The Retirement Thread

[Stevo 666]

You need to work out what - if anything - you will do

A bloke I used to work with said if he won lots of money then he would quit work and spend everyday fishing

But he was the sort that was never happy on his own
always went fishign witha group of friends

His concept collapsed when we pointed out that his friends would all be at work so he would be fishing alone

personally that would be the point in fishing to me
but he was different

and you need to work out how and who you are

I think I have a pretty good handle on those things and am thinking about post retirement activities with them in mind. That said, I have time to make my plans as I won't be retiring for a few years yet.

 

[Jenkins]

A few questions for you experienced retirees from an aspiring one at some point in the next few years. How did you decide when was the right time to retire, and with hindsight was it the right decision/timing?

At present, my main criteria are pretty obvious and once all three are ticked then I'm out:-
1. Financial security with a bit of buffer
2. Having enough stuff to do/hobbies to fill the days
3. Getting hacked off with the job/working
Have I missed anything?

I've noticed that of my mates who have retired, they generally fall into 2 camps: the ones who have stayed retired and the ones that have 'unretired'. Maybe coincidence, but the ones who stayed retired tended to be those who could wind the job down gradually (moving 4/3 days weeks, going part time etc) and get into the retirement groove over a few years; while the ones who unretired were in fairly full on jobs where there was no wind down option: you either did it full time or not at all - and for them, going back was not about the money, which shows that point 2 is relevant I reckon. (That said, one of them complained that his new 'boss' at home didn't appreciate his work or pay him ) I'm in the latter camp btw.

Any words of wisdom are very welcome 🙂

I'd always planned on retiring at 60 so finances were already in place (your point 1) when I took the opportunity to go a year earlier than that due to point 3 on your list. I was on the point of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person due to the way things were going and being got rid of on their terms, not mine.

As for your second point, that's not been a problem for me. I'd worked continuously for 41 years since leaving school and my intention was to spend my time NOT doing anything which I've managed quite well over the past 2 1/4 years. I'd moved to 3 days per week about 18 months prior to retirement, so had got a bit of practice in.