Thoughts on retirement.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

I’ve been retired for 11 weeks after volunteering for redundancy, and I’ll be 64 this month. I’m single and renting but I’ve got a decent pension and my employee shares should buy me a house away from the south-east. I tell myself I would have had two years to plan for retirement in the normal course of events but I’m not sure I’d have done that in reality, and anyway, here I am.

Observations so far are;

I haven’t missed work at all!
it’s been a brilliant summer despite trying to avoid spending too much money because my pension isn’t sorted yet
pensions are baffling. I have a financial advisor and he’s taking quite a fee but it’s probably worthwhile
I’m not missing daily personal interactions (I’m that type) although I worry that I should
I fear I’ll get cabin fever come the winter
the daytime, mid-week drivers and trolley-wielding shoppers seem to be operating in a slower time dimension while I still have a “gotta be somewhere!” mindset (even though I don’t)
my small suburban garden is teeming with wildlife; mostly birds but also frogs and hedgehogs
after a lifetime of work this does feel a bit wrong, and there are days when I think I’m wasting my life. I haven’t ruled out finding some work later, possibly volunteering though I don’t know what
I’ve been surprised how many people aren’t working, by which I mean (for example) the work vans that clutter the main road round the estate don’t move for days. It confirms my suspicion that some tradesmen can bill two jobs a week and afford to be mostly at home; also confirming my suspicion that a career in pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D was a mugs game financially.

Any thoughts or advice on retirement?

[thx1138]

I am a “pensioner” now, aged 55 and work part time, start work at 10:30 finish at 13:30 miss the school runs and commute on my motorbike in daylight all year. ?

There seems to be a fair few like me too, with one foot in retirement.

[stinkwheel]

You got a local mens shed? Can give you something to do or just work on your own projects using someone elses tools and keeping the mess out of your house. Also stops you disappearing up your own arse in terms of social interaction.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Easy-X]

Since Covid, our company switched to work from home. I also don't write code any more as the AIs can do that for me - effectively I'm a semi-retired AI wrangler. Compared to what I used to do, I probably only "work" one day a week and the rest is cracking a digital whip to get my silicon minions moving.

I've really enjoyed this past summer
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[mentalboy]

57, if I reach UK retirement age then I might get enough of a UK pension to buy a couple of bags of potatoes a week, possibly a little more from US Social Security but unlikely at the rate the pot is emptying.
No savings and still working manual subsistence jobs means that if or when I stop working me no eat..
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Make mine a Corona.

[panrider_uk]

Am 65 and trying to decide the right time to go.

Definitely thinking of going sometime next year, probably early in the year.

That will leave me to live on savings and company pension until state pension kicks in to top up the income at 67.

Financially I'd be comfortable even without the state pension.

I guess I've just always worked and am just putting off the lifestyle change
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Current bikes: Honda ST1100 Pan European. Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel

[Feasty]

I turned 50 this year which has put the woolies up me a bit when thinking about retirement.

I've had my head well and truly buried in the sand with regards to pensions most of my life, I've always paid into them as an employee but had many jobs so have a few different pots lying around. This year I've started gathering details of them and trying to work out what kind of retirement income I'm likely to receive (I'm sure this is way more complicated than it should be!), and also whether I should be putting them all in one big pot.
I've also got a mortgage until I'm 65, borrowed £50k against the equity but the rest should buy us a small house somewhere mortgage free.

Problem is we're now starting to feel the creaks and groans of old age, my wife is older than me and recently has serious health problems. I'm not sure I want to work till 65, but still think I'd rather do that than retire early and have no money to enjoy the time.

We've also been through a huge life learning curve. The in-laws bought a big expensive house years ago and always said it'll be ours one day, they've always been pretty loaded. We always thought that would be the retirement pot and we wouldn't have to worry. It's ended up one of them passed away, the other spent all the money, and now with the possibility of needing care homes etc, we may well be left with very little.

With hindsight NEVER rely on family for future protection, you never know what's going to happen. Always plan for yourself and that way anything that does come your way is a bonus.
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Previous: Aprilia Habana Retro 50cc (beauty), Yamaha SR125 (fell apart), Honda XR125 (nippy little commuter), Honda SLR650 (Geewhizz), Yamaha Diversion 900S (Smoooooth) written off courtesy of a stupid escaped horse.
(7 year gap), BMW F650 (Relaxing ride). Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 (Big and bold). Yamaha FZS600 (got me in trouble too quick!).
Current: Yamaha TDM 900 (Comfy, light but big, power when needed). Also now a Tiger 1050, easily best of the lot!

[panrider_uk]

A couple of things to note:

The amount you need to retire on does tend to be overstated..
A quick search came back with £32,700 for a moderate lifestyle (outside London).
I'd say with no mortgage then £20k would be a comfortable living.
How often you want to go on holiday would be the main factor as to whether you need much more.

Also you will spend less the older you will get so your pot will probably stretch further than you think.

You will get a nice £13k pay rise at state pension age.

Ok 3 things.
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Current bikes: Honda ST1100 Pan European. Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel

[Easy-X]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]