What age did you retire?

RA meant I retired at 62, three years earlier than I’d planned. I had a sudden and grim flare up, thought I’d be ok after s week’s rest. A year later, it became clear I wasn’t going to be fit to work again.
It took some adjustment but I love retirement

62 best thing I ever did.

I retired at 56 partly to look after my elderly , blind mum but she died 3 weeks after I retired. I was also worn out . 5 children , demanding job and 4 years of elderly parents living nearby and needing a lot of help. No regrets. I love retirement.

I was made redundant into early retirement at 53. I did look for work, but back in the mid 1990s women in their 50s were virtually unemployable, at least at professional level, so I did voluntary work and did return to work for 6 months as maternity cover for my manager, but went returned to volunteering when she returned to work.

I would have liked to stay at work. I emjoyed my work and felt I could still make progress. But my employer had a very generous redundancy scheme, especially for over 50s and I had to balance an immediate pension, a big lump sum and other bells and whistles against risking staying on and finding that as soon as the redundancy scheme ended I could still find myself out on my ear, no lump sum beyond my statutory entitlement - a few weeks - and no pension until 60.

So I went. Sometimes it is wise to know the difference between what you want and what is in your best interests.

At the age of 50 I was appointed to what turned out to be a dream job, the best I ever had, working in a local Uni. 8 years later our department was subject to a take over and the whole ethos changed and became quite unbearable. So , even tho I had loved my job, I could work from home several days a week and the uni was 10 minutes from home, I got out at the age of 60. I hadn’t planned to but it just wasn’t worth it anymore. I did carry on working part time for the OU for 5 years but I have never regretted retiring when I did.

61, I’d taken a six month sabbatical the previous year to live in France, we loved it, so I went back for five months, retired then back to France.

Interesting thread, I will retire next month, so good to hear of positive experiences, I am 66

I gradually reduced hours and worked in a profession that I found fulfilling until I was 69. Sometimes I miss it, often not.

63. I would have gone on for longer but circumstances were making work frustrating.
Thoroughly enjoying retirement, though.

I retired in good health at 63 but in order to supplement my income I worked effortlessly with private clients whom I loved very much. These assignments took me to various parts of the uk. The job wasn’t demanding in the least but sadly, illness eventually caught up with me leaving me recovering from a horrible stroke I’ve very many fabulous memories of these private assignments and would do it all over again

I retired from teaching at 60 about a year after my husband was made redundant. We cared for my terminally ill brother for 7 months then after his death several of our elderly relatives needed support.
Grandchildren arrived 18 months later.
I started volunteering with the Forestry Commission, at a local museum and as a steward at a local stately home.
I have eased back a bit since I've reached the age of 70, plus
lockdown has had an impact but still do about 15 hours a week in the forest environment and hope to start my voluntary work at the museum again soon.

65, which was when I wanted to retire, from a full-time teaching post. I enjoyed teaching, and I also enjoy retirement, but it was nice to know that I was missed.

I retired at 64 and have since loathed every minute of it.

I was 60 when I retired from my main job but went to a few different places as a consultant until I was 63. Love retirement and the freedom to travel and do what I want instead of someone else for a change.

60, luckily. I did have one little summer job in a Victorian museum after that, just for fun. I've loved being retired.

I am from the era when I got my state pension at 60. I left work at 61, but only because the hospital laboratory work I was doing was changing to a fully automated system which required re-training. I thought I would be bored at home, but haven't regretted retirement for a moment!

I retired at 50 and no regrets at all.

I was 62 my DH was 68 he ran our business for nearly fifty years. I worked with him for twenty three. The 'footfall' as we called it slowed down as people started shopping online. The high street wasn't the same and other businesses closed so that was our excuse to retire.

57. It's wonderful.

I retired at 67. I worked part time for the last couple of years. I loved my job but I’m disabled and my health isn’t great. There comes a point when you’re ready to step back and slow down.

63. There was a re-organisation at work, which would have meant rather longer hours, which I didn’t want to do, so I chose to take voluntary redundancy, with a small payoff.

Since dh was dh to retire a couple of months later, it suited me fine. I’d thought I might miss work, but TBH I never have.

...was due...!

Still working - 68

60 and have loved every nano-second of it!

I retired from my p/t job at 56. DH had taken early retirement/redundancy 3 years earlier and I confess I resented still getting up at 5 a.m. we fortunately didn't need the money and DH was all for me retiring. We were then able to be spontaneous regarding days out and holidays