Shall I jump - is it feasible to give up work?

I retired at 60 back in 2011. I had a small teacher's pension as I had only been in the profession for 14 years. My husband had been made redundant the year before, 18 months short of him reaching state pension age.
We did our sums and felt we could get by. We were used to living carefully in the past so it wasn't much of a struggle for the year or so before our state pensions kicked in.

I'm so glad we took the plunge. Within weeks of my retirement, the first of a whole series of family issues cropped up which we had to sort out.
Close relatives falling seriously ill, caring for them, bereavements, care homes etc.
In between there were times of calm and DH and I had some good times.
We got involved in various volunteering opportunities and made many new friends.
Through one of my voluntary jobs I was offered a temporary part time post running the education provision at our local museum.
Through another, I was asked to join a team in planning the proposed future of leisure and education facilities in the nearby forest.
I'm 71 now and my husband has recently died.
I am so glad I decided to retire when I did.
Doing so opened many new opportunities for both of us.

I wish you well with whatever you decide to do.
Good luck!

Sad that your husband has died, but what a good decision you made about retiring when you did.
None of us know what’s round the corner, and I think many who took the decision to retire earlier than they could have do not regret it. I certainly don’t.

I did, glad to be gone, however also very pleased to be involved with something as too young to be at home ……
Do make sure you have enough for yourself outside to keep you occupied, as has been said some become bored. There is a whole world out there of things going on and I’m sure you can enjoy a lot of them.

I quit Tuesday afternoon giving 6 weeks notice.

Offered a mahoosive pay rise. 26.5%. Astonished. And somewhat annoyed that they now realise I've been underpaid all this time. Also, and probably unsurprisingly, still working for a bit longer!

Congratulations . You've played a blinder there!

Maybe you could put some of the pay rise into your pension fund to make the decision a bit easier when the time comes.

Thanks D-dog. My head hurts from my jaw hitting the floor when I read their email.

I'm staggered and stunned and still quite cross I've had to quit to get my role recognised as actually blooming important!

Congratulations on the pay rise, but I can see why you'd also be cross with them!

I hope the extra money helps, and tucking away some of it as Doodledog has suggested is good advice.