Maybe I could / should stop working
Discussion
I guess only I can answer this but I'll put it out there for discussion - interested in any thoughts.
58, wife died 2012 - no partner since, one Kid - 27 no longer at home, we get on well.
House - value £450k ish, no mortgage, got approx £470k in mix of pension, ISA & Unit Trust. Had two very early and small malignant melanomas - last one removed 2016, no further issues - so far, but it makes you think; life insurance paid the mortgage. Life is actually good, Motorbike, play in a band do a few gigs, go sailing - do what I want when I want etc.
Job, easy 5 mins from home - relatively poor pay, small family firm with all the nonsense that goes with it. Would be happy to say goodbye..
Thing is Job gets me up at 6, gives me something to do - work colleagues are good to work with - family management far less so. Not working seems wrong - sets a poor example to the Kid, plus all my mates are still toiling away. It would feel odd to be the lazy sod doing nothing during the week. Also the lack of paid income coming in every month would be hard to get used to - but, Finance Man told me that if I wanted to stop "we could make it work."
I could drop dead next week - Kid gets the lot, not a bad sum even after tax. Would that be a good thing for her?
58, wife died 2012 - no partner since, one Kid - 27 no longer at home, we get on well.
House - value £450k ish, no mortgage, got approx £470k in mix of pension, ISA & Unit Trust. Had two very early and small malignant melanomas - last one removed 2016, no further issues - so far, but it makes you think; life insurance paid the mortgage. Life is actually good, Motorbike, play in a band do a few gigs, go sailing - do what I want when I want etc.
Job, easy 5 mins from home - relatively poor pay, small family firm with all the nonsense that goes with it. Would be happy to say goodbye..
Thing is Job gets me up at 6, gives me something to do - work colleagues are good to work with - family management far less so. Not working seems wrong - sets a poor example to the Kid, plus all my mates are still toiling away. It would feel odd to be the lazy sod doing nothing during the week. Also the lack of paid income coming in every month would be hard to get used to - but, Finance Man told me that if I wanted to stop "we could make it work."
I could drop dead next week - Kid gets the lot, not a bad sum even after tax. Would that be a good thing for her?
epicfail said:
I guess only I can answer this but I'll put it out there for discussion - interested in any thoughts.
58, wife died 2012 - no partner since, one Kid - 27 no longer at home, we get on well.
House - value £450k ish, no mortgage, got approx £470k in mix of pension, ISA & Unit Trust. Had two very early and small malignant melanomas - last one removed 2016, no further issues - so far, but it makes you think; life insurance paid the mortgage. Life is actually good, Motorbike, play in a band do a few gigs, go sailing - do what I want when I want etc.
Job, easy 5 mins from home - relatively poor pay, small family firm with all the nonsense that goes with it. Would be happy to say goodbye..
Thing is Job gets me up at 6, gives me something to do - work colleagues are good to work with - family management far less so. Not working seems wrong - sets a poor example to the Kid, plus all my mates are still toiling away. It would feel odd to be the lazy sod doing nothing during the week. Also the lack of paid income coming in every month would be hard to get used to - but, Finance Man told me that if I wanted to stop "we could make it work."
I could drop dead next week - Kid gets the lot, not a bad sum even after tax. Would that be a good thing for her?
This is all my personal view as someone who is 44 and will be retiring at 55. 58, wife died 2012 - no partner since, one Kid - 27 no longer at home, we get on well.
House - value £450k ish, no mortgage, got approx £470k in mix of pension, ISA & Unit Trust. Had two very early and small malignant melanomas - last one removed 2016, no further issues - so far, but it makes you think; life insurance paid the mortgage. Life is actually good, Motorbike, play in a band do a few gigs, go sailing - do what I want when I want etc.
Job, easy 5 mins from home - relatively poor pay, small family firm with all the nonsense that goes with it. Would be happy to say goodbye..
Thing is Job gets me up at 6, gives me something to do - work colleagues are good to work with - family management far less so. Not working seems wrong - sets a poor example to the Kid, plus all my mates are still toiling away. It would feel odd to be the lazy sod doing nothing during the week. Also the lack of paid income coming in every month would be hard to get used to - but, Finance Man told me that if I wanted to stop "we could make it work."
I could drop dead next week - Kid gets the lot, not a bad sum even after tax. Would that be a good thing for her?
Firstly regarding your daughter, she's 27 now and should be old enough to have her own work ethic so the bit about setting a poor example, if it even is a poor example, I would suggest not, should not be relevant anyway.
I do agree with your point about having a reason to get up in a morning and I do think that's important for anyone, having a dog served my Grandma well, she passed some years ago now but her dog was a reason to get up because however she felt she knew the dog needed to be walked, a dog may not be for you but it's an example.
I feel personally that if you feel you can financially then you should get out of the employment cycle when you can and enjoy your life before it's too late.
I do find (I do this myself) psychologically when thinking about this subject there's often a leap to "stop working Friday and don't work every again".
Remember work doesn't have to be binary.
It could be less hours or a change of role or change of employment completely.
I know a bloke who went from the thing he'd done Mon-Fri for 30 years to "retiring" and doing a post round a few days a week.
It wasn't for money.
Remember work doesn't have to be binary.
It could be less hours or a change of role or change of employment completely.
I know a bloke who went from the thing he'd done Mon-Fri for 30 years to "retiring" and doing a post round a few days a week.
It wasn't for money.
I sometimes have the urge to do a job like a Tesco home delivery driver.
Talking to a Tesco driver a little while back, he said he was part-time, his boss said that he had to go full-time. He said he would leave if he had to work full-time. His boss said "oh, ok, you can stay part-time!
If you don't like the job you are doing, leave and do something else.
Talking to a Tesco driver a little while back, he said he was part-time, his boss said that he had to go full-time. He said he would leave if he had to work full-time. His boss said "oh, ok, you can stay part-time!
If you don't like the job you are doing, leave and do something else.
I think I’d be looking at this one of 2 ways
YOLO, you only get one shot at this thing called life as far as we know. If you can afford to then keave tomorrow.
Or
Trial living for a year on the income you would have in retirement to see how manageable it is, plan for a hard stop when you turn 60 which depending on when turned 58 could be 13-23 months away, not long at all.
None of your mates / daughter are going to give a feck what age you retire let alone have a negative impact.
If you’re worried about purpose and something to get out of bed for in the morning then explore some hobbies / charity work or an enjoyable part time hours job to keep you busy.
YOLO, you only get one shot at this thing called life as far as we know. If you can afford to then keave tomorrow.
Or
Trial living for a year on the income you would have in retirement to see how manageable it is, plan for a hard stop when you turn 60 which depending on when turned 58 could be 13-23 months away, not long at all.
None of your mates / daughter are going to give a feck what age you retire let alone have a negative impact.
If you’re worried about purpose and something to get out of bed for in the morning then explore some hobbies / charity work or an enjoyable part time hours job to keep you busy.
The first question is whether or not you would be happy to sit around all day without the motivation of a job.
I'm 65, was made redundant during covid and spent the next 3 years looking after my mother, until my brother retired and took over. Since then I have worked 3-4 days a week at a job I choose, I found that the lack of motivation during those 3 years was seriously bad for my mental health. Right now I actually have two jobs, one day/week helping a small renewables company make sense of their financials and implement processes, this will drop to one day a month to assist at month end from October. The second job is 3 days/week helping a £20m turnover company sort out there management accounting following a split from a large group. This will continue as long as I want, as many days/week as I want.
It definitely keeps me sane.
I'm 65, was made redundant during covid and spent the next 3 years looking after my mother, until my brother retired and took over. Since then I have worked 3-4 days a week at a job I choose, I found that the lack of motivation during those 3 years was seriously bad for my mental health. Right now I actually have two jobs, one day/week helping a small renewables company make sense of their financials and implement processes, this will drop to one day a month to assist at month end from October. The second job is 3 days/week helping a £20m turnover company sort out there management accounting following a split from a large group. This will continue as long as I want, as many days/week as I want.
It definitely keeps me sane.
Is there anything you want to do? People seem to go downhill quickly when they retire and just "relax." We aren't built for that. You need some sort of a mission. It could be something like sailing around the world, building a kit car, renovating a house or just about anything else to keep you occupied and challenged in the medium term.
It's not for everyone but one of my uncles decided he was going to produce a new translation of the bible. He is 86 and still going strong, been at it for over 10 years. He is mental anyway, but noticeably sharper and more capable than many of his age who have more normal retirements.
It's not for everyone but one of my uncles decided he was going to produce a new translation of the bible. He is 86 and still going strong, been at it for over 10 years. He is mental anyway, but noticeably sharper and more capable than many of his age who have more normal retirements.
The Mad Monk said:
I sometimes have the urge to do a job like a Tesco home delivery driver.
Talking to a Tesco driver a little while back, he said he was part-time, his boss said that he had to go full-time. He said he would leave if he had to work full-time. His boss said "oh, ok, you can stay part-time!
If you don't like the job you are doing, leave and do something else.
This is the answer, find a job you will enjoy with the hours you want to work, if work is the thing that motivates to get you out of bed, then it will play havoc with your mental health not doing so, trust me, I tried it and have come to the conclusion I do not want to retire ever. Talking to a Tesco driver a little while back, he said he was part-time, his boss said that he had to go full-time. He said he would leave if he had to work full-time. His boss said "oh, ok, you can stay part-time!
If you don't like the job you are doing, leave and do something else.
There are people who are self motivated, can get up and keep busy, hobbies, interests etc, it ain,t everyone.
Congratulations, it seems you’re in a nice position regarding whether you will stop working or not.
I’m 57 and stopped working a few years ago and I have no regrets. I do feel guilty at times as I feel I should be working but that feeling is occurring less and less. I did work very hard for a long time.
One very important thing about not working is the ability to fill your time. I enjoy travelling and spend most of my time outside the U.K. and wherever I am I seem to be able to make friends easily, this helps fill the time. I am quite active and in fairly good health and physical exercise is a large part of who I am. I don’t have any family so that helps facilitate my lifestyle.
If you can fill your time do it. If your friends and family are working full time then you will need to extend your social circle to fully appreciate your new life. All in my opinion of course!
Please keep us updated and what you decide.
I’m 57 and stopped working a few years ago and I have no regrets. I do feel guilty at times as I feel I should be working but that feeling is occurring less and less. I did work very hard for a long time.
One very important thing about not working is the ability to fill your time. I enjoy travelling and spend most of my time outside the U.K. and wherever I am I seem to be able to make friends easily, this helps fill the time. I am quite active and in fairly good health and physical exercise is a large part of who I am. I don’t have any family so that helps facilitate my lifestyle.
If you can fill your time do it. If your friends and family are working full time then you will need to extend your social circle to fully appreciate your new life. All in my opinion of course!
Please keep us updated and what you decide.
Terminator X said:
Imho work is helpful especially for men. My Dad retired straight into doing nothing after 50 years working. Wasn't good for him. Lost touch with almost all his "friends" as they were all through work.
I'm not planning to retire unless ill health comes for me.
TX.
I agree to a point but I struggle to understand why anyone would see ‘working until you drop’ as a sensible choice….I'm not planning to retire unless ill health comes for me.
TX.
I couldn't wait to retire, I didn't bother with pretending to retire by only working 3 days a week or something. I just went from full time to not working at 55. 7 years ago tomorrow. Not regretted a second of it.
But then most of the last 10 years before I retired I grew to hate working, I tried changing jobs but the reality was it was just the same job in a different seat.
So it wasn't the job, I liked that enough I still do similar stuff as a hobby. It was having to do what someone asked me to do when I really didn't know what to spend my wages on.
Now, I don't have a couple of £k spare every month, and I am not rich by any means, but I can do what I want when I want.
But then most of the last 10 years before I retired I grew to hate working, I tried changing jobs but the reality was it was just the same job in a different seat.
So it wasn't the job, I liked that enough I still do similar stuff as a hobby. It was having to do what someone asked me to do when I really didn't know what to spend my wages on.
Now, I don't have a couple of £k spare every month, and I am not rich by any means, but I can do what I want when I want.
If I could retire I would but I am 37. A few years ago after my mum passed away I had 12 months or so off work. It was brilliant. You just need some hobbies and a bit of imagination. I’d hate to be defined by my job. Lot more interesting things in life for me.
Who lies on their death bed wishing they had worked more?
Who lies on their death bed wishing they had worked more?
epicfail said:
Not working seems wrong - sets a poor example to the Kid,
Really?They're 27, you've been the sole parent since they were 14, as well as working a full time job. Have you talked to them about it. My guess they'd say "retire, and do whatever the f
k you want for the rest of your life, you've earned it". I'm 62, and retired at 58. My financial position is maybe a bit better than yours but it doesn't really matter I just draw £16760/year from my pension pot anyway, tax free,(£12570 from the taxable pot and the rest from my 25% tax free pot) and top it up with savings, when needed. But by and large, I don't need to top it up. I rarely spend my £1400/month. My total pension pot, despite having had around £65K out of it, is only about £5K less than it was on the day I retired. I'll have no problem funding my life until 67 when state pension kicks in, which is around £10K.
Plus, because I only earn £12570 in taxable income, I can earn £6K a year on my savings tax free, instead of the usual £1K.
Not working is brilliant. Turns out I have a real talent for it. Actually, I don't know how I found the time to do a job, I'm way too busy.
I'd retire tomorrow if I could, I appreciate if you're single the thought of sitting round for hours can be off putting but I had to give up work for a few years a while back and I wondered how I ever found the time to work, every day was filled with stuff to do, stuff that I wanted to do.
Of course I'm back at work now and count the days until I can have that life again.
Of course I'm back at work now and count the days until I can have that life again.
I've retired (today) from my 25 yr career, 55 yrs old. But I have no intention to stop working, I've taken a, hopefully, less stressful/ pressured job.
I'm not in a similar situation financially, still a reasonable mortgage to pay off yet. But, I need to get up and work for my own sanity.
Ask me if that's a good idea in 6 months or so though!!!
I'm not in a similar situation financially, still a reasonable mortgage to pay off yet. But, I need to get up and work for my own sanity.
Ask me if that's a good idea in 6 months or so though!!!
I retired at 62, living off savings.
After a couple of months I panicked. Having spent 40+ years saving, it seemed wrong to be spending without an income.
I got a part-time job. After four months I realised my ability to deal with idiots had gone. I left and started to draw down one of my private pensions.
I am now over 66 and get state pension and a couple of other private pensions.
However, I volunteer three times a month in a community cafe and I'm also on the committee for a new initiative to build a men's shed in our village. Plus I help out on a monthly litter pick.
Volunteering is a brilliant thing. You are allowed to say no if you have other plans and no one minds. Although I do sometimes feel guilty that the knowledge and experience I gained in a lifetime of employment is not being fully utilised.
After a couple of months I panicked. Having spent 40+ years saving, it seemed wrong to be spending without an income.
I got a part-time job. After four months I realised my ability to deal with idiots had gone. I left and started to draw down one of my private pensions.
I am now over 66 and get state pension and a couple of other private pensions.
However, I volunteer three times a month in a community cafe and I'm also on the committee for a new initiative to build a men's shed in our village. Plus I help out on a monthly litter pick.
Volunteering is a brilliant thing. You are allowed to say no if you have other plans and no one minds. Although I do sometimes feel guilty that the knowledge and experience I gained in a lifetime of employment is not being fully utilised.
Late 50's, kids all growed up and getting on with their lives; 3rd wife and living separately (perfect); big gaff paid for. Let rooms out, more for company in the week than the income.
Don't need to work, but just like it. A bit of sales support, specification, get out to client sites, give them advice, invoice, repeat. Can't see me retiring.
Saying that, have taken sabbaticals in each decade since the 90's, as a reset, and have enjoyed those; but equally relished the prospect of returning to the fray.
Don't need to work, but just like it. A bit of sales support, specification, get out to client sites, give them advice, invoice, repeat. Can't see me retiring.
Saying that, have taken sabbaticals in each decade since the 90's, as a reset, and have enjoyed those; but equally relished the prospect of returning to the fray.
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