View Full Version : Retirement: an unsettling experience
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 15:06
Well, after 48.5 years of solid work and 6 months from State Retirement Age I'm hanging up my pen and cursor this week. I feel far from 'shot/knackered/spent' and I've been looking forward to escape my partly-mundane, sedentary and often frustrating work and replacing it with a myriad of things I enjoy but which I have vowed to shut my trap about on here.
I went part-time four years ago and haven't been into the office since March 2020 so it's not the same as the sudden jolt of going from full-time to fully-retired overnight. Most of my peers have already retired (and stepped up their physical exercise with the extra hours of leisure and as I intend to) so the former 'craic' at work wouldn't be the same if I returned.
The next few months are chocker with trips planned around the UK (seeing friends, attending gigs and City games and engaging more in one of my pastimes) and next year, if it is safe to do so my net will be casting even further afield and for longer periods.
Retirement for me and for many others means getting involved in more activities (and pleasurable ones) than ever before. No inept management to answer to any more, no frustrating and laborious work processes to endure any longer and no confines of any description (although they were minimal compared to many people's work environments).
So what's the problem I hear you not asking.....
It just feels weird thinking that:
1. One's expertise at work won't ever exercised or sought after again
2. Not working seems like a guilty luxury to this person of working class stock when many people around the world are scratching about for a living
3. I don't feel old and decrepit enough to cease work. (A strange notion for some people but it was a concept that which was familiar to many of our parents)
I have already created a timetable for me to indulge in physical and intellectual tasks every day but am I going to end up typing on here every hour of the day dressed just in a string vest with fried egg stains on it and with my goolies hanging out?
Answers on a post card, please.......
Sunnysideup
03-08-21, 15:18
You deserve to take things easy and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise- do what floats your boat to fill your leisure time matey !!
My mate was sixty in January
He’d worked as a butcher for 44 years
The company he worked for wanted him to stay on but his wife insisted he deserved to stay at home to do what he pleased 😀
After six months of completing any chores by twelve then going down the pub until eight 🍺🍺🍺🍺she soon changed her mind lol
He’s back working full time 🤣
I finished a day before my 60th birthday in May. I'd had enough of work and wanted a change. I might look for some part time work in a few months but at the moment I am enjoying doing what I want, when I want. However, I have had all of the feelings you list. It's taken me a long time to stop waking up at 6:30 every morning (I still do it some days) and sitting in bed with a mug of tea doing the crossword makes me feel guilty. I should be up doing something.
I'm really enjoying the spontaneity being retired allows though. My wife and I have just got back from a bike ride, entirely unplanned, we just said "the weather's nice, lets go for a ride", similarly we have been out for meals on the spur of the moment and taken the caravan away for short breaks. In many ways it is like the days before we had children.
Harry Lime
03-08-21, 15:37
Congratulations on your retirement.
I've scaled things down at 54 and only work part time now. I got sick of chasing the Yankee dollar realising that being comfortable with a moderate income that just about covers the monthly outgoings is better for the head.
The dog is thrilled having 2 hour walks most days and I fill in the rest of the time doing a bit of voluntary work with a local environmental group and the woodland trust.
Can highly recommend a bit of voluntary work 👍
Well, after 48.5 years of solid work and 6 months from State Retirement Age I'm hanging up my pen and cursor this week. I feel far from 'shot/knackered/spent' and I've been looking forward to escape my partly-mundane, sedentary and often frustrating work and replacing it with a myriad of things I enjoy but which I have vowed to shut my trap about on here.
I went part-time four years ago and haven't been into the office since March 2020 so it's not the same as the sudden jolt of going from full-time to fully-retired overnight. Most of my peers have already retired (and stepped up their physical exercise with the extra hours of leisure and as I intend to) so the former 'craic' at work wouldn't be the same if I returned.
The next few months are chocker with trips planned around the UK (seeing friends, attending gigs and City games and engaging more in one of my pastimes) and next year, if it is safe to do so my net will be casting even further afield and for longer periods.
Retirement for me and for many others means getting involved in more activities (and pleasurable ones) than ever before. No inept management to answer to any more, no frustrating and laborious work processes to endure any longer and no confines of any description (although they were minimal compared to many people's work environments).
So what's the problem I hear you not asking.....
It just feels weird thinking that:
1. One's expertise at work won't ever exercised or sought after again
2. Not working seems like a guilty luxury to this person of working class stock when many people around the world are scratching about for a living
3. I don't feel old and decrepit enough to cease work. (A strange notion for some people but it was a concept that which was familiar to many of our parents)
I have already created a timetable for me to indulge in physical and intellectual tasks every day but am I going to end up typing on here every hour of the day dressed just in a string vest with fried egg stains on it and with my goolies hanging out?
Answers on a post card, please.......
I would think the mere fct you felt the need to create a timetable to fill your day si a worrying fact of itself?
I finished a day before my 60th birthday in May. I'd had enough of work and wanted a change. I might look for some part time work in a few months but at the moment I am enjoying doing what I want, when I want. However, I have had all of the feelings you list. It's taken me a long time to stop waking up at 6:30 every morning (I still do it some days) and sitting in bed with a mug of tea doing the crossword makes me feel guilty. I should be up doing something.
I'm really enjoying the spontaneity being retired allows though. My wife and I have just got back from a bike ride, entirely unplanned, we just said "the weather's nice, lets go for a ride", similarly we have been out for meals on the spur of the moment and taken the caravan away for short breaks. In many ways it is like the days before we had children.
Does your caravan enjoy short breaks? Sorry :getscoat:
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 15:43
I would think the mere fct you felt the need to create a timetable to fill your day si a worrying fact of itself?
Why so? I have a lot of things I want to do every week - and I don't want my mind or body to go to seed. Or in the case my body, I aim to get fitter than I am now and, in general, I don't just want to loaf around frittering away time aimlessly.
Will you now have retirement colleagues?
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 15:48
Will you now have retirement colleagues?
No, just non-work colleagues :hehe:
I was going to learn how to get tickets off the tinternet from Cardiff City.
Then I discovered afternoon tele :hehe:
Welshcake.
03-08-21, 16:03
No, just non-work colleagues :hehe:
Have you considered the G word? (Golf)
Allez Allez Allez
03-08-21, 16:03
Why so? I have a lot of things I want to do every week - and I don't want my mind or body to go to seed. Or in the case my body, I aim to get fitter than I am now and, in general, I don't just want to loaf around frittering away time aimlessly.
Firstly, congratulations on your retirement.
Secondly, what a shitter that someone who loves traveling is retiring into this situation, but it looks to be improving and I hope we hear more of your stories from your travels
As for doing a timetable, I think that is an excellent idea. I have often thought that retiring would be like breaking up from school for the summer months, only to return in September thinking "Oh, I didn't do any of that". I hope you stay in good health, but remember you will never be as young as you are today.
I have been saving extensively for my own retirement, and the plan is that I will pack in work in 10 years time when I hit 55. By that stage I will have paid for my house. I have no other debts. I will sell my house, move to a smaller one, and use that money to have a few years of fun and travel. If I have to return to work, it will not be in the stress riddled environment of my current expertise. The job pays well, and I have been chucking 20% of my wages into my pension, and the company have been putting in 10%. It will be a good pension.
"1. One's expertise at work won't ever exercised or sought after again
2. Not working seems like a guilty luxury to this person of working class stock when many people around the world are scratching about for a living
3. I don't feel old and decrepit enough to cease work. (A strange notion for some people but it was a concept that which was familiar to many of our parents)"
Point 1. So what? You've doubtless helped and shown plenty of people the ropes. I often think about advice I've received from a myriad of mentors who have long since departed the working life. That advice I have passed onto younger colleagues. Your expertise will carry on in various forms.
2. Guilt is the last thing you need to feel. Retirement is earnt. One way to alleviate this would be/ could be to do some volunteering work. Maybe on a once a week basis, whatever suits you. But, you don't owe anyone anything mate. Maybe you've got lucky in life, but luck is the reward of hard graft (except bad luck in health). I've had bad luck with a redundancy or two, that was out of my control. Getting a better job after each was because of skills I worked hard to get, and experiences I worked hard to find. I doubt it's much different for any of us.
3. Thanks to modern science and medicine, and modern work practices, people are no longer going from 6 weeks of retirement to a grave because of coal dust, chronic illnesses from working with asbestos, or just sheer exhaustion. These are all things that you made possible by working for 48.5 years and paying taxes to help educate these people.
Best of luck with your retirement. Please don't follow the example of some on here who will happily spunk their hard earned leisure talking shit. That would give you every reason to feel guilty. We live once. There is no after life. There is no reincarnation. We are a long time dead. Get out there and live the life you have earnt and well done.
I was made redundant (2nd time) 9 years ago. So I couldn't face not doing anything and went self employed on a consultancy basis. I am supposed to work about 3 days per week, but generally do about 1.5. At 66 years old I have been working since September 1972, so I hope to make it 50 years next year. I;d be bored without something to do, or not have enough money to do what i want. The last 18 months have not been good , same as all of us, not allowed to work for most of it. But less stressed than when working full time.
But it's getting busier now as...... the football season starts and we can go. I've been to the two home friendlies, and we have four homes games in August - I'll be knackered!!
Allez Allez Allez
03-08-21, 16:10
I was going to learn how to get tickets off the tinternet from Cardiff City.
Then I discovered afternoon tele :hehe:
Oh God. A few years of Homes Under the Hammer and Loose Women and you'll wake up one day wondering if you could have done something, well, ANYthing worthwhile. :hehe:
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 16:13
I was going to learn how to get tickets off the tinternet from Cardiff City.
Then I discovered afternoon tele :hehe:
Who turned it on for you? :hehe:
Oh God. A few years of Homes Under the Hammer and Loose Women and you'll wake up one day wondering if you could have done something, well, ANYthing worthwhile. :hehe:
Na, not that rubbish.
Dickinson's Real Deal. :thumbup:, then Alibi for the antique shows
Some people will buy any old sh!t
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 16:14
Have you considered the G word? (Golf)
No need. I have more than enough interests to fill my time, thanks.
Who turned it on for you? :hehe:
It is an effort, sometimes it's got a mind of it's own
Have you considered the G word? (Golf)
I'm more into the G spot (how do you find it :hehe:)
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 16:18
It is an effort, sometimes it's got a mind of it's own
I remember watching the Olympics on TV before remote controls existed. I used to use a long stick with a rubber end to push the channel buttons from the sofa.
splott parker
03-08-21, 17:41
I remember watching the Olympics on TV before remote controls existed. I used to use a long stick with a rubber end to push the channel buttons from the sofa.
My old man used to think he was some kind of television engineer. When the old box went on the blink, a firm bang on the top of the set with his fist always seemed to do the trick.
A Quiet Monkfish
03-08-21, 18:25
Well, after 48.5 years of solid work and 6 months from State Retirement Age I'm hanging up my pen and cursor this week. I feel far from 'shot/knackered/spent' and I've been looking forward to escape my partly-mundane, sedentary and often frustrating work and replacing it with a myriad of things I enjoy but which I have vowed to shut my trap about on here.
I went part-time four years ago and haven't been into the office since March 2020 so it's not the same as the sudden jolt of going from full-time to fully-retired overnight. Most of my peers have already retired (and stepped up their physical exercise with the extra hours of leisure and as I intend to) so the former 'craic' at work wouldn't be the same if I returned.
The next few months are chocker with trips planned around the UK (seeing friends, attending gigs and City games and engaging more in one of my pastimes) and next year, if it is safe to do so my net will be casting even further afield and for longer periods.
Retirement for me and for many others means getting involved in more activities (and pleasurable ones) than ever before. No inept management to answer to any more, no frustrating and laborious work processes to endure any longer and no confines of any description (although they were minimal compared to many people's work environments).
So what's the problem I hear you not asking.....
It just feels weird thinking that:
1. One's expertise at work won't ever exercised or sought after again
2. Not working seems like a guilty luxury to this person of working class stock when many people around the world are scratching about for a living
3. I don't feel old and decrepit enough to cease work. (A strange notion for some people but it was a concept that which was familiar to many of our parents)
I have already created a timetable for me to indulge in physical and intellectual tasks every day but am I going to end up typing on here every hour of the day dressed just in a string vest with fried egg stains on it and with my goolies hanging out?
Answers on a post card, please.......
As you eluded to, the impact of retirement upon each of us can be significantly different depending on the working environment we've just left. As one who hardly spent any time in an office for the past 30yrs, retirement seemed no different except I had a lot more time on my hands. The funny thing is, I seem to have all sorts of little, trivial things to keep me busy which I really don't know how I did them before. I go to the gym 3 times a week, just an hour, and then the missus & I go out for a coffee. This f****ng covid thing hasn't helped, but I'd recommend taking a few short breaks - out of school hols time- and search out a few local walks. There are loads around here. Don't 'take up a hobby' just for the sake of it, though.
dandywarhol
03-08-21, 18:41
I retired in 2012,Went straight to working 3 days a week in a community centre/food bank.I hung my boots up aged 69 a weeks ago.
Getting itchy feet already.It's the winter is the worse.
Great thread .
TBG - good luck with your retirement, looks like you have it sussed.
Long way to go for me, but it’s still a massive worry. I do long hours and it’s intense, I wonder how I will cope with it just stopping.
I can’t sit still or shut off now !
Nice to read other people’s views on it too and I know so many ( some very close to me) who didn’t get the chance to have that time to themselves. Seems a good idea to plan your time .
Dublinblue
03-08-21, 19:49
Nice thread, and good luck TBG. Am hoping to jack it in myself fairly soon. I imagine I'll have plenty to keep me busy, but I will only find out when I get there!
Am going back to college part-time to study psychotherapy. It'll be 4 years to a qualification (if I stick it that long) and then I'd need to build up hours to become accredited, but whether or not I go the distance, it will give me a focus for the next while. I have a few other projects that I'm keen to kick off too.
Don’t feel guilty TBG. None of us know how long we have on this earth. Enjoy not being restricted to what you can do because of work. Embrace your freedom.
I will be retiring just before I hit 60 in a couple of years time and cannot wait.
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 20:12
Don’t feel guilty TBG. None of us know how long we have on this earth. Enjoy not being restricted to what you can do because of work. Embrace your freedom.
I will be retiring just before I hit 60 in a couple of years time and cannot wait.
Slacker :hehe:
Des Parrot
03-08-21, 20:13
Keep us informed TBG, although not Onslow style! I’ve set my date in April ‘24, it’s later than I planned some 45 years ago but I don’t have the balls to go earlier, I’ve been working 60 hour weeks for 20 years and the void would be a mental challenge!
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 20:34
Keep us informed TBG, although not Onslow style! I’ve set my date in April ‘24, it’s later than I planned some 45 years ago but I don’t have the balls to go earlier, I’ve been working 60 hour weeks for 20 years and the void would be a mental challenge!
I can't keep you informed as two of the three major things that will occupy me I can't mention - after seemingly boring people to death on the chosen subjects. Let's just say that I will be ultra-mobile when circumstances permit.........
On the other hand, you need to get some in before the Grim Reaper comes a'calling...........
I can't keep you informed as two of the three major things that will occupy me I can't mention - after seemingly boring people to death on the chosen subjects. Let's just say that I will be ultra-mobile when circumstances permit.........
On the other hand, you need to get some in before the Grim Reaper comes a'calling...........
I cant remember whether youd visited every European country or not, but I quite enjoy your travellers tales.
Which continent is next?
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 20:52
I cant remember whether youd visited every European country or not, but I quite enjoy your travellers tales.
Which continent is next?
I'll keep schtum for now but thanks for your kind words :-)
Jimmy the Jock
03-08-21, 21:24
Great thread , something I can definitely relate to .
I am 61 in a few days time have been running my own business since I was 30 years old .
The business has done ok and a few months ago I decided that if I didnt sell the business, I would carry on working
till they put me in the box . So I was going to sell...
After making this decision , getting the company valued and working out my options ... I decided ...NOT to sell.
The sale of the company would have given me more money than I would need for my future plans .
I am lucky that I have staff who deal with most things in the day to day running of the business . I am only needed for the financial
decisions and sorting some of the major problems out ( we dont have that many)
And I realised I like going to work , I am lucky that I can go in generally when I want to . As TBG mentioned , I want to still sort the problems out , make the deal , buy and sell , its fun now . Would I feel different if I didnt have that responsibility, I think so . Yes.
Plus of course I have built my vegan burger van which allows me to work weekends as well now. (This is temporary for me )
I should be getting on a plane to Mont Blanc tomorrow for a walking holiday , because it wanders into France it would have meant isolating for 10 days on return. The itinerary was quite intense and I havent been doing as much walking as I would like recently so last week I got up at 5 and headed up to pen y fan at 6 before getting back and going to work late morning . Repeated it on the Saturday up and down in a tad over 2 hours after sitting drinking till the early hours in the Storie Arms car park with my lad , staying in our camper vans . I have had to do a bit of Pilates to stretch my legs out this week :hehe: .
So at 61 I still feel fit as ever , my mind is still active . I have a new larger camper van being built which will allow longer journeys away , start with a month and build it up . This country has so much to offer , Europe fascinates me .
I do think , ah, but wouldn't it be nice not to have the worry about anything ?
For me , no , I would vegetate .
TBG if you ever fancy a pint before or after a game :thumbup:
Taunton Blue Genie
03-08-21, 21:35
Great thread , something I can definitely relate to .
I am 61 in a few days time have been running my own business since I was 30 years old .
The business has done ok and a few months ago I decided that if I didnt sell the business, I would carry on working
till they put me in the box . So I was going to sell...
After making this decision , getting the company valued and working out my options ... I decided ...NOT to sell.
The sale of the company would have given me more money than I would need for my future plans .
I am lucky that I have staff who deal with most things in the day to day running of the business . I am only needed for the financial
decisions and sorting some of the major problems out ( we dont have that many)
And I realised I like going to work , I am lucky that I can go in generally when I want to . As TBG mentioned , I want to still sort the problems out , make the deal , buy and sell , its fun now . Would I feel different if I didnt have that responsibility, I think so . Yes.
Plus of course I have built my vegan burger van which allows me to work weekends as well now. (This is temporary for me )
I should be getting on a plane to Mont Blanc tomorrow for a walking holiday , because it wanders into France it would have meant isolating for 10 days on return. The itinerary was quite intense and I havent been doing as much walking as I would like recently so last week I got up at 5 and headed up to pen y fan at 6 before getting back and going to work late morning . Repeated it on the Saturday up and down in a tad over 2 hours after sitting drinking till the early hours in the Storie Arms car park with my lad , staying in our camper vans . I have had to do a bit of Pilates to stretch my legs out this week :hehe: .
So at 61 I still feel fit as ever , my mind is still active . I have a new larger camper van being built which will allow longer journeys away , start with a month and build it up . This country has so much to offer , Europe fascinates me .
I do think , ah, but wouldn't it be nice not to have the worry about anything ?
For me , no , I would vegetate .
TBG if you ever fancy a pint before or after a game :thumbup:
As my usual travelling companion to City games isn't around for the Millwall and Bristol City games it would be good to have a pint before or after a game. Even better if you fancy a decent walk in the hills the following day - as I could stay over in Cardiff in the modest campervan I am experimenting with.:thumbup:
UNDERHILL1927
04-08-21, 05:52
Well, after 48.5 years of solid work and 6 months from State Retirement Age I'm hanging up my pen and cursor this week. I feel far from 'shot/knackered/spent' and I've been looking forward to escape my partly-mundane, sedentary and often frustrating work and replacing it with a myriad of things I enjoy but which I have vowed to shut my trap about on here.
I went part-time four years ago and haven't been into the office since March 2020 so it's not the same as the sudden jolt of going from full-time to fully-retired overnight. Most of my peers have already retired (and stepped up their physical exercise with the extra hours of leisure and as I intend to) so the former 'craic' at work wouldn't be the same if I returned.
The next few months are chocker with trips planned around the UK (seeing friends, attending gigs and City games and engaging more in one of my pastimes) and next year, if it is safe to do so my net will be casting even further afield and for longer periods.
Retirement for me and for many others means getting involved in more activities (and pleasurable ones) than ever before. No inept management to answer to any more, no frustrating and laborious work processes to endure any longer and no confines of any description (although they were minimal compared to many people's work environments).
So what's the problem I hear you not asking.....
It just feels weird thinking that:
1. One's expertise at work won't ever exercised or sought after again
2. Not working seems like a guilty luxury to this person of working class stock when many people around the world are scratching about for a living
3. I don't feel old and decrepit enough to cease work. (A strange notion for some people but it was a concept that which was familiar to many of our parents)
I have already created a timetable for me to indulge in physical and intellectual tasks every day but am I going to end up typing on here every hour of the day dressed just in a string vest with fried egg stains on it and with my goolies hanging out?
Answers on a post card, please.......
Congratulations and good luck mate. Any large-scale change is daunting but you deserve a rest for all those years served.
the other bob wilson
04-08-21, 06:48
This thread shows we're all different. Working was always just a means to getting the money to do the things I really enjoyed doing for me, so I chose to go into semi retirement the first change I got at the age of fifty three even though I knew that financially it would be tough bridging the gap between when the fairly small redundancy package I received had been spent and when I qualified for the state pension.
I've bridged that gap to some extent by working a few hours a week on doing things I enjoy - writing the blog and the occasional book about City (a big thank you to everyone who contributes to the modest income I make from the blog without which I would have really struggled in the last two or three y6ears).
Retirement, or the thought of it, has never been unsettling to me, but I've spoken to enough people for whom it is to be aware that I'm lucky, and probably in a minority, to be like I am.
I can't offer you much advice TBG because I hardly think of myself as someone who has "cracked" retirement so to speak, but I think you're right to target mental as well as physical well being.
Best of luck with your retirement - based on what you've written and the common sense you've posted on here down the years, I'm sure you'll be fine.
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 07:08
This thread shows we're all different. Working was always just a means to getting the money to do the things I really enjoyed doing for me, so I chose to go into semi retirement the first change I got at the age of fifty three even though I knew that financially it would be tough bridging the gap between when the fairly small redundancy package I received had been spent and when I qualified for the state pension.
I've bridged that gap to some extent by working a few hours a week on doing things I enjoy - writing the blog and the occasional book about City (a big thank you to everyone who contributes to the modest income I make from the blog without which I would have really struggled in the last two or three y6ears).
Retirement, or the thought of it, has never been unsettling to me, but I've spoken to enough people for whom it is to be aware that I'm lucky, and probably in a minority, to be like I am.
I can't offer you much advice TBG because I hardly think of myself as someone who has "cracked" retirement so to speak, but I think you're right to target mental as well as physical well being.
Best of luck with your retirement - based on what you've written and the common sense you've posted on here down the years, I'm sure you'll be fine.
Thanks, Bob. I don't actually need advice as I have so many things to do each and every week - and the number of events and trips I have planned (domestic and otherwise) are legion. Apart from the throwaway line about being on here about typing in my dunghampers I was wistfully reflecting on the transition rather than a problem I actually have with it. The world is my lobster, as they don't say....
Thanks for your kind words, by the way!
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 07:11
Congratulations and good luck mate. Any large-scale change is daunting but you deserve a rest for all those years served.
Far from needing a rest I will be putting my energy into activities that are the opposite to sedentary work! Retirement sounds like going out to grass but it's an opportunity to be far more active rather than less.
sneggyblubird
04-08-21, 07:23
Well done, your going in all guns blazing and it sounds as if you're still healthy.I'm 63 and now retired and a big change is coming to me next monday as I'm having my lower right leg amputated.I'll be dammed if its gonna stop me but looking at things from a disabled point of view will be an eye opener for a while.
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 07:45
Well done, your going in all guns blazing and it sounds as if you're still healthy.I'm 63 and now retired and a big change is coming to me next monday as I'm having my lower right leg amputated.I'll be dammed if its gonna stop me but looking at things from a disabled point of view will be an eye opener for a while.
Phew, now that is a major transition in life. Good for you in remaining positive. I remember a study a while back about people who had life-changing events such as amputation of a limb, winning the lottery etc - and it found that after the initial effects of the major event subsided somewhat and the individuals got used to their new 'normal' they generally reverted to type regarding their positive or negative outlook that they had beforehand. No doubt that my hazy synopsis doesn't do the study justice but I certainly admire your outlook regarding a very major change in your life. We all know people who didn't even make it to their 60's, of course.
(I hope that my post came over as light-hearted in comparison as my predicament is far from being a problem. Far from it, in fact!)
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 07:46
Oops
Swiss Peter
04-08-21, 08:39
Congratulations TBG - and good luck to Sneggy with the op.
I retired at 59 and my very last working day was 31st Dec 2019. That was the exact day that news started emerging of something rather unpleasant developing in China.
The pandemic had a huge impact on my plans (as it did with everyone else of course) and did need some major re-adjustment in attitude and approach to retirement. Big travel plans (including a part time job flying legal docs around Europe) were replaced with growing vegetables and local voluntary work!
Now a year and a half in I do feel the need to re-calibrate as I do find myself lethargic at times. At least now it seems there's the prospect to plan forward a bit more.
One thing's for sure - I don't miss the commuting and the endless corporate bullshit!
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 08:53
Congratulations TBG - and good luck to Sneggy with the op.
I retired at 59 and my very last working day was 31st Dec 2019. That was the exact day that news started emerging of something rather unpleasant developing in China.
The pandemic had a huge impact on my plans (as it did with everyone else of course) and did need some major re-adjustment in attitude and approach to retirement. Big travel plans (including a part time job flying legal docs around Europe) were replaced with growing vegetables and local voluntary work!
Now a year and a half in I do feel the need to re-calibrate as I do find myself lethargic at times. At least now it seems there's the prospect to plan forward a bit more.
One thing's for sure - I don't miss the commuting and the endless corporate bullshit!
Grüezi, Swiss Pete. Your part-time occupation sounds interesting if you have the freedom to stay at your own expense for a few days at the destinations you have to head for. In fact, if you can pm me regarding that matter it may tickle my buds, as it were.
splott parker
04-08-21, 09:17
I’m 66, still working, would quickly get bored if I wasn’t. Living differently though with far more holidays and weekend breaks, nearly all have been postponed or cancelled but the thought was there.
Had a sad ‘phone call from my missus earlier this morning, the 46 year old son of a friend of our passed away suddenly during the night leaving a wife and kids. Seems retirement age is, perhaps, only a number. I s’pose you’re never too young to start that bucket list.
At times this lockdown has given me a glimpse of retirement, and I can't wait.
sneggyblubird
04-08-21, 10:32
Phew, now that is a major transition in life. Good for you in remaining positive. I remember a study a while back about people who had life-changing events such as amputation of a limb, winning the lottery etc - and it found that after the initial effects of the major event subsided somewhat and the individuals got used to their new 'normal' they generally reverted to type regarding their positive or negative outlook that they had beforehand. No doubt that my hazy synopsis doesn't do the study justice but I certainly admire your outlook regarding a very major change in your life. We all know people who didn't even make it to their 60's, of course.
(I hope that my post came over as light-hearted in comparison as my predicament is far from being a problem. Far from it, in fact!)
Its all been quick.What started as a little injury on my toe at Easter time when on until I had 2 toes amputated but I still feel sick and have the strength of a day old kitten.I was given options but there was more than a slim possibility it would end up like this.My positivity comes from 2 things.1,I have magnificent children who have taken over insomuch a they've retired my wife and 2, that the doctors said my life could be back to some normality once I get a prosthetic leg and if I take to it.Meanwhile I'm about to get a life experience from a wheelchair for a while and must admit,like alot of us always thought it was always gonna be some other unfortunate bugger.
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 10:37
Its all been quick.What started as a little injury on my toe at Easter time when on until I had 2 toes amputated but I still feel sick and have the strength of a day old kitten.I was given options but there was more than a slim possibility it would end up like this.My positivity comes from 2 things.1,I have magnificent children who have taken over insomuch a they've retired my wife and 2, that the doctors said my life could be back to some normality once I get a prosthetic leg and if I take to it.Meanwhile I'm about to get a life experience from a wheelchair for a while and must admit,like alot of us always thought it was always gonna be some other unfortunate bugger.
Good lord, that happened very quickly for you and I can't imagine what you are going through. I'm sorry to hear that you feel so sick and week and I hope things will improve for you. We all take good health very much for granted when we have it.
I'm quite enjoying it :thumbup:
I always just think its such a shame there isn't something in place where you get to have sort of mini retirements throughout your life rather than it being all for later in life.
Dread to think the age I'll have to retire at.
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 13:33
Good lord, that happened very quickly for you and I can't imagine what you are going through. I'm sorry to hear that you feel so sick and week and I hope things will improve for you. We all take good health very much for granted when we have it.
weak, that is.
Bobby Dandruff
04-08-21, 15:20
Well, after 48.5 years of solid work and 6 months from State Retirement Age I'm hanging up my pen and cursor this week. I feel far from 'shot/knackered/spent' and I've been looking forward to escape my partly-mundane, sedentary and often frustrating work and replacing it with a myriad of things I enjoy but which I have vowed to shut my trap about on here.
I went part-time four years ago and haven't been into the office since March 2020 so it's not the same as the sudden jolt of going from full-time to fully-retired overnight. Most of my peers have already retired (and stepped up their physical exercise with the extra hours of leisure and as I intend to) so the former 'craic' at work wouldn't be the same if I returned.
The next few months are chocker with trips planned around the UK (seeing friends, attending gigs and City games and engaging more in one of my pastimes) and next year, if it is safe to do so my net will be casting even further afield and for longer periods.
Retirement for me and for many others means getting involved in more activities (and pleasurable ones) than ever before. No inept management to answer to any more, no frustrating and laborious work processes to endure any longer and no confines of any description (although they were minimal compared to many people's work environments).
So what's the problem I hear you not asking.....
It just feels weird thinking that:
1. One's expertise at work won't ever exercised or sought after again
2. Not working seems like a guilty luxury to this person of working class stock when many people around the world are scratching about for a living
3. I don't feel old and decrepit enough to cease work. (A strange notion for some people but it was a concept that which was familiar to many of our parents)
I have already created a timetable for me to indulge in physical and intellectual tasks every day but am I going to end up typing on here every hour of the day dressed just in a string vest with fried egg stains on it and with my goolies hanging out?
Answers on a post card, please.......
Good for you. I’m 57 so your post is very relevant and insightful. So thanks.
I remember a friend of my parents retired many years ago after working for a well known oil company for most of his life. And he died about a year later. So we need to make the most of our time here!!
(following Cardiff City around the country more sounds like a great idea 👍)
SLUDGE FACTORY
04-08-21, 16:19
Well done, your going in all guns blazing and it sounds as if you're still healthy.I'm 63 and now retired and a big change is coming to me next monday as I'm having my lower right leg amputated.I'll be dammed if its gonna stop me but looking at things from a disabled point of view will be an eye opener for a while.
I am sure you are in good hands mate , best wishes to you 👍
the other bob wilson
04-08-21, 16:36
Its all been quick.What started as a little injury on my toe at Easter time when on until I had 2 toes amputated but I still feel sick and have the strength of a day old kitten.I was given options but there was more than a slim possibility it would end up like this.My positivity comes from 2 things.1,I have magnificent children who have taken over insomuch a they've retired my wife and 2, that the doctors said my life could be back to some normality once I get a prosthetic leg and if I take to it.Meanwhile I'm about to get a life experience from a wheelchair for a while and must admit,like alot of us always thought it was always gonna be some other unfortunate bugger.
You have my sympathy and I hope things go well for you on Monday. You’ll know more about me than prosthetics, but they seem pretty amazing these days.
Robin Friday's Ghost
04-08-21, 16:45
I retired in December 2019 aged 60. It was a bit weird for a while but I have no idea how much of that was down to retirement and how much down to lockdown. I started a PhD when I retired which keeps me occupied and my brain ticking over so I'm very happy with my decision.
Swiss Peter
04-08-21, 17:09
I retired in December 2019 aged 60. It was a bit weird for a while but I have no idea how much of that was down to retirement and how much down to lockdown. I started a PhD when I retired which keeps me occupied and my brain ticking over so I'm very happy with my decision.
Very similar to me then. Impressive going for a Phd. I’ve thought of enrolling on an OU course but not sure I have the commitment ,
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 17:16
Very similar to me then. Impressive going for a Phd. I’ve thought of enrolling on an OU course but not sure I have the commitment ,
My Inbox has been cleared, SP :-)
life on mars
04-08-21, 18:43
Gosh ,do envy you guys as I enter my first year apprenticeship
splott parker
04-08-21, 19:27
Gosh ,do envy you guys as I enter my first year apprenticeship
That English Language degree will stand you in good stead:hehe:
life on mars
04-08-21, 19:29
That English Language degree will stand you in good stead:hehe:
😄
Splott-light...
04-08-21, 19:42
Which continent is next?
in continent
old bastard!!
splott parker
04-08-21, 19:45
in continent
old bastard!!
Sweet baby Jesus and the orphans, where you been? Thought you’d retired:biggrin:
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 19:48
Sweet baby Jesus and the orphans, where you been? Thought you’d retired:biggrin:
:hehe:
He is ris!
Well done, your going in all guns blazing and it sounds as if you're still healthy.I'm 63 and now retired and a big change is coming to me next monday as I'm having my lower right leg amputated.I'll be dammed if its gonna stop me but looking at things from a disabled point of view will be an eye opener for a while.
So sorry to hear that mate. Hope that you can find a way to get over it - seems that with prosthetics these days that can do miracles.
Good to see you are ready for the fight.
Good luck 👍
Splott-light...
04-08-21, 19:51
Sweet baby Jesus and the orphans, where you been? Thought you’d retired:biggrin:
:hehe:
just taking a slow canter toward the new season..
Splott-light...
04-08-21, 19:53
good luck TBG, you always struck me as a very decent chap and you deserve to be free of the constraints of this bastard system, any regrets you may currently be harbouring are just due to psychological conditioning..
..fly TBG, fly awayyyyyy..
Taunton Blue Genie
04-08-21, 20:07
good luck TBG, you always struck me as a very decent chap and you deserve to be free of the constraints of this bastard system, any regrets you may currently be harbouring are just due to psychological conditioning..
..fly TBG, fly awayyyyyy..
Jesus, I was only being whimsical. I have hardly been in a concentration camp during my working life.:-)
I'm glad to see that you are still around and I will never forget that fleeting meeting with you outside the Romilly.
I still can't find my wallet though........
Elwood Blues
04-08-21, 20:48
Very similar to me then. Impressive going for a Phd. I’ve thought of enrolling on an OU course but not sure I have the commitment ,
I had to take early retirement in 2004 at the age of 50 to look after my disabled wife .
Only realised last year when my daughter started her OU course that I am now entitled to a student loan to pay for the degree so I enrolled on a History and Politics BA with the OU last October. A few problems with my wife's health meant that I had to defer and start again in February but I have now just completed my first four assignments and will be submitting the fifth sometime in the next couple of days. The final assignment is due by early September. and I will probably start the next module in January/February.
It is quite hard work but if you are organised it is not too bad. Having been out of work for so long I have found concentrating hard but I have got better as the year has gone on.
You have actually got 16 years to do the degree ( if I take that long I will be 83!!) although I want to do mine in six by doing one module a year. You can do two a year if you think you can and get the degree in three years.
I would thoroughly recommend it, it certainly keeps the mind active.
I had to take early retirement in 2004 at the age of 50 to look after my disabled wife .
Only realised last year when my daughter started her OU course that I am now entitled to a student loan to pay for the degree so I enrolled on a History and Politics BA with the OU last October. A few problems with my wife's health meant that I had to defer and start again in February but I have now just completed my first four assignments and will be submitting the fifth sometime in the next couple of days. The final assignment is due by early September. and I will probably start the next module in January/February.
It is quite hard work but if you are organised it is not too bad. Having been out of work for so long I have found concentrating hard but I have got better as the year has gone on.
You have actually got 16 years to do the degree ( if I take that long I will be 83!!) although I want to do mine in six by doing one module a year. You can do two a year if you think you can and get the degree in three years.
I would thoroughly recommend it, it certainly keeps the mind active.
Good Job, Elwood! May i ask, is an OU degree heavy on the pocket? Fully understand if you don't want to answer :thumbup:
Its all been quick.What started as a little injury on my toe at Easter time when on until I had 2 toes amputated but I still feel sick and have the strength of a day old kitten.I was given options but there was more than a slim possibility it would end up like this.My positivity comes from 2 things.1,I have magnificent children who have taken over insomuch a they've retired my wife and 2, that the doctors said my life could be back to some normality once I get a prosthetic leg and if I take to it.Meanwhile I'm about to get a life experience from a wheelchair for a while and must admit,like alot of us always thought it was always gonna be some other unfortunate bugger.
Good luck Sneg ����
Swiss Peter
05-08-21, 08:29
I had to take early retirement in 2004 at the age of 50 to look after my disabled wife .
Only realised last year when my daughter started her OU course that I am now entitled to a student loan to pay for the degree so I enrolled on a History and Politics BA with the OU last October. A few problems with my wife's health meant that I had to defer and start again in February but I have now just completed my first four assignments and will be submitting the fifth sometime in the next couple of days. The final assignment is due by early September. and I will probably start the next module in January/February.
It is quite hard work but if you are organised it is not too bad. Having been out of work for so long I have found concentrating hard but I have got better as the year has gone on.
You have actually got 16 years to do the degree ( if I take that long I will be 83!!) although I want to do mine in six by doing one module a year. You can do two a year if you think you can and get the degree in three years.
I would thoroughly recommend it, it certainly keeps the mind active.
That's very interesting, not least because I had considered doing something History-based myself. Good luck with it. You've prompted me to look into it further!
Re-sign Carl Dale
05-08-21, 12:28
Just seen this post. Congratulations TBG! Well deserved free time.
I get told by clients that it's a strange feeling. Having something to retire TO is as important as having something to retire FROM.
Maybe the egg stained string vest is your thing maybe not!
Couple of (non financial!) tips that I've picked up by those who I think have done it well are:
- have a structure for your ideal week (ie your timetable) - obviously just doing things that you want to be doing!
- don't rush into anything. There are so many potential calls on your time, volunteering, hobbies, socialising, looking after grand-children, that some people can feel more under pressure than when they were working.
Jimmy the Jock
05-08-21, 12:47
weak, that is.
Lost your marbles already.
Taunton Blue Genie
05-08-21, 12:48
Just seen this post. Congratulations TBG! Well deserved free time.
I get told by clients that it's a strange feeling. Having something to retire TO is as important as having something to retire FROM.
Maybe the egg stained string vest is your thing maybe not!
Couple of (non financial!) tips that I've picked up by those who I think have done it well are:
- have a structure for your ideal week (ie your timetable) - obviously just doing things that you want to be doing!
- don't rush into anything. There are so many potential calls on your time, volunteering, hobbies, socialising, looking after grand-children, that some people can feel more under pressure than when they were working.
Howdy, RSD. Your having come to this thread late (and there's really no excuse for that, old fruit :hehe:) you may not have read that I do indeed have a timetable. Different types of physical exercises in the mornings and intellectual pursuits in the afternoons (improving my German and Spanish and re-starting Welsh): that's when I am not walking with friends and/or leading group walks, attending gigs and City games etc. I have evening classes to continue (and I may start one up myself) and I shall be travelling domestically and further afield. I have no progeny (having decided to spare humanity my contribution to the gene pool) nor partner so my time is my own. I dropped down to being part-time four years ago (oddly, for beneficial financial reasons) so it's hardly a big transition in reality.
Now where's that vest....
Taunton Blue Genie
05-08-21, 12:50
Lost your marbles already.
And to think that you were chatting me up a few messages ago :cry:
Jimmy the Jock
05-08-21, 12:53
As my usual travelling companion to City games isn't around for the Millwall and Bristol City games it would be good to have a pint before or after a game. Even better if you fancy a decent walk in the hills the following day - as I could stay over in Cardiff in the modest campervan I am experimenting with.:thumbup:
That sounds like a plan . I am looking at the Bristol game . I need to get cover on the van , I am sure I will get that sorted.
Jimmy the Jock
05-08-21, 12:54
And to think that you were chatting me up a few messages ago :cry:
A good friend never misses a put down . :hehe:
Taunton Blue Genie
05-08-21, 13:03
That sounds like a plan . I am looking at the Bristol game . I need to get cover on the van , I am sure I will get that sorted.
:thumbup:
just to change the slant slightly regarding retirement if your say between 60 -65 years of age right now what is a tidy sum of money to retire on to give a reasonable/ decent standard of living ?
with and/or state pension ?
Taunton Blue Genie
05-08-21, 17:42
just to change the slant slightly regarding retirement if your say between 60 -65 years of age right now what is a tidy sum of money to retire on to give a reasonable/ decent standard of living ?
with and/or state pension ?
Having planned ahead in anticipation of retirement I put quite some thought into this subject. I don't think anyone can really answer you properly as what one person's passable lifestyle is not someone else's. What I did was compare my full-time income in employment minus the contributions I was making for my retirement against what I could clear once I draw on my various pensions having cancelled the contributions I was making towards them - and I made sure that I will be better off and not worse off. The biggest problem is thinking about how you treat lump sums you may receive and as to how much you dip into it on an annual basis wherever it is invested and how long it will last at that rate, the problem being that you don't know how long you will live. You don't want to be skint if you live to a ripe old age but on the other hand you don't want the Grim Reaper to show up when you haven't had time to enjoy your investments (especially if you are single and childless like me).
By the way, I'm no financial expert so ignore me :hehe:
A very kind City fan on here gave me a bit of a steer too.
Swiss Peter
05-08-21, 18:45
just to change the slant slightly regarding retirement if your say between 60 -65 years of age right now what is a tidy sum of money to retire on to give a reasonable/ decent standard of living ?
with and/or state pension ?
Mozzer- as tbg says there is no right answer to this. As someone once said to me you’ll only ever know if you made the right choices once you’ve died 🙂. It’s all down to your own personal needs/expectations of retirement too. I really benefited from talking all of this through with an IFA. Choose carefully though.
dandywarhol
05-08-21, 18:57
I'll keep schtum for now but thanks for your kind words :-)
Trainset.Golf.Caravaning
Re-sign Carl Dale
05-08-21, 19:19
just to change the slant slightly regarding retirement if your say between 60 -65 years of age right now what is a tidy sum of money to retire on to give a reasonable/ decent standard of living ?
with and/or state pension ?
As Taunton Blue Genie says, there's no magic number. Most of us adjust our lifestyle to our income levels.
A good rule of thumb that I use when working with people (I'm an IFA specialising in retirement planning and later life!) is around £2,000-£2,200 per month for a couple looking for a reasonable lifestyle. This figure was very similar to the recent Which magazine survey which came up with £2,170 per month. This would usually cover all the basics, plus hobbies, eating out a foreign holiday.
This would be a good target to aim for (assuming you'll be mortgage /rent free in retirement).
After working out what you need, the next step is to work out where the money's going to come from.
If you've not done so, get an upto date state pension forecast, and then understand exactly what your other pensions look like and what you can do with them.
Well done, your going in all guns blazing and it sounds as if you're still healthy.I'm 63 and now retired and a big change is coming to me next monday as I'm having my lower right leg amputated.I'll be dammed if its gonna stop me but looking at things from a disabled point of view will be an eye opener for a while. I hope all went well in the operation last Monday. I had a below knee amputation on my left leg in 1999. I was up and walking on a prosthetic leg in 3 months. What i will say is that it takes determination but you can do it. I have witnessed folks not trying and ending up in a wheelchair. Try not to be one of those and give it a real go. Good luck. By the way the staff in Rookwood hospital are lovely.
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