Who are they and what do they live on?

kittylester

I keep hearing about people who have taken early retirement since the lockdowns and how we need them back at work.

Who are these people, what did they do and what do they live on?

Do you know anyone who has done it or have you done it yourself?

It doesn't seem that long since we were being told we were selfish to carry on working as we were stopping young people being able to get jobs, kittylester!

Now they need us back (well, not me, I'm well past my 50s).

eazybee

The only people I know who retired early are women, who all worked no more than two days a week. They have /had husbands with well paid jobs and excellent pensions and were also fortunate in inheriting family money; my parents' money all went in nursing home fees.

Goodness eazybee you must know a narrow group of people. I know a number of people of both sexes, who have retired early, and under lots of different circumstances.

I retired early during lockdown. I was in a well paid job in the NHS, but it was very high pressure and after 15 years as a single parent as well as a full time job I was exhausted with it. My husband had died very prematurely, so the mortgage was paid off. I could afford to retire early, but not because I had been sitting on my bum while somebody else did all the work.

This thread is interesting kittylester, for the wide variety of circumstances, but also because I’ve not seen anybody commenting who has regretted their decision to retire, however tough it’s been financially. I hope my children will be able to retire early too, but unfortunately I think it’s a pipe dream.

We retired early at 53. My husband receives a good work place pension which is enough for us to live on. I don't receive a pension, although I cashed in a small private pension to top us up. We spent our married life living frugally, saved money, invested money and paid off our mortgage early. We're debt free. We still manage our money very carefully and budget down to the last penny. I buy most of my clothes from charity shops and make most of what we eat from scratch. Having said this, we still go on holidays, enjoy meals out and have gym membership. We both love having time to do the things which make us happy.

I have a friend who retired at 49, 11 years ago after 30 years in the police force.
She hasn’t needed to do any paid work since

DH retired at 57 with a good work pension. He had been with the same company since he was 16. He took a higher pension which will reduce by the amount of his State pension once he is 66.
I had been a SAHM for years and we live comfortably. We downsized house too and have savings from that.
We still have a few years to wait for our State Pensions.

I know a couple of ladies who retired from teaching at 55. Another lady, who is single, retired from the Police Force in her 50s on a good pension.

Some retire early but continue to do other type of work for themselves, Trading, Consultancy, etc- as and when they please.

The case for a very close friend who retired from very high flying Partnership in the City.

Absolutely, Callistemon. Talk about being unable to do right for doing wrong .

I left full-time work at 57. My husband is a bit older than me, and we'd thought we'd retire at about the same time, but the goalposts moved, and we had to reassess. He left at 60, and I stayed on for a couple of years and left early.

Financially it wasn't a good move - it cost us both a fortune - but on every other level it was definitely the right thing to do. We worked for well over 40 years each, so I don't feel remotely guilty about it. Neither of us is claiming benefits, and I don't know anyone who has left work in order to do that. Friends who have done similarly are also living on reduced versions of the pensions they bought in their working lives, topped up with State Pensions when they get old enough to claim them.

My worry is that the government is making so much noise about the number of people who are doing what they have saved for and worked towards, so that they can cut or means test the State Pension. It sometimes feels as though they won't rest until everyone is reduced to living on minimum wage, with anything they have over that taken away on the grounds that we can 'afford it'.

I don't think those who go on to do other work will appear in the "inactive" figures Fleurpepper and that seems to be what has spiked the interest in those retiring early.

What has surprised me is how many people think these folks are "unemployed" and talk of "high unemployment". As I'm sure most of us are aware, we don't have high unemployment - yet.

To be unemployed you have to be looking for work and claiming benefits. Those retiring early are not doing that.

I suspect that during Lockdown, despite furlough, many people found themselves out of work and are now finding it very difficult to get another job.

I went out on a 'voluntary' redundancy scheme in my 50s. I was working full time in a professional role. I did not have a huge occupational pension, I had worked for the company for only 11 years, but I did invest most of my redundancy moneyinto buying extra years.

If I hadn't 'chosen' to go. I would have probably have been out on my ear, the moment the redundancy scheme ended, with a smaller pension and much less redundancy money. It was a no brainer.

I tried to get back to work, but women in their 50s were a drug on the market back then. DH was still working, so we could manage. At 60 I got my state pension plus the pension from the extra voluntary payments I had made into the pension scheme during the 11 years I had been with the company.

But a good private pension wouldn't be a substitute for their wages.

DH's annual pension is less than half of his working salary. But he took a large lump sum which paid off debts and our children were financially independent.
We are paying far less tax and no NI. There are no work travel and other expenses. So the amount of "spending money" after bills is more or less the same as it was before.

My DH took early retirement during lockdown as his company were making people redundant and he offered to go early to save someone else losing their job.
He got a good payout which saw him through until he started getting his state pension 18 months later.

Mr C retired a couple of years early as his work role was making him ill. I worked for 5 years after my retirement pension age because I loved my profession and wanted to. Friends both retired at 55 and lived comfortably on their workplace pensions. Everyone’s circumstances are different.

The ones I know, and there are many, had their children when they were young and then returned to work. So they enjoyed several child free years with two incomes. Most likely they were able to pay off their mortgage and invest in the stock market.

Now they live off a combination their private pensions, investment income and state pension. Unlike today, they only bought what they could afford and did not have huge debts.

Apparently (IES briefing notes on Labour Market Statistics, January 2023)
figures are about the same as the last quarter of last year. However, "inactivity" (these people are not "unemployed") due to long-term health issues is shrinking a little, as are the numbers taking early retirement (you can only retire from your last job once). These figures are now close to where they were pre-pandemic.

Reading the notes, they tell us that the problems are now that fewer are entering the labour market rather than more leaving it.

This, on the other hand, does not make good reading; However in more worrying signs, redundancies continue to rise (albeit so far only back to pre-pandemic levels), unemployment of less than a year is rising, and the number of young people outside of full-time education or employment is also up. Vacancies continue to fall back. It is possible that for each of these, we are simply seeing things returning more towards normal, but it is perhaps more likely that these are early signs of a wider slowdown.

I'm afraid I don't doubt the increase in redundancies as the year continues.

M0nica I suspect that during Lockdown, despite furlough, many people found themselves out of work and are now finding it very difficult to get another job.
That's exactly what happened to me. The minute the first lockdown happened, my freelance work stopped and I found myself without work for almost two years, with not a penny's support from the government. My husband is planning to retire later this year. I wish I could afford to join him.

Pittcity

^But a good private pension wouldn't be a substitute for their wages.^

DH's annual pension is less than half of his working salary. But he took a large lump sum which paid off debts and our children were financially independent.
We are paying far less tax and no NI. There are no work travel and other expenses. So the amount of "spending money" after bills is more or less the same as it was before.

I think this is a very pertinent point. We retired early, with very small private pensions - but we downsized to a smaller property and our outgoings are less. We still go on holidays, but rarely go out for meals. Fewer new clothes, but not needed anyway. Much happier!!

Just seen a News item on a French Channel about the massive cost of childcare in the UK, compared to France. And the resulting consequence that many mothers choose to stop working, unless that have a very large income, as the % taken by childcare is over 50% and more.

I am 66 this year, I will leave work then. I have a occupational pension but my state pension is slightly reduced as we were contacted out. I will take the larger monthly pension and the smaller lump sum.
I am getting the house in order, and have no debt. I dont intend to cut back on much. I fully intend to enjoy my retirement while I have the health and mobility to do so.
Good luck to anyone who can afford to retire early. I did not because I did not want to cut back on the luxuries I enjoy.

They quoted 1300 per month per child, in the UK. So if you have 2 or 3 children !

I would have loved to retire early. Equitable Life made sure it wasn’t an option, both in terms of losing a lot of my pension pot and because they advised me to be contracted out until their problems were made public knowledge, causing me to receive a reduced SP. I spent the latter part of my working life trying to catch up.

I don't think it is rude to wonder, and of course everyone is different. I believe it is good to hear all stories. I retired early and DH who is younger decided to do the same under 60. No private pension yet, no pay outs or benefits, but we sold properties in London and abroad, the proceeds of which we are living off mortgage free.

Lately we have been needed back if you can call it that, and have been invited to work at our convenience.

Fleurpepper

Just seen a News item on a French Channel about the massive cost of childcare in the UK, compared to France. And the resulting consequence that many mothers choose to stop working, unless that have a very large income, as the % taken by childcare is over 50% and more.

I think, for people with many children, it's always been thus. Childcare always been a huge expense to working rather than staying home.

I also take from this thread the different ages people pay off their mortgages. We married when I was 16, bought my grandparents house. We finished paying the mortgages over 35 years ago.

I retired just before my 60th birthday and put my private pensions into payment, although it meant getting a reduced amount. My parents both died at 70 and so I felt that I wanted some of my money back before I died. I am fortunate that my husband is older and has a very good private pension, otherwise I may have felt differently.
I miss working and volunteering where we are tends to be ‘telephone friends’ which doesn’t suit me. I have looked for part time work but have been unable to find anything. I worked in adult education as well as marketing and have good IT skills but the only jobs available are full time and poorly paid.