Retirement at 50?

[Otins]

Would you retire aged 50 if you could?

I am currently working it through with an IFA and I think I can afford to do it.

I have no children. I am in a relationship but financially independent and not married.

I had always planned to retire at 60 when my mortgage was paid off, but a recent inheritance means i am mortgage free now.

Would you retire this early if you could?

i have joked in the past that retirement is wasted on the old, and I could have 10 years now having fun, and I felt funds were getting a bit tight , i could go back to work aged 60.

My monthly 'retirement' income would
be around the same as my average monthly jncome over the last 10 years (self employed so it fluctuates) This wouldn't allow for luxury world cruises but a couple of holidays a year, plenty of eating out and culture, and some leeway for the occasional splurge seems plenty.

I could keep earning and have 'more' but it seems wasteful if I don't need more, and time is our most precious commodity.

I would. In a heartbeat.
There's so much I could do with my time if work didn't get in the way!

I would in a minute! I know too many colleagues who retired later and were either very ill or dead within a short space of time. This prospect terrifies me.

I could and I'm dithering too.

I'm not enjoying work, but I have in the past and still get a sense of status and purpose from my work.

All my friends are still working and likely to be for at least a decade.

I could keep myself busy, but I'm not sure that hobbies and travel, volunteering, will give adequate purpose after the first few months.

Yes. I used to think no, but I am 52 now and am absolutely done with the world of work

I did. I thought I had enough good quality clothes to last me ( I was right, still got many of them 20 years on) house I liked and a lot of intérêts which I couldn’t pursue properly if I was working. I didn’t care about upmarket restaurants etc anymore.

I’ve never regretted it.

This is what I’m aiming for- I’m 9 years ago and broadly on-track.

I wouldn’t. I know that I would struggle to motivate myself to do things and that my mental health would suffer because of this.
I am 50+ and work part time. It’s a good balance for me.

Yes, this worries me too. I might spend all my time on MN!

I would in a heartbeat IF I could also afford to study full time, for pleasure. My dream is to retire around 55 and go back to uni to study Fine Art.

I don't think I'd do well with no structure to my days (and weeks and months).

I completely agree with your thinking and I absolutely would in your position. I think my current retirement age is 68 (and rising no doubt) but I hope to be retired before then.

I retired at 52. I was planning to go at 55 but my civil service department needed senior manager volunteers for redundancy. I received 2 years wages so deferred my pension to the planned 55 years old.

My husband had been medically retired the year before on an enhanced pension.

Within 6 weeks of taking redundancy we had rented out our UK house and moved to our holiday home in Spain..... absolutely no regrets.

I would say if you can afford to do it do it as early as you can.
We are enjoying still being young enough and fit enough for lots of travelling and work on our house and our acre of garden at a leisurely pace.

Living the early retiree dream 😀

I don’t think I’d want to retire at 50. I would probably really cut back on the hours I worked, though.

Hell yes. Life's too short to waste on work. There's so much to do outside work, especially spending quality time with loved ones and learning new stuff.
Go for it.

50 is young - you should have plenty of energy

You'd need to plan - what will you do, who will you do it with , are you happy alone for things

Will you need social or mental stimulation- how will you get that

If it didn't work out - what work would you be able to get ?

Once you have planned and thought it through then it is the right time

I'm 51 and newly not working by choice - but with the plan that I'm taking some time out and then will decide about a new job/ studying/ regular volunteering or whatever. Its very freeing to not describe it as a career change or retiring as it takes away other peoples expectations of how my life will look like.

Absolutely!👍

Always intending finishing work at 60 but the opportunity came up to leave at 57, checked finances and that was it, turned into a retiree.😁
If it was to mean you were muddling through just above the breadline then no, not the right decision but if you are going to have sufficient money to meet all your needs (and more) then it makes perfect sense.

Neither of us have ever been people who live for our work regardless of how much we have enjoyed it, work was always a means to an end and neither of us miss it. We just enjoy all the free time we have, able to do things or go away at the drop of a hat.

I retired a couple of years ago at 52 and my DH was 55 and he also retired.
Life is good, I wouldn’t want to retire early on a small budget. I know lots of people are happy going for walks and doing cheap things but I like to go out for lunches and do big day trips.
We have lots of hobbies and memberships to a golf club and spa. I see my friends very regularly and we travel abroad about 8 or so times per year.

My current plan is to retire at 53. If my plans work out, we’ll have a decent income from that point.

I wondered what you had in mind, op? Are you thinking of not working at all, switching to something PT, volunteering?

I’m really struggling to know what’s the best option. I love the idea of retirement in the short term but it’s so hard to know what it would be like in the longer term and whether I’d regret it so young.

Yes! You can always go back to work if you don't like being retired.

If I was rich yes, then I'd travel the world, but otherwise I'd be quite bored. 50 is so young. I'm 41 and still feel very young and I couldn't imagine having no work. I don't really have a retirement age goal. I freelance (in a very in demand field) so think I'll still be picking up work when I'm 70 (if I want to). Not for the money really just to utilise my skills.

Currently planning on mid 50's. I'm currently saving half my salary and do saves 3/4 of his. Mortgage is paid off though. I wouldn't consider retirement until mortgage is cleared if I were you, I would instead work a bit longer and overpay

Yes - go for it

I retired at 56 and 3/4!
I had expected to work longer but got to a point where I had had enough of the constant stress and change

Obviously finances are important - but I found that many people have part time jobs at local historic sites because they love it ( doesn’t have to be this but there are options)

I joined the university of the third age ( U3A) took up astronomy, drama and book club. Met loads of very different people - so life is busy
Also moved house and gained a bigger garden so grow my own fruit and veg
I get more sleep - because there is no alarm clock
I I am told I look younger by about 5 years

I am no longer defined by my job - which is weird after all the extra hours I did and the stress I took ( but which subsequent generations won’t do)

I too lost friends along the way at a young age and this influenced my thinking
Then people I had admired since teenage years started to die, in their late 50s and early 60s and I knew then it was the right decision

I’m 55 and wouldn’t retire now - I’d go p/t and then retire properly in a few years. If I did retire I’d just end up doing voluntary work so I might as well get paid for doing something I enjoy. The vast majority of people I know are still working in their 50s so it would be a very isolating.

Well, this is the question. Might be harder to get back in as a 50-something.

The vast majority of people I know are still working in their 50s so it would be a very isolating.

I thought this, I joined things and now have made new friends and I regularly see my old friends.