays for things like holidays, meals out and new cars and if they're coming out of your lump sum, look at how this is going to impact it.

But in any case, to answer your question 'is anyone else in a similar situation and does anyone manage on less' well, just about everyone will 'manage' on less than £600 personal spending money because that's more than affordable to the majority of the population so you're looking at the situation where you won't need to work, but if you choose to spend more than what is a relatively large amount of money, then you are able to work to pay for it.

So you need to decide which you prefer, working or not spending quite so much. But depending on how much supply teaching pays and how palatable it is, you could look at other education related work such as exam marking etc?

If outgoings are covered what were you spending previous salary on?
The advice is to aim for about 2/3 of final salary to maintain lifestyle so you have less but most people would have outgoings to cover.
If you were working full time with zero bills what on earth were you buying with £2-3k pm?

What does your diaposable income need to cover? Can't really say without knowing that.

I manage on less, left work at 58, mortgage has been long paid, we have savings and live on interest, my 2 small pensions £400, DH £500 and state pension £880. I get my state pension in 3 years. We do spend more each month than we have coming in, so dip into savings some months, but that’s mostly spending on household stuff, new bed last month, new shower this month. Occasional meal out, we buy what we want, nothing extravagant. We always assumed DH would carry on working, but due to health issues, he retired not long after me.

Everyone has their own unique situation. I’ve worked hard since I was 16 did my training to teach and nurtured and taught my girls to follow their dreams after my marriage broke down when they were young. I remarried 15 years ago my girls are independent and have their own homes and lives now. Now it’s just us my husband and I are now looking to buy together so I’ll have a lump sum from my property. I paid my mortgage off a few years ago. We have no debts and my husband’s income covers all outgoings as well as holidays and meals out. He is a few years younger so is continuing to work for a few more years. There’s so much that can go wrong in life but if we keep saying what if this were to happen? We would stay stuck. I’m 61 and feel it’s my time now.

I'm younger but have less monthly disposable due to 2 x childcare fees and mortgage.

If you were in a precarious position i'd advise caution but you sound adequately provided for..?
How much is the lump sum? I think the that's the missing info in the OP

Go for it. You've got what, 15 good years? Don't waste them working. I get 700 a month from my pension. It's not much but I'm so much happier. I did hate my job though. I use savings and lump sum for extras. I live a good life.

Thanks for all of your replies. Retiring is such a stressful time-knowing if it’s the right time but I know it is for me now.

My husband retired recently and it is surprising how little he spends and he is much happier. You will be absolutely fine on that.

Have you thought about how you will fund your bills etc if something happened to your husband’s income?

I am the same age as you and live with much less disposable income.
It's amazing how much you save when you're retired. You have time to shop around and you don't need to buy those things you do to compensate yourself for working (e.g. a bottle of wine grabbed after a hard day, magazines/coffee for the commute). You don't need work clothes or holidays to escape the rat race or gym memberships to cram in the exercise.

Retirement is lovely - so much floods in to fill your time, you can study, volunteer, garden, walk in the hills, get a dog, belly dance, gong bath or stay in bed with a book - whatever pleases you. You're just concerned about the unknown, but nothing is set in stone.

Have a look on the Retirement board Op as there are a couple of threads running at the moment about life in retirement. A few of us have recently taken the plunge, most before SP age and many of which appear to be teachers. I worked in a school but was not a teacher so only have a small pension which I’m drawing down until I reach SP. DH is also retired and does have a good pension but also has a little job 2 days a week as he missed a bit of structure.

So far I’m loving retirement but still trying to work out what my interests are. I did start to volunteer at a cat rescue but I found I was worrying too much about the cats and wanted to bring them all home - we already have 3 so having more is not an option! I think winter is a tricky time to retire due to the weather and dark nights. I’m so looking forward to the spring!

To be honest, I thought you were going to say that was all your income, but your husband is working! You have one income and your pension! My DH and I live off my very average salary. He has no income or benefits but we manage.

You'll never look back i hope, like me.
I took the plunge at 58 when dcs were self sufficient. I had been a single working parent for 20+years and paid my mortgage off with some of my lump sum and also bought premium bonds full allowance and invested the rest in isas. I downsized and made money on that to add to the lumpsum. I had a good Pension of 25.years.

I was accustomed to watching my money so my small pension serves to pay the bills and the remainder is around the same as your spending money. For holidays and major house stuff I dip into my pot.
I wouldn't change a thing. And it sounds as though you have good stability at home. Make sure dp has covered himself well for any illnesses to be safe. Enjoy!

So today I’ve had a curveball thrown into my retirement plans which has completely knocked me off balance. I just need to vent really. I had a chat with my daughter and she asked me how I would manage financially if anything were to happen to her dad or if we broke up. We had some issues a few years ago and we have overcome these now. I have explained to her that we are covered if he’s unable to work and that you can’t not do something because of what if…I can’t not retire and continue to work and all of our plans are now in place. My daughter is married and is living her own life I just want to live mine. Thoughts please. Be kind.

How did you answer the question? You can't live life factoring all what ifs but a vague plan might make her feel like you have got things figured out. The main would be options for housing as it can be the biggest bill and cause for concern if things were to go wrong. Maybe she just wants to hear you have thought about it and not that you need to have fully fleshed out plans for all possible scenarios

I think it very much is possible to live as you have outlined in your retirement plan.

My mum took early retirement at 55, she was a nurse and physically struggling. She had a £3k a year nurses pension for this time and my dad was still working and covered living expenses for best part of 10 years. My dad took early retirement 2 years ago and they lived off savings from inheritance, my mum's small nurses pension and a small amount from my dad's private pension. My mum qualified for the state pension this year and now most of their bills are covered by her pension topped up by other pension and savings. In a couple of years he will also get the state pension.
They future planned together and that would have seen them through any harm times.
My dad retired earlier than originally planned because my mum had a fall causing a serious injury and suddenly needed more care. It also was eye opening. The fall could very easily have resulted in a life changing or life ending injury and my dad realised he's rather spend the days with her and not at work. He does have the option of doing the equivalent of supply teaching but so far he hasn't needed to but knowing it is the back up plan does provide some peace of mind.

I'm on a career break at the moment after being made redundant earlier this year whilst pregnant. I've been surprised by how little I need to spend whilst living a fulfilled life. My partner is covering all of our living costs and my small social costs. Maternity allowance at the moment is £700 a month and I have barely touched it. I think it could be very easy to have a good retirement on £600 depending on your likes and interests. Should anything happen to my partner or to myself we both have good savings, we have life insurance policies, we have good equity in our property. We are in a good place in our relationship and i couldn't make myself reliant on another in a difficult relationship.

I have been looking at tutoring as an option to bring in a little money during my career break, would this also be an option if you do need a little top up from time to time?

Of course you want to live your own life, and it’s ok for want to retire but your daughters questions are things you need to think through beforehand.

If something happens and your husband can’t work, do you have the means to pay the bills. If he dies, is his (and your) estates in order, if your relationship fails do you have a way of housing and feeding yourself. At your age you (hopefully) have a lot of life ahead of you and with the best will in the world, life happens.

It sounds like you want what you want, but if merely asking the question feels like a curve ball then you maybe have some planning still to do.

Referring to your concern over £600pm for disposable income, DH and myself have both had less than a third of this a month and managed to buy clothes, presents for eachother, hobbies, meeting up with friends - obviously some people will spend more than us for each event, but it's perfectly managable.

However, you are right to think about that happens if DH can't work or sadly is no longer with you. If he can't work then I guess you could then get supply as you'll still be up to date with your skills for a few years. However, it's wise to think about what happens if he isn't around. You'd have £600pm until state pension kicks in. Does he have a pension that passes to you? If so, check the details and that your the named beneficiary - DH has retired now, but I'd have had his lump sum and 50% monthly pension. What other savings to you both have between and how much could you draw down a year? If you'll receive 50% pension in the event of his death and have £600pm, you should have enough once state pension kicks in.

It's not quite clear
I had a chat with my daughter and she asked me how I would manage financially if anything were to happen to her dad or if we broke up. We had some issues a few years ago and we have overcome these now.

Is your dd hinting to you that your dh is considering divorce and warning you off retirement?

Or is it just that your dd hasnt said "yay!!! Go for it mum!" And thats throwing you off?

My family are happy for me I think I had a bit of a wobble a few days ago after one of my daughters was being more practical than overly happy about my upcoming retirement. We live far apart and so she wasn’t aware of all of the plans that have gone into this. We hopefully have everything covered. Unfortunately the only thing not guaranteed is how much time you have to enjoy life. Thanks for all of your insights into my situation.

@smileylady1
Exactly our thoughts, since I retired at 58 and 2 years later DH 63, life is great. It took about 6 months for me to get used to my new routine, friends say how lucky we are to not have to work, but we see it as we both worked since we were 15 and 16 so we are due a break. Although my DH gave up work after his heart attack and operation, he took to retirement way better than I thought he would.