Retirement age?

[GaryB]

OK, here's a slightly different topic, one I'm constantly thinking about! Here's why....

I'm 53, (54 in September), married, one child (just completed her first year at university), our house is paid for, we have no debt at all, I have a good job that pays well, I have around £325K in a defined contribution (NOT final salary/defined benefit) pension fund and a decent amount of savings. Life should be great, but I am sick to death of working. My job is very specialised and I spend a lot of time working from home, it can be extremely lonely and I've just had enough of being part of the merry-go-round of 9 to 5 workers! I cannot touch my pension funds until the age of 57 (if I wanted to) so fairly restricted until then, simply "getting another job" isn't easy due to the specialist nature of what I do, but the current status-quo is driving me insane. My wife doesn't earn much (Teaching Assistant) so I'm not in a position to become a spoiled husband of leisure!

We're all different, different wants/needs etc, but at the minute it feels like I'm wishing my life away, longing for the weekend to arrive to alleviate the monotony.

I'm not asking for folks to divulge how they get by, I'm just curious as to how some get by that retire early? I guess a lot of folks a few years older than me will have the luxury of a defined benefit/final salary pension which helps enormously, just looking for stories from those that HAVE managed to escape early. Whatever people's views on religion etc are, we're only on this planet once and it's only for a short period of time so I want to try and enjoy it more rather than currently being content with enjoying 2 days out of 7. Obviously retirement can lead to boredom and you need to be able to fund your existence, especially if your partner is still working, but I'd love to hear from those that have managed it and whether you regret it or any other negatives.

Thanks

 

[RogerL]

I always had an ambition to retire at 50 but 4x redundancies during my working career meant that I couldn't - at 52 I'd had enough and took a big risk by quitting for the sake of my health and sanity - we had 13 years until state pension started when we worried about how we'd survive financially, but all unneccessary as we survived just fine and now have plenty of money to help our son and grandsons. It was the best decision I ever made though not the most logical.

Good luck with thinking through your present situation.

 

[otherclive]

I retired at 52 by asking for a compulsory redundancy package which was approved. It gave me my pension uplifted by 6 +2/3 years plus enhanced cash payment too. My reasons were based on the fact that future career promotion positions were not attractive to me. A week after leaving I took a job at a blue chip company for three years, then moved on for three plus years with a defence consultancy gradually transitioning to a reduced week. But that didn’t work as you can hardly tell prospective clients that they will have to wait a couple of days for discussions etc. So I was virtually full time again. But by then I was definitely thinking of more time to do other things so finally called it a day at 60. I was fortunate that I knew I could live on my main pension so if I did not like the other jobs I wasn’t financially bound to them.

My son took redundancy around three years ago at 48 and hasn’t worked since, spending time managing the modernisation of a large house plus woodland. At present he has no intention of going back to work, his partner though WFH and has a very well paid position.

Each of us is different with different commitments so have make choices based on those aspects. But once you get the feeling for early retirement or just changing job it sits there and eats away at you and you have to confront it.

 

[GaryB]

Thanks both. To add a bit more to my position/desire. I got made redundant 4 years ago this month, this happened two months after paying the mortgage off and as I'd been there for 22 years I walked out with a decent sum. As I'd worked incredibly hard for that business to sort out numerous issues, being laid off by a new CTO who saw no value in my department as a UK entity (I was the UK design and testing manager), I wasn't in a very stable place mentally after finishing so I decided to take 7 months off as I was in a position financially to do so (but not to retire). I had been offered another job pretty much straight away but agreed a January 2020 start date to give me some breathing space.

Taking that time off was great mentally BUT it gave me a taste for having me-time and it was fantastic and it's a feeling that's never gone away. I have changed jobs twice since then (all in the same industry) but job satisfaction has gone.

It's a good moral boost to hear those that have gone through the same thoughts. Thanks.

 

[woodsieboy]

I am 71 and still working , from choice, the business is ours and I now work2 .5 days a week, draw state pension and also what was left of my private pension after 9/11,It is a lifestyle business and it does not need to generate huge profits,like GaryB our mortgage was paid off a while ago,and we can choose when to get away in the van.It is, I suppose, what is called a work life balance,it works for us, and we hope it will continue for a good while yet. I understand where Gary is coming from, prior to being self employed I worked as a manager for an international cosmetics company, and although the package was excellent, I lost count of the number of missed parent evenings, sports days, family occasions due to work, it seemed Ok at the time, but with time I realised there was more to life.

 

[Jcloughie]

Until 1980 I worked in an industry were income varried out of all proportion between the good and bad times which accured frequently. Pension schemes, like holiday pay, were unheard of.

If I continued, I would now be in the position of hundreds of thousands of others of relying on the state pension.

Being younger, a pension was not top of my list. But I knew I wanted more security. Also, my health was making manual work impossible.

I went back to college and got good qualifications which built on my trade qualifications. Then managed to get a Civil Service position. So a completely different way of life. Lots of stress, but for very different reasons.

I still think that those who are in secure jobs. Who perhaps might be underpaid, do not appreciate the total package worth.

I retired at 65 with nearly a full final salery indexed linked pension. Plus my wifes local authority final salery pension, plus state pension plus two small private pensions.

So we are now living comfortably. Perhaps if we didn't have 10.5 grandchildren, we might be even ‘wealthy’. 😛

Some hate the idea of retiring, even if they can afford to. I could not wait, sooner the better. Just wish my health allowed me to get the most out of it.

If I was in Gary’s position, and I could afford to, I would retire. Pensions can always be supplemented with stress free employment.

John

 

[Jcloughie]

Just to add a thought or two.

I went through 3 rounds of redundancy brought on by very poor management. I fought them and won each time. But very stressful on top of a stressful job.

A very good friend and colleague was affected by the stress of the second redundancy round and it brought on a heart attack. He was pensioned off on ill health. But not a great package as he had only been in the job less than 10 years.

Their lifelong budget was now decimated. He thought he would need to sell up and move back to Yorkshire. So even more stress. (Moving, not Yorkshire)😊

After a few months, I asked him about things. He said they were fantastic. Not being in work cut down on many expenses. They adjusted their lifestyle, he got an easy PT job. And they were extremely happy, the best thing that happened to them he said.

Now sadly dead, but that was unrelated.

On the other hand, another good friend did not properly retire until he was late 70’s. I kept trying to persuade him but he was of the opinion that, if you give up on work, you give up on life, (his words). After he finally retired, he ate his words and thoroughly enjoyed his time.

John

 

[Hutch]

Hi Gary, well I have thought over your request, so here are my thoughts.

I am a retired Helicopter engineer, now 71, the company I worked for Bristow Helicopters, retired me at the age of 62, with a very good retirement pension.
I worked overseas most of my life, Nigeria, Trinidad, Pakistan and India. Going from a work schedule of 4 months on and then 1 month off. Towards the end of my working life in Nigeria I was working 6 weeks on and 6 off so, basically lots of time to get used to NOT really working.
Mrs H retired from her own book keeping business, about 4 years before me so we could go to France for my tax reasons. So pretty layed back life really. I could get home in an emergency within 24 hours, Bristow Helicopters were fantastic.
Now totally retired, the first few years I would look up at the sky, hearing a helicopter coming over, I tend not to bother unless it is a local friend doing a circuit around the house or a low level Chinook.
I eventually got my motorcycle after having to totally redecorate the house, now it might have to start again to get the Lotus 7.
Today my back is hurting, as yesterday I had to put new edging in around the washing line and regravel it all. Nice bike ride to meet up with mates at a pub for lunch.
Go for it, but as always check your cash flow.

 

[Buckman]

My very good friend Henning was also a helicopter engineer at Kempton park in South Africa and his family emigrated to Canada in the 90's. He was also able to take early retirement, buy a motorhome and they toured Canada.

 

[otherclive]

Hi Gary, well I have thought over your request, so here are my thoughts.

I am a retired Helicopter engineer, now 71, the company I worked for Bristow Helicopters, retired me at the age of 62, with a very good retirement pension.
I worked overseas most of my life, Nigeria, Trinidad, Pakistan and India. Going from a work schedule of 4 months on and then 1 month off. Towards the end of my working life in Nigeria I was working 6 weeks on and 6 off so, basically lots of time to get used to NOT really working.
Mrs H retired from her own book keeping business, about 4 years before me so we could go to France for my tax reasons. So pretty layed back life really. I could get home in an emergency within 24 hours, Bristow Helicopters were fantastic.
Now totally retired, the first few years I would look up at the sky, hearing a helicopter coming over, I tend not to bother unless it is a local friend doing a circuit around the house or a low level Chinook.
I eventually got my motorcycle after having to totally redecorate the house, now it might have to start again to get the Lotus 7.
Today my back is hurting, as yesterday I had to put new edging in around the washing line and regravel it all. Nice bike ride to meet up with mates at a pub for lunch.
Go for it, but as always check your cash flow.

If you think your back aches after laying edging a Lotus 7 won’t do any favours. I drove a Caterham on a track day at Llandow circuit, what a rock solid ride even on a smooth tarmac track, not the potholed ribbons classed as English roads. The good point though was my lap times were faster than my sons on a Fzr 1000.

 

[Hutch]

 

[Buckman]

Are you retiring from retiring?

 

[GaryB]

Thanks for all the comments, it's appreciated! It's good to see how others have approached retirement, especially with a view to being able to enjoy free time while still fit enough to enjoy doing the things we want to do. I'm not in a financial position to do anything yet, but hopefully in a good place to do something when I turn 57 and then able to retire early at some point thereafter. Again, thanks everyone.