Can I retire when I am fifty-three?

Thanks for all the comments ladies, they have given me a lot of food for thought.

Thanks for everyone’s comments, it is really helpful to hear a range of views. I’ll see how the next few years pan out. If work from home or hybrid working continues then retiring at 60 seems reasonable, and is what I had always expected to do when I was still teaching, as that was my teachers pension scheme retirement age.

My Dad had a heart attack and bypass in his early 60s, then had a phased return to work.
He then followed the normal retirement wind-down programme his company ran, gradually reducing his hours and days until he retired as expected at 65.

I do think winding down gradually is a good idea as it gives you time to build up other activities and interests.

I'm planning to scale back my childminding business so I have some hours free during the day from September when my current pre-schoolers start reception. It means I'm turning people away, demand for places is crazy at the moment.

My state pension will start next year (at 66) but I'll probably defer it if I'm still earning enough.

When you have a holiday, especially if it’s sunny, it’s tempting to think that every day would be like that if you retired. It isn’t. I wouldn’t have retired when I did if I still enjoyed my job. I’m lucky to still have my husband but I imagine that there could be a lot of loneliness for someone on their own, especially in the winter. And for me, retiring in case you might have to go back to the office one day is like lemmings jumping off a cliff.

The phrase...” If it isn’t broke...don’t fix it” comes to mind. As someone up thread said, you could have another 40 years.

i don't know anything about any of this.
but, don't people have to pay or be credited, (eg through receiving carer's allowance or doing childcare as a GP,) NI contributions until they receive the state pension.
i guess you could pay it yourself.
does anyone know about this. i don't.

My career ended 5 yrs ago, with a full pension would bore me silly retiring while I am still active so I work 3 or 4 days a week, no stress, it gets me mixing with others and still plenty of time to enjoy holidays and days out.

Have you considered condensing your 4 days into 2 long ones, instead, if possible?
5 days week off, then.

Thanks for all these comments, it’s really helping me to get a perspective on things. I’ve got another four years before I’ve built up the NI contributions for the full state pension, so I’ll probably reassess the situation then. My employment will definitely let me work part time at four days a work if I choose to, so that’s another possibility which I haven’t really considered yet, as I’ve been thinking of it as all or nothing.

shropshire do what brings you joy. Personally I wouldn’t /coukdnt risk my hard earned savings on the stock market as i avoid risk. but you seem to know the market . Whatever you do, enjoy.

I did think of maybe buying a small apartment in north Wales on the coast to spend weekends at while I’m still working. But if I did retire I suppose I could sell my bungalow and buy an apartment on the coast to live in permanently and do a permanent move to north Wales.
I’m not so keen to buy a second home just to rent out, as I wouldn’t want to have to maintain it or deal with tenants, so that would be an expense to pay a company to do it. I see property as somewhere for me to live or go on holiday to, rather than an investment. Also I understand investing in stock & shares much better than I do property. If I put the whole in stocks & shares and went for income rather than growth I could get a dividend income of £16,000 per year without touching the capital, depending on the stock market of course.

You can,do whatever you like, and that's priceless, I think.

Peehaps tou might think about doing some temporary work through an agency or something?
Then you could top up the coffers if they're a bit low.

I will be retiring in 3 months time age 60. The pension I will receive at 60 is 16% less than the pension I will receive in 7 years time at 67 (state pension age) since all contributions up to 2016 are protected. Lump sum figure is the same at 60 or 67 and I will receive full state pension at 67.

Do you have any idea how much less pension you will get if you draw your pension at 55 instead of 60? If not a lot then it is worth retiring at 53, use your savings to support you for two years up to 55, and if you want to travel to Wales or anywhere in the world, you can use your lump sum without even touching your investment and savings.

I’m with Franbern, retirement on not very much money is very tedious. In my opinion there are only so many gardens, museums, houses and so on that you can visit unless you have a particular interest. I wish I could have gone part time for awhile rather than a sudden stop.

I retired from teaching at 61, as did DH, but straightaway he started a different job, for five years, meant to be part time but he made it full time. So all the things I hoped we would enjoy together did not happen, and now 15 years on, we have aged too much.

I filled my time with voluntary work, church, choirs and grandchildren, a good balance. I do less on all fronts now, but enough to keep me busy, though I still have lots of time to myself which I admit to spending online. I do get bored and lonely, even though I have several points in the week where I interact with others in real life.
I guess the point Iwant to make is it depends what sort of person you are and what you want to do. Sitting on the patio reading will probably not be enough for you for very long, even with trips to the coast. It is not just whether you can afford it financially. A lot is said about mental health, but think what makes you tick, what energises and stimulates you. Have a plan, don’t just drift into retirement because you can afford not to work.

I am aware this does not affect you at present but I have read on GN the number of folk who have been forced to go down the private route to pay for the surgery because the waiting lists were too long. It is something to keep in mind.

Not now but maybe later could you rent a bedroom for a few months?

If you did retire soon, maybe find a very part-time job for a couple of days a week may be sitting at a till in a supermarket and you would also get a % off food. That at least would be some dosh coming into the house.

As you are aware, the more you have in premium bonds the more likely you are to win something each month- even £25 is better than nothing.

Please give some thought to galloping inflation and as one GN said, do up your house before you retire.

Along with all the good suggestions already made I would like to ask if you had thought of using your £400,000 savings to buy a property to let out as an additional income and future growth?
As you are considering retiring in your early fifties you could well have another forty years to live so it’s essential to ensure that you don’t run out of funds.
Obviously property prices do drop as well as rise but as far as an investment property is concerned you are in it for the long haul. The rent will rise over the years too of course.

We did this about forty years ago not too long after we got married after seeing how rapidly the market was rising.
Yes there have been dips over the years but the overall trend is always up, and of course the longer you keep property the more you can ride out the drops.
Just a thought.

Thanks. Unfortunately I got a bit addicted to browsing the DailyMail online and need to break the habit. It was like forbidden fruit. Or so bad it’s good. I know it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

If you are going to retire - which sounds exactly the right thing to do - please stop buying the DM - that will blight your retirement no end!!

I find it odd that anyone might think that retiring and having time as your own might be purposeless and justify being at work when you do not need to be. As OP has said getting involved with NT etc. is rewarding and purposeful without the pressure.

Shameful too.

Ha haha, DM can never be relied on for an honest, balanced report. Ignore fir sure.
Frightened the life of my mum who believed every word it printed. Doom and gloom. Dreadful paper.

Keep away from the Daily Mail. I assume they don’t employ you and in all probability your employer doesn’t read the DM.

Tuesday DailyMail online bashed work from home with an article by or reporting on Rees-Mogg, whose personal trust fund is apparently invested in city centre commercial property. Wednesday they ran an anti wfh article by a someone who turned out to be an investor in overpriced city centre eateries. Yesterday they ran a story saying wfh would ruin your marriage (doesn’t apply to me being single). Today they are running an anti wfh story saying working from home will allow the Russians to get us. Someone clarified that the DailyMail holding company is in fact invested in city centre commercial and office space.

A friend of mine did this for some years after retiring early

www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpImTBhCmARIsAKr58cxITQ6CjBVwJRCvOiVeQJwJQNZyjMNouFvjlaBl0EGx2qMCpyPL9QsaAjTrEALw_wcB

Thanks for all your comments, they are helping me clarify things in my mind.
I’m hopeful that I will be able to continue to work from home and just go into the office occasionally for collaborative work with colleagues. At some point I will have to go in every work day for a block of about 12 weeks to do some training, but then should be able to go back to working from home again.
Unfortunately I keep making the mistake of browsing the DailyMail online. I think either the owners or their cronies have a vested interest in city centre commercial office space and overpriced city centre coffee shops and sandwich shops, as they are always running stories bashing work from home, which makes me anxious.