Retirement Age.

[mickd1961]

How many of you lot are retired and at what age?

I’m 59 in a couple of weeks and I don’t think I’ll ever get to retire if I’m honest.

Anybody else who thinks they’ll be working until they drop?

What prompted this was seeing ( belatedly ) that one of my old customers from my days on the road had died.

He was well known in the world of rugby and had played for Mosseley and England in the 70’s.......Jan Webster,he was scrum half.

He’d owned a sports shop in Streetly for a long time and then had the sports shop at Birmingham University for many years through the late 90’s and 2000’s.

A real character and always kept himself in great shape and I thought he’d make a hundred.

A big Albion fan and often played for the ex Baggie All Star side.

Dropped dead at 72 with a heart attack.

You just never know do you!!?

[WBA123]

I'm in my late 30's now. And I've been thinking about what age I could comfortably retire for about 10 years, probably since my late 20's. My original plan was to retire at 50, but I bought quite an expensive house in Richmond a couple of years ago which will probably push that back to 55. It also depends on how some other long term investments get on.

I've constantly overpaid my mortgage and got quite lucky on the first apartment I bought in London when London prices sky rocketed.

But its a double edged sword, because you want to enjoy the here and now but also want to keep an eye on the future. I have a mixture of friends down here, some who earn good money and spend it on expensive holidays, cars and stupidly high rent places. I also know a guy who works in the city a couple of years younger than me who wants to retire at 40, he works 16 hours a day including weekends and doesn't have a home life. Its all about a balance somewhere between the two.

[stripes39]

How many of you lot are retired and at what age?

I’m 59 in a couple of weeks and I don’t think I’ll ever get to retire if I’m honest.

Anybody else who thinks they’ll be working until they drop?

What prompted this was seeing ( belatedly ) that one of my old customers from my days on the road had died.

He was well known in the world of rugby and had played for Mosseley and England in the 70’s.......Jan Webster,he was scrum half.

He’d owned a sports shop in Streetly for a long time and then had the sports shop at Birmingham University for many years through the late 90’s and 2000’s.

A real character and always kept himself in great shape and I thought he’d make a hundred.

A big Albion fan and often played for the ex Baggie All Star side.

Dropped dead at 72 with a heart attack.

You just never know do you!!?

I think it depends what you do in retirement Mick. It also depends on how much you like your job which is why in this new economy self employment is no less risky than holding a corporate position so I moved in to the latter having had my fill of large corporates.

I know a few who did retire and suddenly found themselves with nothing to do and 2 or 3 didn't last long after that whereas a few I know who kept active and fully engaged so I think everyone needs a reason to get up in the morning. Boredom does seem to be a silent killer when I think of a few people I once knew which is why if your fit and healthy and doing something you enjoy is no bad thing.

[Dubbag]

How many of you lot are retired and at what age?

I’m 59 in a couple of weeks and I don’t think I’ll ever get to retire if I’m honest.

There is a strange feeling globally......I stopped thinking long term quite some time a go....I lost money back in the crash 0f 1987...I was investing then as I was thinking long term.....But over the years I have noticed certain changes that do make me reconsider my long term strategy about life.....I have no pension and have no real savings as such...I live at home with my ailing mother as the house I bought on the Isle of Wight collapsed in price shortly after buying in the early 90's. Got out a decade later with break even....
We are living through an extraordinary time of change.....as far as I am concerned all bets are off regarding the future.....not sure how much of it is left...so money is not something I am bothered about....Lucky me...

[Joy_Division]

I managed to quit at 63 by taking a works pension early and throwing a load of savings at it for two years until my state pension kicked in. If I had been at my first or second job I would have carried on for the two years until 65 but I was made redundant for the second time aged 50 and ended up having to take a job I detested and stuck it out for 13 years. It was the first time I had experienced hating to go into work. So I got out at the very earliest i could manage. It's the best thing I ever did other than marry my second wife. We do whatever we want (Covid allowing) and financially my two pensions amount to more per month than I was earning per month in that sh*t job. I am loving retirement and sometimes think its too good to be true as every now and again I still get a thrill when I remember I ain't got to go to work.

[SCOOP115]

Exactly the the same financial situation as Joy Division. Plus having a heart attackr & bypass 10 years ago (exactly to yesterdays date!) made me reconsider a lot of things . One being a daily slog up and down the M6.so finished at 63 Ironically after about 3 months I had a call asking me to go back - under my own terms 3 days a week, more convenient hours, and far better rate. Tidied me over for another couple of years

[DaveP67 is back!]

Life can easily pass you by, my wife is a district nurse and works closely with the Macmillan nurses, they have a questionnaire they ask people at end of life (if they want too) it’s a set of basic questions about life, one is what’s your biggest regret, the most common answer being ‘ I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’ I’m 53 and am lucky to be able to take my pension at 55 and I always paid extra contributions. There is a big world out there and I want to see as much as I can before the reaper calls my number.

[Barrera]

I am 61 y/o and still working ..... In fact enjoying work more now than I have done for years. I think it’s doing something you believe in and working with people you like working with.......you get energy from that. Will probably work until I am 65......but you never know....

[Yarmbaggie]

Don’t think it’s dictated to by age more by what you want to do with the rest of your life and your financial position as to whether or not you can afford it.

I had ploughed decent money into pensions for 38 years so I could retire early if I wanted to. I thought about it first at 56 and then at 57 but decided I was not old enough and felt I still had plenty to achieve through work. However having thought about it long and hard at 57 decided to get myself in a position to retire at 58, if I still thought it was right, which in fact I did.

I wanted to spend a good part of each winter with family in Oz as well as friends in NZ rather than just the 2 weeks I could get when I was at work. Coming up to 69 later this year I can honestly say retirement was the best decision I made in my life. Finances are prioritised to meet Winter travel to Oz/NZ and after that Uk spending.

It was a long term plan building up finances via pensions throughout my life and giving up on plenty but now reaping the rewards. Unless you are extremely fortunate you can’t have everything just need to decide what are the most important things for YOU and then have a plan to make sure you implement it.

That said crap happens along the way, financial crashes, Covid etc and you have to just ride them out and take the best action you can at the time.

[Dubbag]

I think my retirement age is 68 over here...it is based on your date of birth...impending pension crises and all that. My productivity will be close to ZERO long before then....