Retirement

I've loved every day of my 25 year retirement and don't miss stresses of work in the slightest. In the early years I did up various properties, and reshaped the gardens too before moving on and now settling down.

I've enjoyed growing fruit, flowers and veg, reading, walking, fostered a couple of dogs, renovated pieces of furniture, some carpentry, enjoyed visiting and watching the [4] grandchildren grow up.

Most of all is being able to plan days around the weather, taking advantage of good days to go out somewhere nice or potter in the garden, and then enjoy rainy, blustery or bitterly cold days indoors doing puzzles, knitting, painting etc. I've a beautiful canary [not caged during the day] who brightens every day no matter what the weather too.

The freedom is priceless: to get up when I like, do what I like, go where I like and see who I want, in my own timetable, answerable to no one. I feel lucky and my health is good so I feel blessed [so far].

I worked for 40 years and I now love being retired with my lovely partner who worked in the same profession and he do miss working either. However, we are both grateful to our profession for giving us the means to enjoy our retirement with no money worries .

I desperately want to be retired. I am really but not living the life of a retired person as OH is still working (I don't think he'll ever retire!) and have a teenager to bring up.

I love being retired. Not having to get up at 5.30 and rushing off to work, is heaven.

I’m always busy, helping with gs, meeting friends for lunch. Keeping up with the dreaded housework.

The downside for me was my Dh, being diagnosed with dementia. He’s had it for about 8 years, gradually getting worse. So the joy we should have had, hasn’t happened 😢 I feel this should be a wonderful time In our life, but dementia has taken it.

I retired in 2022, six weeks after I turned 66. I’d taken redundancy from full-time work four years earlier and had been working part-time in a supermarket.

Retirement is wonderful! I do have to get up to let the dogs out, and I walk a friend’s dog each day after breakfast, so no lying in bed until mid-morning. I’m not a “lark” and I’ve always hated getting up before daylight, now I get up at 08.00 and that’s perfect!

I retired from my full-time job over 20 years ago at the age of 60. I was divorced, living in London and once I had paid off my mortgage I had little savings. I found myself 3 part-time jobs and thoroughly enjoyed my life and managed to save a reasonable amount in case the roof fell in or whatever.

I only stopped working because I had a # dislocation of my ankle which needed surgery. My health has not been the best but I have made the most of life making new friends on GN and we email and meet for coffee.

I really enjoy my life at home, I wish I was 20 years younger. For work, I was up very early and that has been difficult to change but life for me is good.

I loved teaching but after 33 years full time (minimal maternity leave) I was burnt out, stressed, depressed and convinced I wouldn’t last until the conventional retirement age. The decision to retire early with a loss of a quarter of my pension was, then, an easy decision as I didn’t think I would be collecting pension for long.

Thirteen happy years later I haven’t regretted for one minute my decision even though I could have been a lot better off.

The first sixth months when I woke in the morning a wave of euphoria hit me when I remembered that I would never have to go back to a place that was making me ill. Gradually, I got back my equilibrium and now live a happy, busy life with my lovely family nearby. I have a toddler granddaughter I adore and another soon to be born.

I have to be relatively frugal but am quiet and low spending by nature so I do not mind it. Free pleasures like nature and the library keep me amused for little outlay and I walk between five and ten miles a day.

I sometimes see teacher friends and they all feel as I do. We don’t regret our high pressure jobs but we are glad we are out of the fray. We wouldn’t do it again given the modern school climate and our children have chosen other careers having seen what the profession did to us. And, unlike me, the women had eight years or so off to have children whilst the men had wives at home to look after their offspring.

Retirement truly is the gift that goes on giving.

I loved the people I worked with but I didn’t love the exploitation in a not for profit agency where they expected me to manage a fairly large welfare organisation for peanuts. I love retirement even more- really busy with things I want to do ,meeting people I want to meet and organising events I want to organise and be part of.

I stopped working for an employer at 60 and went into self employment immediately afterwards. I now run a lifestyle business in antiques so I dont know what retirement is. If it means sitting on my ass watching daytime TV or pottering about in the garden Id rather cut my throat with a rusty saw.