Early retirement, did people question your choices?

[Floofydawg]

I'm planning on retiring at the end of this year, by which time I'll be 57. Professional, well paid job. I'm just tired of it all. I'll have a fairly comfortable retirement but I won't be rich. My thinking is that you can't get the time back, but I could always earn a bit more money at some point if I felt I needed to.

When I've told friends and family, some of them are questioning my choices quite hard. Family are very money driven and they can't understand why I would give up a well paid job this young.

If you retired early, did you have people questioning you? Did you regret your choice?

I retired early (took voluntary redundancy) and a few people questioned it and were actually quite blunt/pointed about my plans. My Mum, in particular, really didn’t seem to understand. There was an expectation that people like me, didn’t retire early.

I have been retired nearly five years now and have never regretted that decision. It has been wonderful. Financially we are very much on target, my health has improved so much and I have a better social lifestyle than when at work.

I am sure you will also have a great time.

I agree with you. I was made redundant a few months ago and vowed that I wouldn’t get another job. I really miss the structure of having even one day a week where I have a solid commitment.
Am now starting a new job next week and am looking forward to being a part of a team ,using my brain etc .
Meeting friends for lunch ,walking the dog etc has become a bit brain numbing TBH and psychologically I hate spending money that is not being replaced.

@turkeyboots I agree with you.

Cannot understand it either. I'm 55 this year, just getting started in my 3rd career!
the work doesn't define me but i love it! If you live 35 more years / that's a lifetime 'at home'. My kids are still af school , there's no way I would do this at 55.bonkers.

@LornaDuh I am with you in the furrow.

It is a known phenomenon that amongst people who can afford to retire, the ones most prone to the 'one more year' in work syndrome of delaying retirement tend to be those in demanding senior challenging jobs who get validation from their jobs and of course a higher opportunity cost from losing their high remuneration. Since the average mnetter is a higher earner than the average Brit, I am guessing that is why people on this thread are not universally agreeing with early retirement.

Sorry but it kind of blows my mind some of the comments around young people being annoyed by those retiring early. Why would I care about some randomer? So the younger generation might not be able to retire as young and that's really crap for them. But would the likes of me working for another 10 years make that any better for them? Of course it wouldn't.

OP, not criticising your choice to retire early or not to care about a random youngster. That is perfectly valid. For myself, I am not retiring early so that I can enable my own dcs to have the same generational advantages as me. That includes paying for their uni fees and hence I am not retiring whilst my youngest is still at uni. I also wish to give them a leg up on their first property. Every year that I stay in work at the top of my salary and career will make a difference for them.

The drawbridge was pulled up for them but I am sending the elevator down to them. So many metaphors. Just explaining why I am not retiring now at 57 even though I can very comfortably.

Thinking a little bit more about this point about finances "What seems ok at 55, isn’t great at 75."

From my experience of watching friends and family many people find their financial needs decrease during retirement. Early retirees spend more on future proofing their home, they also have more appetite for travel, sport, activities and the kit and kaboodle this requires. Not universally, but for some, age and increasing ill health mean less is spent in later retirement.

"Some people also enjoy work. Lots will think working for just over 30 years if you have had a free degree, isn’t much in terms of contribution and young people would be justifiably jealous."

I enjoyed work, but I just got to an age where the manual labour was too much for me. I get the same stimulating and social buzz from volunteering. I work for the National Trust, DH and I both volunteer for two wildlife charities and he also volunteers for a homeless charity and at a men's shed. It's much less heavy work but just as fulfilling and useful. The people we volunteer with are 75% retired folk. We have the time to do it where younger people are raising families and working. None of the organisations for whom we volunteer could function were it not for retirees.

I work for the nhs and I’ve seen colleagues retire from 55 onwards but then some people work in to their 70’s!!!
Everyone’s circumstances are different tho, some people work if they have too and some
stay on because they enjoy the company.

I am hoping to retire at 60, I doubt I’ll
be able to go before then unless something drastically changes but I absolutely don’t want to be 70 and still working!

I found colleagues and friends who were younger than me made snide remarks when I took redundancy and "retired" at 60 after covid. Retired friends were encouraging and positive about it as long as I could get the numbers to stack up against income. I did freelance consultancy for a year whilst studying for an MA I'd always wanted to do and then retired fully to care for a very frail DH full time. Money has been tight but an unexpected inheritance has eased things. State pension in 2 yrs. I met with a financial advisor to work out a plan, and will review annually and downsize if we need to reduce costs. I try and do something just for me an hour every day (exercise class or meet a friend) and although the caring is emotionally and physically tough I wouldn't want to go back to working ft (and unlikely to get one at my age anyway due to ageism). And AI has already started to replace many similar roles in my industry. I think I got out at the right time for us.

If I had a state pension, I’d retire like a shot. I’ve seen many colleagues being diagnosed with horrible problems and some retire later, only then to be diagnosed with the horrible problems.

@ChurchWindows Not eventually - you might have to pay for a cleaner, a gardener, replace your car etc. Life doesn’t stop at 75! Spending doesn’t decrease if you are fit, or ill!

I guess it depends on what your spending habits were like. I know at 75 getting travel insurance to cover pre existing conditions is incredibly expensive and will probably put a stop to long haul travel. That alone will save DH and I many thousands to spend on getting help at home if needed. It’s another reason why we retired early and actively planning holidays where flights alone are over 10-12 hours each way. This is something we don’t expect to be able to do in our later life.

No, i don't think I got many negative comments, but probably because it was ill health. Aged 50.

Irrelevant for those with DB pensions. Mine is fortunately very generous & linked to inflation so it rises yearly.

OP I retired early due to ill health & had a mix of reactions. Some were jealous, but most were happy. Ignore the naysayers & enjoy your retirement.

I have some shocking news for you. People who've retired are allowed to leave the house. And even the country.

It's only 35 years 'at home' if that's what you choose. My dad took early retirement at 55 and travelled almost non-stop for 20 years.

Life did precisely that and stopped at 75 for both of my parents and my Father in law. I'm glad they retired early and enjoyed life while they could.

It's all a balance isn't it. Budgeting, ensuring you can live within your means, ensuring you have the necessary funds into the future whilst also making the most of life's opportunities.

I remember a colleague saying he wasn't paying into a pension because he might die tomorrow and thinking, yeah, but you might not.

Yes def judged by some friends. One even said I’d be boring if I didnt have all the work dramas to report on!

if you can, then do.

@FoxtrotOscarFoxtrotOscardo you mind me asking if you are single (sounds like you might be) and where the flat is overseas?

I'm going through a very unexpected exit at work with lawyers involved and may well be retiring early too. I would love to have a bolt hole and when I read your post it made me wonder!

This article from Retirement solutions is worth a read. It clearly backs up my view of a pensions shortfall.

people who retire early spend a fair amount in the first few years doing things and then when you might be needing to trade holidays for a cleaner , you get your state pension . Not many people are wanting to live a high octane life and needing nursing care at the same time. Typically people spend most when young and then gradually less

you only live once - and it might be over much sooner than you think. And if you work an extra decade you might be dead quicker

working an extra decade , missing out on all the other things you want to do with life just to have money left over to pay for care that most people won’t ever need seems over cautious. Work to die? Better wok to live.

Irrelevant for those of us with index linked DB pensions though.

I’m only in my 40s but on telling friends of people in my work who retired early 60s all of my friends reacted with horror that they didn’t eke out every drop of working life and money. I gave up arguing that the ladies in question wanted to get out and live and were exhausted. Everyone is different.

It isn’t a life time at home, it’s a life going on holiday every 7 weeks, doing interesting hobbies (I’ve recently got into Chi Gong), meeting friends and having fun.
My third DC stared university when I was 49 so I think a lot depends on when you have your DC.
My DH and I basically waited for our youngest to graduate and then we retired.

It doesn't back it up at all. A population-level or average shortfall does not mean a universal shortfall.

Those of us making an informed decision to retire early do so because we have worked out that we don't have one. The fact that many other people do is irrelevant to our individual circumstances.

@LornaDuh I am with you! I am 62 this year and about to be made redundant after 17 years in the same job. I have no intention of stopping. I love working and have done so since I was 18. However, I have been lucky. Office based, nice colleagues, good pay and benefits. Not everyone gets this and I can totally understand why people might want to retire. If, in the future, things don't work out so well for me I will probably dial it down a bit.

Retirement Solutions are an equity release company.

They have a vested interest in making people worry about whether their money will last.

Their article tells me that in order to live a comfortable life I need exactly twice the amount I actually live on very comfortably and happily. Their figures take no account of an individual's expenditure or aims.

It also fails to take into account that many people are fastidious with their financial planning for retirement, have DB pensions and budget accordingly.