Retirement ... Eeeek

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21

I must apologise for saying this but you are floating some things that may not be helpful. The idea of going from a stressful job in the City to overnight ennui is not one that some can handle and there is a mortality spike just after retirement

I was forced into an early retirement situation by some pretty substantial surgery followed by other surgery , so all that sick leave prepared me.

I would copy word for word what AndyP said, in my case my local council kindly wrote a false report for the extension next door. I had no experience of planning , none - what I did have was experience of property development funded by mortgage fraud

After I won at the LGO , I found out that mine was one of three , all involving local builders being allowed too develop McMansions , one thing led to another and cutting a long story short I was asked to help a local community group .

This has now plateaued out but it looks as if a special team may investigate .

Please stay fit and hopefully expand your interests. A friend of mine used to make nuclear weapons now at over 70 he teaches carpentry skills ,

I also spend far too much time on this forum and have met some nice people as a result, Graham 55, EoinK and of course Pete The PainterThe world as they say is your lobster

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22

In my experience, the biggest adjustment is the immediate transition from scarce free time worth a great deal, to almost infinite free time, rendering it worth next to nothing. As a fundamentally lazy sort, I seem to be managing it well :wink::sunglasses:

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23

Instead of reading your business e-mails, you could read your personal e-mails, even if itā€™s only the latest offers from your wine club or similar.
For problem-solving think cryptic crosswords or sudoku.
Find a regular pastime that gets you out of the house. I joined up with the day-spa in a local 5-star hotel where I can work out in the gym and swim in the pool in the mornings.
If you donā€™t already have a hobby, learn guitar or do arts classes, take courses, whatever your thing is.
If you already play an instrument, learn the stuff you always wanted to learn when you didnā€™t have time.
Cycle. If itā€™s too strenuous get an e-bike. Travel places and cycle the most beautiful routes. Go hill-walking if you prefer.
If you drink alcohol, do a brewing or wine-tasting course.
The mobile home idea mentioned above is a great one and you can spend your days planning your next trips. You will meet lots of new friends on your travels and can afford to stay longer.
Get in contact with someone you know who lives far away and has similar tastes in music and arrange to meet up anywhere where a great gig is on. There are plenty of potential music pals here. Start a thread for concert pals.
The sailing course idea is good. I did exactly that when I retired and that kept me well busy and got me out of the house.
Learn to play a competitive game, such as bridge (but donā€™t play with your wife, itā€™s a recipe for disaster). Travel the world and play in local clubs wherever you go.
Organize a school reunion. Works well if the school is far away. Set up a WhatsApp group and get in contact with your old friends.
I could go on but these are just a few ideas for starters.

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24

Iā€™ve never been busier since retirement (55). Iā€™ve no idea how I got things done and went to work.

I already had hobbies (e.g. classic cars) in the first place though so that is is what I now do.

Just got back from a trip to Devon to drop my engine parts off for specialist work. We set off at 4am from Manchester so a 540 mile round trip - Iā€™d had have to book a day off if I was working.

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25

I retired early at 62 and it is one of the best things I ever did. In my case I had a very high pressure, high stress job during my last decade a work, although the work itself could be very satisfying. Dealing with professional issues around COVID probably shortened my time working. Leaving aside the financial situation I think that for many people the change in social interaction is one of the biggest issues if their social life is centered around work whether in or out of the office.

In my case, I didnā€™t wake up and wonder what I would do without going into work. In fact for the first year or so it was exactly the opposite. I woke up worrying about what I needed to do at work and then realized, each day, that I didnā€™t have to deal with that and could do almost anything I wanted.

Having said that, I think that making a decision about retirement is very personal. For many people their job is their life and they get great satisfaction in making a difference through work and advancing in their careers. An advisor once told me that if you are in a good financial position after retirement then the single most important thing determining the quality of your life is your health. In my case, early retirement improved my health and perhaps gave me a few extra years on this planet.

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26

I donā€™t think I could have retired if I wasnā€™t a golfer.
Bet thereā€™s a golf course close to where you live!
Is that an option?

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27

Even after being retired for 6 months, I still find myself thinking (realising?) that I donā€™t have to go to work the next day, or, indeed, as happened last Saturday evening that I didnā€™t have to have a shower early and go to bed early on Sunday for my 4:00 am rising time.

I still think to my colleague Keith, who was, iirc 62ish in 1995, and looking forward to talking slightly early retirement. A pain in his foot was followed by a heart attack, and he never made it to retirementā€¦

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28

I worked in the space industry for 45 years. Good times, bad times etc, but never lost ā€œthe loveā€. Gave up in 2020 (when I reached SPA) due to ā€œbeing mentally and physically knackeredā€. A few of my like minded colleagues worked a good number of years after their ā€œretirement ageā€ - we still meet up.

Since then, Iā€™ve been bored sh1tless.

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29

Not sure if my experience is useful, butā€¦ Back in 2014 (which is 10 years ago now - so I was 54), my services were terminated by my employer. At the time I was part way through a divorce, so it suited me to spot working. I deliberately tapped by company pension, early, right or wrong - but it gave me an income, albeit limited.

10 years on, I have managed to live on my company pension, while still being able to go some interesting things. Later this year, my UK State Pension is due to kick in, so my income will get a boost.

Work wise - I donā€™t. Simple. I do volunteer on the Great Central Railway, several time a month - but that doesnā€™t really countā€¦!!!

I would re-iterate what was said above. Start doing those things you always put off. Do find ways to have fun.

There is more to Life than Work,.

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30

Retired early at 55 from IT Level 3 support.

There seems to be two camps here - Retire slowly and carefully, or Retire with immediate freedom. Iā€™m in the latter camp.

Coming up to leaving, I did struggle with the idea that all the information and know-how I had learnt would never be used, and felt like a waste. At work I did leave a Knowledgeable and lots of well documented scripts, so I suppose a piece of me there lives on. However after a few months, that feeling was mostly gone. My IT work now is stuff I do for my own pleasure, and that is amazing, because it doesnā€™t matter to anyone if what I do works or not - a great freedom.

Iā€™m not a big fan of reducing your number of working days, or just doing a few hours to keep you hand in. That to me just seems like keeping all that pressure. When I think back to my last day at all my jobs, there has always been a big relief that I can just drop all local knowledge and all the problems that were currently in progress, or the ones that you know were bubbling under the surfaceā€¦

I see that some people view retirement as a time when you go on lots of holidays, world cruise, etc. To me, that seems like putting a lot of pressure on yourself to keep the adrenaline running high. My hope was that retirement would be just an extension of those weekends when you dont seem to do a lot, but have fun pottering around doing nothing important, or catching up on paperwork. DIY can also be fun as you havenā€™t the pressure of having to get to all done over the weekend. Retirement for me has been pretty much this, which may sound boring to some.

Missing people from work. Well yes, this may happen, but remember the people that are forced on you at work may not be the people that you would normally mix with in home life. The advantage of retirement is that you can join things that will have people with similar mind set to yourself.

Status can be a big thing for people. They have risen to the top during their career, then retirement puts them back on the same level as people that may not have been achievers for whatever reason. Without meaning to sound rude, itā€™s a matter of getting-over-yourself.

What I also feel very grateful for is not all that wasted traveling time - especially appreciated in winter.

My father-in-law did a factory job, and all his life, him and his best friend would discuss what they would do when they retired at 65. They then both retired, but his friend died within a view months, never having enjoyed retirement. To me that was so sad, so Iā€™m a big advocate of retiring early (possibly with a simpler life) but enjoying time with your partner while you are both still active.

I would suggest writing down a few thoughts on what you would like to do if you have time, but dont beat yourself up if you dont achieve them - remember this is time for freedom, not pressure. Look for things that you both do together (e.g. dancing), along with a few separate hobbies. You will also find that once you retire, activities will be more visible now that your have the time for contemplation.

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31

Yes, there is a spike in mortality associated with retirement, my Dad passed away at 52, it was a factor in me wanting to get out very early.

AVCs are superbā€¦

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32

Sorry to hear about your dad passing so soon.

Iā€™ve heard that increased mortality associated iwth retirement several times over the years too, but have more recently been told itā€™s an actuarial oddity/artefact.

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33

I seriously wondered about early retirement a few years ago, and still do.

I appreciate the financial side may not be a factor, but there may be other comments worthy of appraisal.

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34

Ah, there are two spikes, one is for young people and is associated with motorbikes and the other is for 60 plus members . was associated with retirement.

I look back on my career and saw it several times.

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35

I started my AVC in my mid thirties, I am always slightly unsure that the actuary got his figures wrong, as the return was staggeringly good.

I didnā€™t query it.

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36

Yes, you mention that in my link.

I was told of the relatively sudden post-retirement blip maybe 10-15 years ago at a conference with a financial ā€˜interludeā€™ between lectures.

Iā€™ve also seen examples of a few colleagues passing on pretty suddenly or within months of retirement myself.

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37

Regarding increased mortality. In the late 70s early 80s there was a story (no evidence given) that only one in three of the Army who served 22 years would live to draw their old age pension. Be interesting to see if it was true and what was the basis of the story. Perhaps it was the lifestyle of the time?

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38

Not that I want to give financial advice as such, but it is worth noting that annuities have been pretty good for the last year, so I would certainly recommend putting your private pension fund total into an annuity calculator to get an idea on what the top annuity companies such as Canada Life, Aviva and Legal and General would payout until you die. You might be surprised how much more it is than the estimates the pension companies give you in your annual statements. Iā€™ve had two recently that were around 50% more than on the pension statements

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39

That is interesting, simply because of something which surprised me with annual comparisons from my pension scheme (public sector with several changes since 2008).

In essence on my latest ā€˜statementā€™ it basically says that to buy an equivalent private pension annuity Iā€™d need to ā€˜payā€™ maybe 45% of what Iā€™d have paid for a marginally lower pension annuity in the previous year - bizarre and completely confusing from an LTA perspective.

My assumption was that annuities were much more affordable at that point as the private pension cost was considerably cheaper.

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40

Yes, it is now that life is put to the test, I would suppose. Did you make the right life choice or did you not? Have you lived to work or have you worked to live? Now there is time for reflection, perhaps for the first time in life? Something new always comes out of it in any case, so good luck :pray:

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