Regrets after early retirement?

Does anyone else find it a little sad that retiring at 60 odd counts as early retirement?

Yes, to me that is sad. We should retire at any age we wish so long as we can afford it and is happy. Forget about what others think as they are not you (unless s/he is your dearest). It is your life and if you waste it you only have yourself to blame.

I decided to retire 18 months ago after being made redundant and fill my time with some voluntary conservation work, household chores to relieve the pressure on my still-working wife, cycling and walking in the local woods. However, aged 58 I still miss that ‘something’ about work and am now looking to work part-time at a local school. I still think I made the right decision though.

Does anyone else find it a little sad that retiring at 60 odd counts as early retirement?

Not really. It is early compared previous generations. Younger generations are also likely to live longer and probably started work later so its a much better deal.

Although I get the sentiment, I watched my grandparents and then parents sit indoors and stare at each other for 20 years after retirement. I’m determined not to do that, but be relatively active and have a enough of a bank balance to give us choices to have an annual holiday, go on trips etc.

The next 10 years for me is about helping the kids through education whilst living a (sorry to sound pompous) slightly above average life yet saving money for the above. If I can set them towards a decent standard of life before putting my feet up, that makes me happy.

I think the notion of ‘retirement’ with a nice cosy pension will become increasingly rare in the future, plus the idea of 35 years of continuous employment with a big fat payout at the end. Younger folks are becoming increasingly indebted at an early stage with university, career loans etc and 40 year mortgages are now a thing. Not having children also means no pressure regarding house deposits or leaving ‘legacies’. I’d much rather have the opportunity to remain active and healthy than waiting another 15 years to then find declining health meant I maybe have the means but not the ability to do what I’d like to do. However, Mrs DB having just seen my estimated dentist’s bill is thinking of sending me out to work again…

Not really. It is early compared previous generations.

These “previous generations”, when exactly?

I’m 57, and both my Father and Grandfathers retired at 60. One of my two Uncles retired at 50, and so did my FIL (Thatcher privatisations of State industries generated lots of ‘early’ retirements). The ladies all were done by 60 too, except my Grandma, who retired at 60 then promptly went back and worked p/t through to 75 (Landlady).

I expect to be retired by 60 too, but I can’t see many of the next generation going ‘early’ – unless they’re Public Sector with the associated Final Salary Pensions.

I retired on the last day of 2020. Spent most of 2021 enjoying my time off. I then started working again 4 days a week in the gig economy last December. I’m still working but will stop at the end of May and have the summer off then get a part time job again for the winter.

I think it’s very important to keep sharp when you retire. I’ve noticed some older retired couples at the supermarket moving very slowly and taking ages to pay for their shopping. You don’t want to slow down too much and deteriorate mentally and physically.

Working part time has definitely sharpened me up and stopped my laziness.

My father did the maths at 57, worked out he couldn’t really afford to, but went anyway. Just had to fund the gap until pension age. He has absolutely no regrets.
Very nearly died in a sailing accident at 69 (like three months in an induced coma in ITU nearly) but is fine again now.
Anyway, point is, you never know what’s about to happen, have fun while you can, if you live long enough to run out of money see that as a bonus. There is no point being the richest bloke in the cemetery.

Work until retire and with all the stress, you might get the money but you might also drop dead within a short time.

You might, but 50% chance I’ll live to 84, 3% chance I’ll make 97!

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/articles/lifeexpectancycalculator/2019-06-07

I retired on the last day of 2020. Spent most of 2021 enjoying my time off. I then started working again 4 days a week in the gig economy last December. I’m still working but will stop at the end of May and have the summer off then get a part time job again for the winter.

That’s not retiring, it’s a change of ‘career’.

Hopefully semi retired by 54 in two years. Waiting for new nationality to come through then off to Europe, if my plan fails I’ll come back and get a job hey-Ho you have to try.
Brother was a big boss at Amazon. Thought he’d die at his desk but said sod it at 50 and retired has not regretted it but he is minted.

You’ve convinced me. I’ve typed up my resignation email, just need to hit “Send”.

I’m 57, and both my Father and Grandfathers retired at 60. One of my two Uncles retired at 50, and so did my FIL (Thatcher privatisations of State industries generated lots of ‘early’ retirements). The ladies all were done by 60 too, except my Grandma, who retired at 60 then promptly went back and worked p/t through to 75 (Landlady).

I was going to say one swallow a summer doesn’t make or some such thing, but turns out they weren’t that unusual – a few years below average.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2963287/Economists-say-employees-real-pay-rise-nearly-decade-wages-set-rise-1-9-cent-year.html

I read the tales of early retirees whether doing cool adventures or just enjoying a relaxed pace of life, enviously!

Life is hectic for me and with 3 young kids late in life I’ll be going to work a good while yet. If I’d not had kids then I’d possibly have retired late 50s, but now it’ll be another decade probably. Still, the kids are great…. The kids are great… The kids are great….

The kids are great expensive….

FIFY

Not really. It is early compared previous generations.

It wasn’t really a compare to previous generations thing.

State pension age is 67. It seems a little sad that retiring a mere 3 or 4 years ahead of that is noteworthy enough to be considered early.

I was going to say one swallow a summer doesn’t make or some such thing, but turns out they weren’t that unusual – a few years below average.

That’s an interesting graph – thanks for posting.

However – it would be interesting to know what they constitute ‘retiring’ as.

Is is drawing dawn a pension? Because a lot of people continue/go back to work after that.
Is it self declaring that you are no longer employed for financial gain and and won’t seek it again in the future?
If your employment was ‘domestic servitude’ – i.e. you were a homemaker whilst other people in the house went out to earn money – do you ‘retire’ officially from that role or do you get added to the figure when your allotted state retirement age come up – in which case you might be pushing the average figure up.

With people investing in things like buy to let instead of an officially branded pension and gig economy style employment I think the official definition of retired is going to get hard to discern.

With firms no longer able to enforce retirement at a given age like they could in the past, that’s going to mash it up further.

I’ve said it already further up but I don’t see my finances making it possible for me to have no pid activity in my life before state retirement age (67 – so 17 years away) but I do see me switching careers and doing less days a week in a managed way long before then. I’m lucky that part of my pension matures at 60 which will definitely help me make this possible.

Retired from the police age 52 in late 2019. Planned on doing a few bucket list things but Covid said no and ended up staying home more than was ideal. The honeymoon period was still enjoyable and I paid off debts and completed a number of long overdue home improvement projects.

In the longer term, I have found it hard to transition from being an experienced supervisor in a specialist team, attending incidents, making decisions, advising people and being constantly busy to all of that stopping overnight. Suddenly, no one needed my help or advice, no banter, excitement or feeling valued. Having nothing to get up for is depressing and it raised questions of self esteem and a kind of ‘is this all there is? mentality. Wife noticed that I was more grumpy and down than usual and told me to go and do something useful.

I took a temporary role as a security escort driver at COP26 last year. It felt good to be busy again, chauffeuring world leaders escorted by a police bike team. Great fun but over too soon. It made me realise that I’m just not ready for the pipe and slippers.

I’ve since taken a part time job as an emergency driver with the ambulance service. Only been out a couple of times but so far it’s fantastic. All of the interesting bits from going to incidents, meeting and helping people, a bit of blue light driving, banter, buzz, feeling useful again. Zero paperwork for me and the paramedic does all the clever stuff, perfect!

Long story short, retiring early has it’s benefits but losing a huge chunk of who I was, was more detrimental than I ever imagined. I’m now lucky to be able to recapture some of the good stuff while still having time to myself. If you are still working and desperate to retire, be careful what you wish for and have a plan B up your sleeve.

For those of you in the ‘gig’ economy, what kind of part time work do you pick up. I’m looking to quit my job in the next couple of years in order to have a bit more time for me, but I don’t want to stop work completely. I like the idea of picking up part time work as and when I fancy, but taking summers off to do more exciting things….bit like being a student again.

However – it would be interesting to know what they constitute ‘retiring’ as.

I was thinking the same, probably quite a bit on forced retirement rather than everyone just cashing in their final salary pensions and buggering off to the south of Spain…

Ploughing on, with 2 years until I hit 55 and can consider stopping.
I might not, but having the option would be marvellous.
I’m conscious that I am rather wishing my life away, over focusing on the deadline and not at all enjoying the scenery.
I am hugely fortunate to be well paid, respected but under a lot of pressure (as are many others). I would much rather swap that for an opportunity to ride, run, walk, DIY, read, explore.
Children have been hugely expensive, else I would probably have had more than enough savings to stop already. It’s a choice I / we made many years ago, and I don’t regret for an instant.

I am hugely fortunate to be well paid, respected but under a lot of pressure

Fwiw I was in a similar position (maybe not the well paid bit) and had an honest chat with my boss (board level) and the outcome is that I’ve written my own job spec for a part time low stress role, which means we can find (and train up) someone to fill my old job while keeping my experience etc available and I get to spend more time doing what I want, both at work and away from it. Yes I know I’m a lucky bast to have the opportunity but it’s worth a try.

You’ll have a fair few years in ‘Premium’ which you can claim from age 60 for a start!

You can claim it from 55

If I retire ‘early’ it’ll be at 63 and making do until my State Pension kicks in at 67, although that might be 68.

I plan to ‘downsize’ in my 50s, my Daughter will graduate (if she goes to Uni) when I’m 58, my Mortgage ends when I’m 63

Unless you’re single or have a partner/wife/husband in a similar position, retiring early can be a curse after the initial honeymoon period is over. It has all been covered in previous posts.
I retired 7 yrs ago, at 49. Haven’t looked back, but my wife retired a year after me so we are very much in it together. We do what we want, when we want. Not wealthy by any strecth of the imagination but 25 years of pre retirement planning means we don’t need a big income. We walk, cycle, travel. She gardens, I ride my motorbike. It is great. No regrets whatsoever but we went into it with our eyes wide open and with a ‘we will go back and work if we want to, not because we need to’.

someone to fill my old job while keeping my experience etc available

Lucky for you and pragmatic of your employer. I left my role in July (IT Director) and as with all jobs there were bits that I really enjoyed and other parts less so. I have applied, half heartedly for a handful of less senior roles since then and have been treated with suspicion. There is a real perception that if you have been a director why would you not aspire to at least that… A less senior or part time role would be perfect but there doesn’t appear to be much of a market for that so what skills and experience I have looks to be lost.

My Dad retired at 55- he had an active retirement, him and Mum were able to spend weeks at a time several times a year with my sisters family in Spain.

Despite having no ailments (especially compared to peers on multiple pills), didn’t drink, smoke, wasn’t overweight a massive heart attack got him at 69.

So make the most of it

Although I get the sentiment, I watched my grandparents and then parents sit indoors and stare at each other for 20 years after retirement.

There is so much opportunity for retired folk to keep busy these days at very little cost this shouldn’t happen unless you want it to.

SO retired early at the start of the year at 55. Seems to be working out for them.

I could probably retire when I hit 55 but work is generally fun. I’d probably spend chunks of my day doing similar stuff just for the heck of it anyway. And working I get to work with very smart people and have deadlines and novel problems to think about.

Thinking of death and morbidity? Try some of these charts. https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy

My Dad retired at 55- he had an active retirement, him and Mum were able to spend weeks at a time several times a year with my sisters family in Spain.

Despite having no ailments (especially compared to peers on multiple pills), didn’t drink, smoke, wasn’t overweight a massive heart attack got him at 69.

Pretty similar to my dad’s story except he retired at 60.

Getting 9 years paid of a gold plated defined benefits scheme doesn’t seem good value in that context.

Definitely a lesson. I want to be out by 55 for this reason, hopefully earlier.
Depends how the pension performs I guess, shoveling as much cash into it as I can but also saving to bridge the expected gap to NMPA going up to 57/58 in the next few years.

Does anyone else find it a little sad that retiring at 60 odd counts as early retirement?

All depends on your life experience, Mine is enjoying my work but realising that I don’t want to work beyond 60 (physical and mental health have determined this) but also I didn’t want to go any earlier as the finances didn’t work for me/us. Also we’re a partnership and herself wants to work to 60 or 61 (Ulster Protestant work ethic) which will give me a couple of years to please myself (in between baking and cooking things) before we go and do some travelling together.