Retirement life

[BG2015]

So I retired in the summer from my teaching job after 29 years. I'm nearly 57 so I've retired, early but my love for the job just wasn't there anymore and after recovering from a cancer diagnosis in 2021 I just decided life was too short.

Im waiting to start my very flexible part time freelance job delivering speed awareness courses which I plan on doing for about 12 hours a week.

But I am loving having a slower pace each day. I can't say I've been bored at all.

I've enjoyed swimming three times a week, walking with a local Nordic walking group, meeting a couple of friends for coffee, reading, cooking new things from scratch for our evening meal ( I live with my DP, adult son and his gf), watching TV and just pleasing myself.

Anyone else newly retired? How are you finding it?

Yes it will take time. I think I was expecting too much too soon but I will find my happy place I’m sure.

I retired from teaching after 25 years in August 2025 (also had a job in industry prior to that). I really understand what you mean re your freelance job. In April I was offered a few hours a week teaching my subject to adults but during the summer I had a rethink. I just didn’t want to replace one timetable with another and with the planning, preparation and delivery which was involved.
One thing I have experienced since retiring is having flashbacks every so often to incidents I have had in my working life which weren’t pleasant or positive. Maybe it’s just my brain’s way of getting rid of these memories so I can move on.

Bit late to this thread ..
I loved to read nice stories ☺️.
You sound like you’re having a lovely life OP ..
I’m glad you’re fit & well after your illness .
I wish you all the best with your retirement & life .
You deserve it x

@sandgrounderits so good being able to choose what we do isn't it. I'm so grateful that I was able to give up teaching fulltime and walk away from all of the toxic stress.

Im now doing odd bits of supply 1-2 days a week which I'm actually really enjoying. Spend a few hours in a classroom, mix with some nice kids and adults then walk out of the door at 3.30pm. Last week I didn't work at all but I was fine with that. Next week I already have a pre booked day teaching. I've not had to dip into my savings at all yet which is great.

@Missj25thanks for your kind words. I really am enjoying a more relaxed way of living.
Im also so surprised how well I'm managing financially. I'm more mindful of what I buy but I certainly aren't depriving myself of anything at all.

We're off to London in a couple of weeks for the weekend and have just booked a long weekend in Amsterdam- a city I've never been to.

I hope you have a lovely weekend in London & trip away to Amsterdam 🙌..
Enjoy Op x

I remember my mum doing supply teaching for a while after she retired and she said it was everything she liked about teaching without the bits she didn’t - and this was in the 1990s when I’m sure it was all a lot less stressful than now, but I think a lot more paperwork/politics had just been introduced.

I think this occasional bit of supply is good. I have not yet done any supply but do three hours a week 1-2-1 online tutoring which is fabulous. The only problem is that I have to pay tax because it takes me over £1k amount. I haven’t bothered with exam board marking because it is so poorly paid.

The joys of semi/ early retirement. I did 2 days supply and then decided I didn't want to do any more for the rest of the week so informed the agency I was unavailable. So lovely to have the choice of being able to stay in bed on these dark, cold frosty morning.

Meeting my friend for coffee this morning and then we have family over for lunch on Sunday.

I retired from teaching after over 20 years at 57 too OP. I just felt burned out. I'm still a foster carer though to 2 teen boys. I enjoy that and love seeing them flourish. I work in garden when it's dry, I cook from scratch more, eat out more, walk, go on more holidays and the bit I love the best is lying in bed when I feel ill and not having to force myself into the classroom for fear of students falling behind. Life is less rushed and more enjoyed.

How are you finding the run up to Christmas @BG2015 without the usual school stuff? We are in the throes of concerts, parties, staff meals out etc. crazy busy and very excited children.

I'm still in school 2-3 days a week so have been subjected to a few (painful) nativity rehearsals and some excited classes. I don't miss it one bit. I've got 3 days supply this week and I'm questioning my choices 😂😂

I am so looking forward to the end of term (Friday) and jetting off for some pre-Christmas sun.

You might remember my post on 15/10/25 with my DH with sky high blood pressure. He did resign and step away from pressures of school. He has since taken up a post at an alternative provision for 3 days a week and is tutoring for 6 hours a week.

I had my inspection and it felt like a trial. Not much focus on teaching and learning, just lots on compliance and safeguarding. They do not get any easier. Hopefully by the time the next one comes along I will be hanging up my whiteboard pen!

I haven’t been on this thread for a while but thought I would update as I found it really helpful reading everyone else’s posts and hearing what everyone else was doing. So after my decision not to continue volunteering with the cat rescue (still feel disappointed with myself that I wasn’t resilient enough to do this!), I took some time to just do nothing and enjoy a stress free Xmas for once.

Just before Xmas I saw a job advertised at a local independent hospital for 15 hours a week. I know the hospital well and had to take my DM there recently for some hearing problems and at the time I thought how nice it must be to work there. It’s a lovely environment and staff seemed generally very happy, the exact opposite of the war zone that is our local hospital. I applied for the role and was successful at interview but they offered me a different role more suitable to my skills, which I was very pleased about. I don’t have a start date yet, probably end of January. I’m looking forward to it as I have come to realise I’m not good at having no structure.

So I’m looking forward to having a new work/life balance and keeping everything crossed it works out well.

@Icequeen01 oh that’s brilliant about your job. I find a bit of structure to my week helps too - plus the money comes in handy.

Hello 👋 everyone.

Don't know about you lot but I'm really enjoying not having to think about going back to work. Another recent revelation is that I don't have to book time off for holidays any more. Marvellous!

@itsmeafterall I was only thinking this morning how not having to go back to work tomorrow morning after the Christmas break is priceless!

We have snow forecast where we live from midday for 24 hours - I taught in a very rural village school so it was always a nightmare to get there and once you did the snow was always very bad.

Tomorrow morning I shall just turn over and snuggle down.

The joy of retirement !

Definitely the money will come in handy. It will mean I can draw down less from my pension and it will pay for some treats!

Another one who is feeling like the cat that’s got the cream as I’m not having to go back to work tomorrow. It’s such a luxurious feeling 😊

I retired from teaching at 57 after over 20 years of secondary teaching. I also stopped tutoring 2 evenings each week and examining for major exam board A levels. I continued as a foster carer for teens with learning disabilities and also started to manage my own property portfolio instead of having an agent do it. In the summer I spend time in my garden, growing fruit and vegetables. I read, I take teens to play sports often cricket matches which last for many hours. DH retired too last year and we often go for day trips to different places. We eat breakfast out 2 or 3 times a week. Lunch out a couple of times each week. We have bought several additional houses and DH does work on them and I do finishing touches and select kitchens and wallpaper etc. We have been on cheap holidays out of school holidays. I've visited my sister's a few times in different areas of country. When adult DS took some annual leave in November I went up to stay with him for a couple of days and we did Xmas shopping.

@caringcareryour retirement sounds amazing. Having the option to choose is just the best isn't it.

I went on a 10 day holiday with my sister last October to celebrate her 60th. DH stayed home and lost ked after foster teens.

@Icequeen01 that sounds like a great result, well done. I would love some structure but find having to wade through Indeed a chore and a bit souless. How did you find the hospital job?

@AnotheremptynesterAfter I had visited the hospital with my DM and decided it looked like a nice place to work I kept checking their website where they advertised all their vacancies. Luckily for me one appeared just before Xmas. I decided to apply 4 days after the advert appeared but when I went back on to the website it had disappeared even though the closing date was the following week. It turned out they had had so many applications that they withdrew the advert. I contacted their HR dept and they said that if I sent in my application by the end of the day they would still consider it. In the end I was shortlisted out of 28 applications and I think they interviewed 5 of us.

The job I went for was on their main reception but I think they gave that job to another candidate who perhaps was already a receptionist. I was a school office manager previously and they offered me a role of part time administrator, which wasn’t on their website, but which is much more up my street, and pays more!