Early Retirement - have you, would you ?

No, no , no I hated the thought of retiring and held on till I was 69 then the NHS had had enough of me ( haha) no they found a young person who was much cheaper I hate retirement and after a year found a voluntary job that I’ve had for 12 years (20 hours a week)

My eldest daughter after 40 years in the NHS cannot wait to retire

I took an unpaid sabbatical from work for a 8 months when I was 60 to live in Françe, I asked for retirement within a month of returning.
We continued to spend about 8 months a year in Françe until I was 64, within 6 months back in the UK I had a p/t job for a parish council, this ended with Covid.
I have a decent private pension and worked casually in Françe, as did MrJ, we had a brilliant time.

From our 20's, we had a life-time plan to retire early ( 50's) debt and mortgage free and with the children all launched/ independent/off the nest.

The incentive was that both my parents and DH's dad died in harness, very young, and never reached their pensions or freedom from responsibilities. My mother and his father both died at 53; their cancers are both heritable ( and we did). We inherited nothing else except their mindsets and work ethic.

DH and I inherited no money at all. Everything we have, we worked for, made or earned and invested. We retired at 56 and have been living the life of Riley ever since.

Our very independent children are on the same trajectory; to retire early and spend the rest of their lives having fun doing the things they like most.

I retired from work at 60, as an NHS professional, I was fortunate to have a good NHS pension. I lasted 3 months then I had been asked to go back on the Hospital Bank so I did 2 - 3 days a week. Never been so bored in all my life as in those 3 months.
I finally called it a day last year at 70 after I wound work days down to 1 day a week as I was now WFH running a clinic.
I now do some Childcare for my DD, but I'm still bored a lot of the time. I have joined the WI but haven't found any groups. I Looked at U3A but they had nothing that interested me.
I might look at Volunteering in my old Department work place?

IMHO... Only go if you have something to do.

Loved my job, well paid, good colleagues... I retired early, thought if be making a mistake but no, it was amazing, didn't even go back to my leaving party. No regrets.

I went part time at 58 and retired at 63. Dh retired at 54 and neither of us has regretted a moment of it although money was a bit tight at first until my sp kicked in when I was 66.

I retired fairly young at 61 but have been looking after my mum, my mother in law (both now deceased) and until very recently my young grandaughter whilst she and my son were both living with us after an acrimonious divorce. Now I'm 70 but my husband is experiencing health difficulties so my responsibilities have changed again. I'm not complaining, it's just the way it is but I'm certainly never bored! I quite envy grans who have the time to do what they want and join things. The last time I joined French classes I had to leave because I was needed often at the last minute by my mother.

I retired at 58 (firstly to look after my mother but she died when I was 60). I love being retired, money was tight at first but I downsized and got the money out of my house and I am now 76 and have travelled and done exactly what I want to do!

I retired at 62 - and the only thing I regret is the reason that prompted it! I fell backwards downstairs and smashed my head on a tiled floor (Ouch!). My husband had retired reluctantly 8 months before - but he was 68 and running his own business, but heart issues put paid to him carrying on.
We really enjoy life. We eat lunch out every day, but other than that really aren't big spenders and live comfortably. I only have state pension but find that I easily manage.

Good if you have lots to do and enough money for it all.
Not if you will laze about watching tv. That ages you a lot not prioritising health and keeping active.

Chardy

I went on a workplace pre-retirement course in my early fifties. In those olden days, retirement was 60. I was told that if we retired 5yrs early, we'd lose 25% of their workplace pension as we were taking money from the pot 5yrs early and not putting anything in for 5yrs
I'd never thought of it like that.

Because the Headteacher has cocked up the school budget big time, the Authority said there could be redundancies. OH asked about early retirement, they were delighted so two weeks after his 50th birthday he retired with 10 years enhancement, in other words he got his pension as though he was 60! He did however still teach, becoming a popular supply teacher in the area.
By the time I was old enough the rules had changed and actuarily reduced pensions were paid to early retirees With a spread sheet I worked out that taking the reduced pension only became disadvantageous in mid 70s so I retired at 57 and we were able to travel the world, not having lumbered ourselves with a huge mortgage or large car payments.

I retired from teaching at 55 . Took a tiny lump sum and then I get £500 a month .
My husband still works. We live on the coast so loads of seasonal work if I want to pick some up .
I have lost two brothers and a sister pre their 50s so I know that leaving things doesn’t always wk out .
We don’t have children but dogs these can be expensive vets bills and insurance both costly as they get older.
We will downsize in three years for my husband to retire and future proof our house .

Retired at 60 as was the norm. Had to wait another 5 years for DH as 65 was the norm for men. We certainly could not afford to go travelling even with the amount of state and private pensions we had. We had to save for holidays just as before.

I would have loved to. I would happily have finished at 60 but since the retirement age has risen to 67, I can't afford it for another 3 years. I'm very bitter about it as am very tired & got various ailments but just can't afford to do it early

Retired from lengthy career in education working with 16-19 year olds. Loved it but menopause caused uncertainty so decided to retire after enjoying a 4 day week for a year. Over 20 years retired and love every minute of it. Luckily have no financial worries so I know I am lucky.

I retired at 63 , 3 years before I got my SP. My DH is 4 years older and we decided to retire at the same time whilst we still had good health . We’d met couples whom sadly one of them had serious health problems soon after retiring . And didn’t get to enjoy retirement.
We’re both self employed but have good private pensions and sold our rental property to bolster the pensions .
I love being retired . I care for my mum who’s 90 and in poor health . I have a lively 4 year old Labrador, so we go for long walks with him. I joined a yoga class which I love . I Volunteer in a charity shop one day a week and now that most of my friends are also retired , we meet regularly for coffee and lunch .
My DH clay pigeon shoots as a hobby and cycles .
We’ve also traveled a lot and have 3 holidays a year plus city breaks in either Britain or Europe.
We’re very lucky that we can do this and having lost a quite a few friends over the past 4 years . We’re aware of making the most of life .

I retired at 58 after various things including cancer treatment meant that I no longer wanted to work full time. Strange that this is now considered very "early", as pension age for women was 60 through most of my working life. I'm fortunate that I can afford to be retired in spite of living alone and not yet getting any state pension. I am MUCH happier and healthier out of the rat race.

At 50 I changed career and started my own company which I ran until I was 73. Only ill health stopped me working professionally as a historian, ( I was losing the ability to concentrate all day) but I still do small commissions because I love what I do. I never contemplated retiring until I had to.

I retired at 62 and 3 months when I could access my SP. I also have 2 private pensions. My DH retired at 64 and also could claim a couple of private pensions so financially fine. He will be able to claim his SP in 3 months time. We visit galleries, go for good walks to keep ourselves reasonably fit, visit National Trust places and still go on holiday. We also have an allotment which keeps us busy and produce fruit and veg from this which is very satisfying. Wouldn't change a thing as early retirement was the best thing we ever did. We are lucky and are thankful we can now suit ourselves but it's because we worked hard and paid into private pensions to give us a good life now.

I don't understand boredom. I always have something to do to keep my interest, and have never needed a routine or externally imposed activities to make me happy. There are some things about working that I sometimes miss, but not for a minute because I am bored or don't have enough to do. I'm happy to try new things, and there are plenty of 'older' interests to keep me busy. There aren't enough hours in the day😀

Old age doesn't come alone so do everything you want to do now and quickly, while you can. I imagined I would but it all went to pot because of my health.

I did 'retire' in my mid fifties but it was to take care of my Mum and help with childcare for my daughter. Financially it was a bit difficult but the time spent with my Mum and GC was priceless.
I think you need a plan in place as to what you want to do with your retirement. A couple of friends have really struggled with the loss of routine and company.

I was made redundant at 52 from a job I loved. I then worked for 2 years in a job I loathed. The demands of 3 elderly relatives and wanting to spend more time with my children and grandchildren, choosing early retirement was an easy choice.

I have a greatly reduced state pension, but the redundancy money and final salary pension has meant I am comfortable. I don’t regret it. The elderly relatives were all dreadful and I could not of coped with them if I was in work.

I am approaching 80, very fit and enjoying retirement.

I retired almost 9 years ago , when I was 61
I was a GP all my life and loved it .. until my practice decided to become a " super practice" . That was awful. I could no longer be the family GP I always had been... It was all business and I hated it.
I got depressed and threw it in
My husband followed suit and, in August 2019 we moved back " home to the NE.
I enjoyed retirement, in a new place.
However, then along came COVID with Boris asking for medical help from retired nhs staff
...so I returned to work in August 2020...for 6 months.
It's now 6 years later and I am still there , working 2 days a week .
I have loved it. A lovely family orientated practice. A wonderful end to my career.
However I am 70 soon and wondering if I actually should fully retire.. but, despite many hobbies, I fear boredom and loss of identity.

I was 70 years and 5 months old when I retired. I had some ill health in my last 22 months of work otherwise I probably would have still been there. I’ve no regrets tho and I am getting used to and enjoying retirement but it took me a while