Enjoying Retirement

[tertius]

Martin315 said:

One of my retirement plans is to do a history degree. Where are you studying and what period are you covering?

Department of Continuing Education, Oxford Uni. Two year part time course that is the same syllabus as year 1 of the Oxford undergraduate history degree. Modules are: Tudor England; C19th Europe; C20th Britain; Approaches to History and one option: either Spanish Civil War or Tudor/Stuart nobility.

Highly recommend it and very happy to share my experiences if you would like. Feel free to PM me.

[mikeiow]

tertius said:

Martin315 said:

One of my retirement plans is to do a history degree. Where are you studying and what period are you covering?

Department of Continuing Education, Oxford Uni. Two year part time course that is the same syllabus as year 1 of the Oxford undergraduate history degree. Modules are: Tudor England; C19th Europe; C20th Britain; Approaches to History and one option: either Spanish Civil War or Tudor/Stuart nobility.

Highly recommend it and very happy to share my experiences if you would like. Feel free to PM me.

I've no desire to take such drastic action, but I admire those who do - well done!

One thing that has occurred to me: if a student today reaches 50, any loans are written off. How does that work for those who *start* their studies over 50? Is it free? Do you have to self-fund (£9k pa?)

[GT3Manthey]

SunsetZed said:

Hi Omnifuse. I hope all is well. if you're still here and reading this I was just wondering if you're still doing this and how you're finding it now that it's heading for 2 years since you retired.

I know of a retired police officer that does 2 days a week for a local Official Porsche Centre.
He works 7-7 which nets him around £800 a month .
Quite a useful top up to add to a monthly pension.

I'm sure these jobs are regularly available

[mikeiow]

GT3Manthey said:

SunsetZed said:

Hi Omnifuse. I hope all is well. if you're still here and reading this I was just wondering if you're still doing this and how you're finding it now that it's heading for 2 years since you retired.

I know of a retired police officer that does 2 days a week for a local Official Porsche Centre.
He works 7-7 which nets him around £800 a month .
Quite a useful top up to add to a monthly pension.

I'm sure these jobs are regularly available

Curious how people who work 2 days a week think they are retired
Even your last line hits the point - they are jobs - noun - a paid position of regular employment.

Nothing wrong with that, of course, but when he fills in an insurance form, etc, he is not retired….

I’d enjoy a random day here or there delivering cars, or even doing a thousand other things I can think of. Some beer money is nice (£800 would be a lot of beer, I admit!), but blocking out 8+ days a month kind of wrecks the ability to look at the weather for the week ahead and decide on how it will be spent.
A pal of mine drove drugs around for a local pharmacy for a while….but it isn’t how I view retirement. He’s given it up now, so maybe will come out for a random bike ride on a sunny day at minimal notice!


Today I will mostly garden, but this time try not to fall off the ladder as it sank gracefully into a rathole
At least the last limb had been cut (the tree, not me), & the chainsaw was at the end of a 4m pole. No harm done

[Sheepshanks]

mikeiow said:

I’d enjoy a random day here or there delivering cars, or even doing a thousand other things I can think of. Some beer money is nice (£800 would be a lot of beer, I admit!), but blocking out 8+ days a month kind of wrecks the ability to look at the weather for the week ahead and decide on how it will be spent.

One of the reasons I worked longer than I needed to (my wife took early retirement at 51) was my wife is still involved in picking up our grandchildren (two sets of them) 4 days per week. Given notice, our daughters can adjust if we can’t do it for a week but one of them would be stuffed without us and the other would just leave her daughter on her own for hours (she’s old enough now, but needs to be told what to do).

[SunsetZed]

mikeiow said:

GT3Manthey said:

SunsetZed said:

Hi Omnifuse. I hope all is well. if you're still here and reading this I was just wondering if you're still doing this and how you're finding it now that it's heading for 2 years since you retired.

I know of a retired police officer that does 2 days a week for a local Official Porsche Centre.
He works 7-7 which nets him around £800 a month .
Quite a useful top up to add to a monthly pension.

I'm sure these jobs are regularly available

Curious how people who work 2 days a week think they are retired
Even your last line hits the point - they are jobs - noun - a paid position of regular employment.

Nothing wrong with that, of course, but when he fills in an insurance form, etc, he is not retired….

I’d enjoy a random day here or there delivering cars, or even doing a thousand other things I can think of. Some beer money is nice (£800 would be a lot of beer, I admit!), but blocking out 8+ days a month kind of wrecks the ability to look at the weather for the week ahead and decide on how it will be spent.
A pal of mine drove drugs around for a local pharmacy for a while….but it isn’t how I view retirement. He’s given it up now, so maybe will come out for a random bike ride on a sunny day at minimal notice!

Thanks GT3 & Mike. I completely agree with the blocking out 8 days as being a non starter for how I view retirement which is why I was specifically interested in how the zero hours contract was working out.

I look at it the other way, if the weather is going to be crap for a week and I've got no plans why not earn a few quid driving here and there and then spend it on enjoying myself at other times!

I can see Labour blanket banning zero hour contracts though with no thought to how it impacts people who voluntarily choose them so it could be a moot point by the time I retire!

[mikeiow]

SunsetZed said:

Thanks GT3 & Mike. I completely agree with the blocking out 8 days as being a non starter for how I view retirement which is why I was specifically interested in how the zero hours contract was working out.

I look at it the other way, if the weather is going to be crap for a week and I've got no plans why not earn a few quid driving here and there and then spend it on enjoying myself at other times!

I can see Labour blanket banning zero hour contracts though with no thought to how it impacts people who voluntarily choose them so it could be a moot point by the time I retire!

Sure, if there were jobs that could be randomly picked up and dropped, I’d be in with that too!
I guess in some ways my “volunteering” time is like that. County DofE admin (shared with 2 others) has worked reasonably well to help support around 300 young people each year continue their journey through a huge range of things (& more importantly perhaps - their volunteer leaders, all of whom give up their time willingly). The odd hour or two can be slid into all kinds of slots of the day.

Sheepshanks said:

One of the reasons I worked longer than I needed to (my wife took early retirement at 51) was my wife is still involved in picking up our grandchildren (two sets of them) 4 days per week. Given notice, our daughters can adjust if we can’t do it for a week but one of them would be stuffed without us and the other would just leave her daughter on her own for hours (she’s old enough now, but needs to be told what to do).

One of the reasons I retired as soon as I felt comfortable was to be able to drop things at a moments notice to support our offspring. Indeed, quite some time was spent also supporting my wife & her elderly mum, as her mum was heading towards her final days.

The freedom to do so many things has been refreshing.

To those considering it, come in, the water is warm and pleasant!

As a balance - I always remind myself we are all different.
Speaking with my old cycling pal (who left as soon as he could!), he mentioned someone at work who he knew could retire, & the fella told him he wouldn’t know what to do. Eat, sleep, work was his life.
Felt a little sad for him, BUT if he gets all he needs for his flavour of Maslow's hierarchy of needs,crack on.
I feel very lucky that my pyramid is very solid

[Boringvolvodriver]

GT3Manthey said:

SunsetZed said:

Hi Omnifuse. I hope all is well. if you're still here and reading this I was just wondering if you're still doing this and how you're finding it now that it's heading for 2 years since you retired.

I know of a retired police officer that does 2 days a week for a local Official Porsche Centre.
He works 7-7 which nets him around £800 a month .
Quite a useful top up to add to a monthly pension.

I'm sure these jobs are regularly available

I also know a retired police officer who does this………..my sons father in law!

[Boringvolvodriver]

In terms of the ad hoc type of work post retirement, I volunteer for the NHS as a driver for patient transport. It is entirely flexible in as much as I tell them when I am available for the next week and they then allocate me jobs to do.

I tend to do more in winter as in summer will have other things to do with the nicer weather(if only).

I get 45ppm for use if my car and get to meet and talk to some interesting (sometimes!) people. I probably do a maximum of 6000 miles a year though could do much more should I wish since they are always looking for drivers.

I am also a paid invigilator at a school which can be a pain as most of the work is in summer for exams but brings in about £2500 a year. Will be doing less next year i suspect.

[GT3Manthey]

Boringvolvodriver said:

I also know a retired police officer who does this………..my sons father in law!

Maybe it's a routine/structure thing who knows.

Or maybe, it's getting away from the wife two days a week

[mikeiow]

GT3Manthey said:

Boringvolvodriver said:

I also know a retired police officer who does this………..my sons father in law!

Maybe it's a routine/structure thing who knows.

Or maybe, it's getting away from the wife two days a week

Ahh, now we see why MrsGT3 hasn’t let you retire…..

Boringvolvodriver said:

In terms of the ad hoc type of work post retirement, I volunteer for the NHS as a driver for patient transport. It is entirely flexible in as much as I tell them when I am available for the next week and they then allocate me jobs to do.

I tend to do more in winter as in summer will have other things to do with the nicer weather(if only).

I get 45ppm for use if my car and get to meet and talk to some interesting (sometimes!) people. I probably do a maximum of 6000 miles a year though could do much more should I wish since they are always looking for drivers.

I am also a paid invigilator at a school which can be a pain as most of the work is in summer for exams but brings in about £2500 a year. Will be doing less next year i suspect.

NHS driving could be interesting - a pal of mine drives some oldies out for lunches at places. Don’t think he gets paid any mileage, but he gets a free lunch, feels good about it, & it is totally flexible.

I also know a couple of folk who do invigilating. They both tell me it is excruciatingly dull, & they have to stand for hours….

[turbobloke]

Boringvolvodriver said:

In terms of the ad hoc type of work post retirement, I volunteer for the NHS as a driver for patient transport. It is entirely flexible in as much as I tell them when I am available for the next week and they then allocate me jobs to do.

I tend to do more in winter as in summer will have other things to do with the nicer weather(if only).

I get 45ppm for use if my car and get to meet and talk to some interesting (sometimes!) people. I probably do a maximum of 6000 miles a year though could do much more should I wish since they are always looking for drivers.

I am also a paid invigilator at a school which can be a pain as most of the work is in summer for exams but brings in about £2500 a year. Will be doing less next year i suspect.

I'm now 3 days in and have a similar approach, as I'll be continuing to volunteer in two schools helping with uni applications for expenses, also some undergraduate tuition. .

mikeiow said:

I also know a couple of folk who do invigilating. They both tell me it is excruciatingly dull, & they have to stand for hours….

They should get some squeaky shoes and walk about a bit.

[Boringvolvodriver]

mikeiow said:

NHS driving could be interesting - a pal of mine drives some oldies out for lunches at places. Don’t think he gets paid any mileage, but he gets a free lunch, feels good about it, & it is totally flexible.

I also know a couple of folk who do invigilating. They both tell me it is excruciatingly dull, & they have to stand for hours….

It is indeed boring but requires very little thought and the walking about helps with the step count!

[Sheepshanks]

mikeiow said:

One of the reasons I retired as soon as I felt comfortable was to be able to drop things at a moments notice to support our offspring. Indeed, quite some time was spent also supporting my wife & her elderly mum, as her mum was heading towards her final days.

The freedom to do so many things has been refreshing.

I was lucky that I mostly organised my own work as long as I was available and contactable, and could get on a computer if needed. So I was able to help out with the looking after old folks thing - FIL and wife's Godfather were the most involving. Both gone now.

But, like work, these things are tying so you can't venture far. My wife is going for lunch with friends today but has to leave early as our older grandaughter finishes school today at 2.15 (the school has always done this on Wednesday - supposed to be for sports etc but very little of that happens, and the busses leave at 2.30).

We have several sets of friends who are insanely jealous that we have our grandchildren nearby - they're back and too to London, Bristol, Glasgow etc. Ours are 2 miles away! Having said that, we know others who have firmly told their kids that no way are they doing the child-care thing - they'll help in an emergency, but that's it.

[okgo]

Your kids don’t know how lucky THEY are more like.

My brother rinses my mum for childcare. It’s tiring for her and saves my brother thousands a year. We don’t get a look in by comparison.

[craig1912]

okgo said:

Your kids don’t know how lucky THEY are more like.

My brother rinses my mum for childcare. It’s tiring for her and saves my brother thousands a year. We don’t get a look in by comparison.

Agree- we moved 200 miles away and got no grandparents child care. Sister in law had years of it saving , as you say thousands. Then moaned when she had to look after the grandparents when they were older.
Personally, whilst our kids live nearby, I hope we don’t get roped in for child care (emergencies excepted) as I can think of nothing worse!!

[Boringvolvodriver]

craig1912 said:

okgo said:

Your kids don’t know how lucky THEY are more like.

My brother rinses my mum for childcare. It’s tiring for her and saves my brother thousands a year. We don’t get a look in by comparison.

Agree- we moved 200 miles away and got no grandparents child care. Sister in law had years of it saving , as you say thousands. Then moaned when she had to look after the grandparents when they were older.
Personally, whilst our kids live nearby, I hope we don’t get roped in for child care (emergencies excepted) as I can think of nothing worse!!

I guess it all depends on whether you like looking after the grandkids. I, perhaps selfishly, took the view that we didn’t rely on parents to help with childcare since my then wife didn’t work.

We and Mrs BVD were asked before the birth if we would like to have the grandchild one day a week as were the other 2 sets. We declined as didn’t want to be be committed every week - it’s not what we retired for- although would do and have done holiday cover and emergencies.

Given how they appear to spend the money they have, I am glad we don’t have grandson every week since I would get annoyed that I was effectively funding their lifestyle and constant trips out.

[okgo]

That’s just a bit odd.

Totally different to not wanting to as it’s hard work when older or a big tie

[Armitage.Shanks]

It always make me laugh the supercar dealer Tom Hartley comes on social media telling everyone he's up and out at work at 6:30am and anybody who isn't is, in his words, a "lazy bd". I feel like saying "What on earth are you doing getting up to go to work at that time at your age? I retired early so I don't have to".

[Sheepshanks]

okgo said:

Your kids don’t know how lucky THEY are more like.

My brother rinses my mum for childcare. It’s tiring for her and saves my brother thousands a year. We don’t get a look in by comparison.

We (wife) never did it full time - they went to nursery. It’s when they start school it gets awkward as the hours are shorter and one the schools doesn’t do any wrap around care - the school has had high demand so didn’t need to, and it’s quite surprising how few of the mums work.