Early Retirement - have you, would you ?

I have just retired at 64
Close enough to state retirement pension age (I will get an occupational pension having worked in the public sector for40 years) but hopefully young enough to still be able to get about and travel to the places I want to go

I retired at 55 and Mr MBW at 56. We had both worked full time for our respective companies for 37 & 40 years after leaving school. We were lucky that we both had good company pensions and good health, so we decided to take early retirement. We thought we had earned it. Neither of us has regretted it and have not missed work at all. We keep ourselves busy and take pleasure in doing the things we enjoy, whenever we want to.

I had to plod on till I was just a few weeks short of 70. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I enjoy being retired but wish that I had prepared for it more sensibly !

In my role, retirement at 60 was often the norm. Unfortunately, a change to the pensions 10 years ago meant if you retire before 67, you lose 5% of your pension for each year. There is an alternative you can take called partial retitement, where you can work for three days a week and tak part of your pension and a lump sum that I might consider at 60.
It is a shame that people have to work until they're 67, unless they're senior management or inherit a considerable amount of money and can take the hit. However, the system is what it is and we have to accept this.

I retired, burnt out, from teaching when I was 55. I didn't think I'd see 60! Thus, I took my pension actuarially reduced by a quarter and have been living on less than I would have liked.

Did I regret it? Not for a moment. Life has been bliss for 15 years this September.

I sold my business at 55, so fed up of all the extra paperwork, VAT and Care Standards inspections.
I worked from home after that, not big enough for Vat and no longer did treatments that the Care Standards had any interest in. Didn’t have to write risk assessments as it was only me risking anything!
I no longer had the business on my mind all week, no more commuting, just enjoying my work. I shut down for 4-6 weeks every year to visit my family in Australia. I gave up when I was 71.
I miss it but now mum has moved into my work space and I have different commitments. My sisters step up so we can still go to Aus.
I’m not too interested in traveling (IMO Aus doesn’t count) I grew up in Nigeria and HK and we used to come back on leave different ways so I’ve been nearly everywhere except Northern Europe.

I consider myself very lucky to be able to retire at 60 when my workplace retirement age is 67 in line with the state pension. Wanted to spend more time with my DH who is already retired.

When I retired, all I wanted was a quiet life, so we closed our online website and sold our overseas property.

I spend my time learning Arabic, attend Zumba classes, weekly meetup with local friends at Weatherspoon, read e-books mostly Regency romance books such as Bridgerton, watch English and Korean period dramas on Netflix.

Right now, I am watching the original Little House on the Prairie on Dvds which I used to love when I was young.

My occupational pension is adequate since I did not take a career break or work part time. Next year I will receive my small overseas state pension and two years later my state pension.

It is my intention to use my annual gift allowance to top up my daughter’s pension. Her generation will not be able to retire early since the state pension by then will most likely be 70+ years.

I retired a month before my 61st birthday. I got my work pension (lump sum and a tiny monthly amount) straight away but my State Pension at 63. OH retired the following year at 63. He has three work pensions and his State Pension. With our savings (mainly from OH working overseas for a lot of the time) we live fairly comfortably. Not extravagantly but we can afford reasonable holidays a couple of times a year and we’ve had some big trips to Australia. The last couple of times I’ve gone on my own as OH has had enough of long haul travel having done it for years.

We both have a few medical issues but at the moment we are ok.

I was concerned that OH would find retirement difficult. Because he was away from home so much he never really got involved in anything. After a couple of years he joined a tennis club (he’s had to give up now) and we both joined the U3A. He is a bee keeper with all that entails, shoots targets and runs the monthly U3A lunch club.

I am a member of the V&A and attend online and onsite day schools and courses. We both belong to the Arts Society and I belong to the local WI, a book group and we both go to the Local History Society.

I don’t think either of us are turning into vegetables any time soon!

OH was always looking forward to retirement but I was a little dubious until one Christmas we decided that was it. I gave a term’s notice and that was it.

I finally retired completely at 58. My career ended sooner than I had planned but that is how life happens sometimes.

Anyway, the truth is I love being retired, I can please myself about what I do and when I do it and I am no longer ruled by the alarm clock or by the latest fads to come along in my field of employment.

I did think I might miss working, the social side to it, the company, etc, but no, not a bit of it.

I did worry a bit about managing financially, but in actual fact, we are not much worse off than when working full time, and we live fairly simple lives. We enjoy a holiday, take an odd meal out, etc, but live within our means.

I keep in contact with a few of my former colleagues, we meet up every few months or so, but they are the ones I choose to socialise with. There are others I am pleased not to have anything to do with any more.

So, do I regret retiring ? No, not one little bit.

I retired at 50 and never regretted it. I planned to do it in my 20s and made pension and investment decisions accordingly. I went on to do some consultancy part-time for several years but now I'm fully retired. Good result.

Romola - that’s terribly funny! I know exactly how you felt. One more essay to mark, policy to write, lecture to research, and I would probably die. 😂

Aged 58, I suddenly felt that if I had to teach another Year 8 class the verb "aller" = to go, I would go mad. It so happened that the first GC was due, also DM was becoming frail and it seemed the right time. But DH didn't sell his business until he was 70 because he enjoyed running it.

I'll be 61 in a few days and have been working f/t since I was 16.

I've been mentally and physically exhausted doing 12-18 hours a day, 6, sometimes 7 days a week, but I could never retire, I'd be absolutely bored stupid!

I've never been the gardening or cooking type, no parties/social stuff, so I wouldn't know what to do if I couldn't work my bum off any more!

My husband is 82, not fully retired, not ready yet.

I could have gone at 52. Now 54, I have opted to take one pension, and go down to 3 day week from 6 day week. I adore being at home and just being the only ‘boss’ I have to answer too. (me only me!!) So much so that after only one week in this new p/t job I’m thinking I should have totally retired instead of semi.
Money might run out, but so might my time here. (IFA keeps saying I’m fine for £ until 92..)
I have a long list of stuff I want to do, and plenty of things I am currently doing. No shortage of groups for under 60s or older.

I haven’t come across many that have regretted retiring - whatever their age ! 🙂

The consensus here is delight in having retired early!

I retired at 56 after 35 years of full-time lecturing and management in F and HE. The intensive long hours meant I had no time to do all the other things I wanted to do - walking, seeing friends, painting, cooking, travelling, doing voluntary work, sitting in the garden, etc. DH became self-employed at the same time, just working when he wanted to. We moved out of London straight away, worrying that we might regret it (both had spent all our lives there) but it was magic to start again in a completely different and beautiful environment and throw ourselves into our changed lives.

Yes - do it if you have the finance and a plan!

I retired from my full time teaching role at 57 following the death of my youngest son when I realised that life is for living to the full as time is short. I did some odd bits of supply teaching to top up my teachers pension until SP kicked in but still had time for term time holidays and plenty of visits to the grandchildren. Def no regrets.

@Franbern My much younger brother also has a very high powered, exhausting and stressful job in NHS Mental Health. He is 55 and counting down the days until he can retire. I hope his own health (and that of your daughter) is not too damaged by the high stress levels, so that they can enjoy the retirement they deserve.

DH retired on his 65th birthday. He would have happily retired earlier but continued until he got his state pension - but not a day later! I was then 60 and self employed, I continued until I was 62 and we moved house, downsized and therefore money was less of an issue. I suppose I was a 'kept woman' until 66 when I collected my state pension. I don't have much private pension income, being a stay at home mum, and he has a few bits and pieces. We also have two small rental houses which we bought after inheritances, so have a comfortable income. I wish DH could have retired earlier, he has always had lots of hobbies to keep him occupied.

In the various groups I belong to we are finding that there are few newly retired people. Most committee members are over 75 and there aren’t the younger people coming up to take on the roles. They must all have gone travelling!

I worked full time till 50. Very stressful. Followed by 10 years for last years of parents. Followed by 10 years half time in a completely different job. Followed by by 10 years of volunteering for a variety of things a couple of days a week. Just doing U3A groups now. Enjoyed it all and I was lucky enough always to.be able to stop when I'd had enough.

My friend was a Modern Matron and she retired early with a very, very generous NHS pension. After less than a year she was bored stiff and went back to work part time in the NHS but in a completely different role with less responsibility and stress.

I did. Aged 64, and for the 1st 2 years I was very busy, but feel that I became older than my peers about 3 years in. Seem to lose speed.

Interesting this thread I retired at Christmas and am thinking of going back just a few hrs two days a week can’t decide.