How many of you are retired or thinking about it.

[postman]

Thats a long intro.So i have been retired five years,a load of us were offered vol redundancy starting from 2004.I got offered it in 2006,left in August.The terms offered were too good to turn down,it included a tax free lump sum,immediate pension and a severence package.
Well it transformed our lives.I have got fitter had time to do voluntary work till the knee gave up.I can pick and choose my holiday dates.Home on an evening and weekends.Can go out on an evening can join in meetings and meals out.
Debt free,no mortgage got a lovely bike which i would not have been able to afford otherwise.I actually know more people now,because i am available.Also i still meet with upto sixteen of my ex workmates because two of us started a retired group meet up.We are having our third Xmas dinner in a pub very soon.
So if you are thinking and you get the chance leave.And for those who are near yet so far.It will come one day.And it's great.And i have made one cycling friendship that has changed the guys life.Thats according to his daughter.And i have also met a seventeen year old who we are schooling in the enjoyment of our beautiful Yorkshire countryside and numerous cafe stops.

 

[Davidc]

I wish!

Not entirely true, I get bored if I'm not working.

 

[numbnuts]

I retired 22 years ago,but not through choice

 

[Dayvo]

A long way to retirement for me, but I think about it all the time. In fact, I haven't really worked too much (enough for a pension or two, at the low end of the scale, but nothing to keep me anything more than comfortable) having a spent a lot of my time travelling/bumming/casual working around. But I wouldn't change it for anything.

Congrats on you finding a lifestyle now that you obviously enjoy and make the most of whever you can. And good on ya for passing on your interest and enthusiasm to others.

Also i still meet with upto sixteen of my ex workmates because two of us started a retired group meet up.We are having our third Xmas dinner in a pub very soon.

Bloody hell, postman, that some going - three dinners already! And there's still four weeks to go 'til the big day!

 

[tubbystar]

Would love to! Work seems to be getting in the way of all the stuff I want to do more and more.Trouble is, 40 is a bit young and there's always the money - well lack of it - issue.

 

[snorri]

Not entirely true, I get bored if I'm not working.

Retired people who don't work get bored too. The ones who do work just don't get paid by the hour like they used to pre-retirement, but there are other rewards.

 

[fossyant]

I wish, at least 23 years to go. I'd retire tomorrow if I could

 

[postman]

Bloody hell, postman, that some going - three dinners already! And there's still four weeks to go 'til the big day!

One has got to be so careful on here,things get turned around so quickly.Well spotted.

 

[col]

Think about it regularly, would love to, but the misses might not agree.

 

[Monsieur]

49 now and looking to retire by the time I'm 60 and travel before I'm in the old folks home

 

[Red Light]

Tried retirement twice but lasted six months each time before I got itchy to be doing something again. There is only so much travelling and cycling and holidays you can take before they stop being special and start becoming routine and boring. Much rather be busy doing things that are useful.

 

[MontyVeda]

I'm always thinking about retirement... but only being 42, I've got long wait

 

[vernon]

I retire to bed every night.

That will do for me for now.

 

[Hardrock93]

Like the OP, I took early voluntary retirement (just over two years ago) and the time has flown by. As soon as I stopped working I got involved with voluntary stuff such as walk leading, adult literacy and ESOL. All very different to anything I’d done in the past (I was latterly an engineer in mobile coms). It’s been hugely interesting and fulfilling and I've met a lot of great people.

I’ve also become a born again cyclist and a regular reader of CycleChat. When I got back into cycling I wasn’t sure if it was just a passing phase so made a deal with myself to stick with the old mountain bike for a year, before even considering a new machine. It’s now about 15 months later and the novelty has certainly not worn off. The only problem is deciding what to buy but, as problems go, it’s not a bad one to have.

 

[ASC1951]

I retired a couple of years ago, at 60. "I can't think how I ever had time to go to work" - but it's true.

Mind you, you do have to find stuff to keep your brain from turning to porridge. You can't get by on exercise alone, even if the gym and pool are miraculously empty mid morning.