To work or not to work?

Check out your pension situation!

I personally worked until I received the maximum state pension and also my private pension- it was either 39 or 40 years. I have been on my own since before I retired.

If I were in your shoes, I would grin and bear it for the next 6 months and even beyond if you could. It is not the savings that you have now, it is 5 years + down the line that you have to think about. Also could you cope financially on your own with the reduced pension?

If it's financially not a problem then I'd say go for it, and enjoy the Summer doing things you will enjoy, as you say you never know what's round the next corner.

Well, last time I contacted the pension people they said I had enough for a full pension (about 3 years ago). I also have a small civil service pension (15 years service) already in payment and of course, at the moment there is DH's pension as well. I should have mentioned this in my previous mail. Thank you for your thoughts though

The only drawback to retirement (I was lucky to get redundancy at 57) as far as I can see is that when you are retired YOU NEVER GET A DAY OFF !!
If you can afford it then go for it.

Oh how I wish that that working or not working was a choice! Not working at present, will not get my pension until I'm 66 (currently 55), job hunting, so far fruitlessly, large mortgage, 3 cats to support.............

Does anyone remember the "Colin Baker, News at Ten" classic?

Do you mean this one Phoenix?
It's the second clip I think
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3M-BS47UHQ

Yes, jane that's the Colin Baker one, although I think that there may be another longer one somewhere where rants on about mortgage, and expounds on the "pissed off" bit, children etc.

I remember exdh and I would at times say that we were having a "Colin Baker" moment!

Retiring was the best decision I made. We dithered for a while but were both very unhappy at work. My husband thought we would have to wait quite a while to retire but I did the sums down to the last penny and worked out that if we lived very frugally we could "get our lives back". We took the plunge and have been amazed at how little we need to live very well indeed. I know everyone has different circumstances and needs but don't wait too long. Life is too short to be spending it doing something you find tedious. Start doing the things you want to do now. I don,t mean to be depressing but several of our friends have lost a spouse quite early and wished they had had more quality time together. Go for it, I say.

I agree with Rockgran. Go for it. Enjoy every moment of retirement. Our generation have different opportunities in the latter, non working years. I hate the "R" word. The world is out there, go and enjoy it, if you can. Do not miss out on anything, large and small!
Amongst my friends, I do not know anyone who regrets leaving work to enjoy their life!
You will also have more time to look after yourself. None of us know what is in the future. Enjoy the wonderful trip to NZ. X

Mostly due to intermittent illness I've not been in paid employment for quite a while now. My husband is ten years younger than me (I'm 60, he's 50) so I doubt we'll have much retirement time together as he will work until he's 67. I seize every opportunity to spend time with him now because we don't know what tomorrow will bring. In your shoes I'd retire without hesitation if it can be afforded.

Thank you all for your comments - I'm still not quite sure but I think I will go for it although I won't be making up my mind until the end of February or alternatively if I want to book a ticket to NZ. I detect two different streams of thought here and this reflects my two states of mind - to go or not to go
Still it's good to have all your thoughts, so thank you very much