Retire early or travel while we can?

What a fabulous adventure you've had Graceless.

I will never regret retiring at 58. I didn’t want to but my husband was retiring at 63 and he encouraged me to do so. We had 4 lovely years spending time doing things we enjoyed and we had 4 or more fabulous holidays we had dreamed about before Covid arrived. He was then diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2021 and I was able to care and nurse him at home for 18 months until he died.
If I had continued until I was 62 ( my original plan) I would have missed the those first 4 years.

1summer

I will never regret retiring at 58. I didn’t want to but my husband was retiring at 63 and he encouraged me to do so. We had 4 lovely years spending time doing things we enjoyed and we had 4 or more fabulous holidays we had dreamed about before Covid arrived. He was then diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2021 and I was able to care and nurse him at home for 18 months until he died.
If I had continued until I was 62 ( my original plan) I would have missed the those first 4 years.

How lovely. You must have some wonderful memories.

I have never had a lot of money but found jobs and ways to travel and live in other countries. My only regrets that I didnt make it to Machu Picu or Ulan Bator and due to health reasons dont think I could make it even if I had the money now. When I look back over my life I remember people and places, friendships made over the years etc. Was quite high up in my job, but never look back and think OH wish I could have been Managing Director. Absolutely go for it. At the worst you try travelling , dont enjoy it and then choose to stay at home. But that will b e a choice made from knowledge, you wont always wonder what if. Collect your cards and get the passport ready and away you go. Good luck and enjoy it.

Definitely, retire early, if you can, travelling the world is a matter of personal taste.

I was made redundant into early retirement in my mid 50s. I have never regretted it. I was able to make the centre of my life an academic interst I had had for years. I went back to university for a year. I also worked for a charity as a volunteer and paid employee for 10 years.

My retirement also happened as various older family members began to fail. I was fortunate, I never had to provide ongoing or full time care for an elderly relative but over the next 15 years. I was responsible for crisis management and then ongoing supervision of 6 elderly family members who were in care in their last months and years.

The first one became ill and died while I was at work, and juggling commuting to work, work, hospital visiting, home responsibilities, and dealing with clearing a house etc was horrendous. After that, once I was retired, I had the time, to be full on in a crisis and fit ongoing supervision of care, into my life around my other activities.

On the other hand DH retired from work as an employee at 60, then went self employed, in work he loved. He could choose his projects, making them smaller and less demanding as he aged. He has finally stopped working completely in the last year, he is now 81, mainly because his main client took on a project too far and is close to collapse, rather than because he was unable to do the work he was still doing.

What he earned funded our holiday home in France, some nice holidays and being able to help our children and grand children.

I’ve never retired but still travelled we’ve done the beach holidays, cultural and now adventure travel, as we get older and less daring it’s going to be cruises, if is there is a problem it will be more easily solved.
We have just has a “full on” trip to India and returned home tired, next trip will be more relaxed.

I think it depends how much you enjoy your job. It sounds like you find yours OK but you wouldn’t miss it. You’ve said you’re fit and healthy which is another important consideration. So I would say go. Since you say you like being busy, I would also think about what you will do longer term when you come back from your travels.

Go for it, we did and travelled although not extensively, a lot of stays in the South of France which we now remember fondly. In our late 70’s and 80’s now and can only travel round Britain. Go and make your memories.
Gather ye rosebuds……….

I retired aged 59 immediately went to France in our caravan for 2 months and travelled all over. It was glorious. Went to Iceland for my 60th. Then the pandemic hit. We carried on going to France twice a year after the pandemic. Then the cost of living crisis hit and just when we wanted to go on conventional package holidays the prices shot up. My husband developed more health conditions making travel insurance difficult and expensive, also worrying as there are many articles in the media about claims declined to not declaring a visit to the GP for earache or some innocuous short term illness. Holiday prices are now thousands instead of hundreds and because we have two dogs kennel costs are crazy prices.

Despite this and because it was my husband's 70th this year we have just spent a week at a 5 star hotel in Lanzarote and booked a Costa Rican tour in September. The kennels cost for a week was £450 for a week. I am hoping to get an application from Trusted Housesitters for the Costa Rica holiday however there is so much competition from home owners with mansions ... so we may end up paying in excess of £1000 for the dogs.

We have 5 weeks in France in May booked. The shuttle cost for a car and caravan is £696, Brittany Ferries with a Club Voyage 30% discount is £650. Breakdown and Health insurance from the Caravan Club is £350. Animal Health Certificate for the dogs is £250.

With Trump tariffs and consequence in inflation increasing I can see the cost of holidays and travel going up further.

My pension drawdown has reduced in value due to Trump markets instability which is concerning. At least I only have a year until my state pension.

Travel while you can. No pockets in a shroud. Also get all your home improvements and maintenance done now rather than later. We had solar panels installed, invested in a sofa set for the garden, refurbished our bathroom (did it ourselves to save money), etc etc.

The number of times I discussed retirement with colleagues who decided they would leave soon and travel only to have them change their minds! In one case my friend put it off, got cancer over the summer, and was gone at 59 by Christmas. There was a miserable memorial with a speech about how she worked beyond her hours all the time.
Please go travelling and enjoy your life. You will not regret it.

Absolutely agree with do it now because you never know what fate has in store for you. The memories of our travels bring me such delight now that I am on my own and too old to enjoy uncertainty and adventure and are a precious part of my history.

Go for it! I retired 15 years ago at almost 52. Best thing I ever did!

Another vote for go for it. I agree with everyone who has said you don't know what the future holds.

I retired at 68 but no reason for you to hang on if you want to leave and can afford it. As you say you like to be busy so unless you’re going to continuously travel, also consider what you will do with the rest of your time.

I retired at 55. No regrets!

I only wish I’d retired sooner I waited until I was 65, my DH retired from his job in 2016 and worked for 6 months a year transporting cabin crew between the airport and their hotels in Edinburgh. Missed so many opportunities to travel, we’re now trying to make up for lost time and heading to Croatia soon. It’s somewhere we’ve never been so excited. I’d say go for it no one knows what’s around the corner

Also 59. I am autistic and menopausal and was in a high pressure job. New manager made my life a living hell and I felt it was time to get out. Having spent over 35 years in employment I'd reached the stage of either accepting a toxic and bullying culture or accept it for what it was, leave and focus on the next phase of my life. I chose to quit. It was the best decision ever. I wish I'd done it sooner. I have travelled more than I ever thought I would. I have met so many good, interesting people and seen some lovely places. I've had some scares and "adventures" but I feel more relaxed and alive than I have ever felt. I am single, so all financial worries stop with me but do you know what? My attitude is now "it will be ok". I've had such a confidence boost by solo travel. Only you know what's right for your situation but one thing is sure - time will not wait for you; don't "waste" years and then look back and think "I wish I had". No one knows what's round the corner, either in our personal zones or within the wider world. Seize the day !

Do it!!

If everything you own is paid for, go. The UK is a mess. My sister and bil left for Turkey abt 10 years ago and never came back. They love it. Health issues forced them into doing this. They found a better life elsewhere. Life's too short. Best wishes. X

Go for it.
DH retired in 2006 and we travelled (during school holiday time) as I only retired last year. Now he’s getting frailer, we’re still travelling but it’s harder work, so we’re glad we did it back then.

Yes, yes do it while you are young and healthy. I retired on a good pension at 49 as my husband was older than me and we didn’t know what was round the corner. We travelled extensively but I was hit with an auto immune disease at 55 and found walking etc very difficult. No one wanted to insure me. Fast forward 10 years and they found drugs to get me back on my feet and now I’m pain free…… then my husband got dementia and now no company will insure him but we still manage to get around the UK. You never know what is ahead of you so enjoy your adventures today!

Go for it, whilst you are in good health! Enjoy every minute!

If DH and I had waited until he reached retirement age, he would never have fulfilled his dream of sailing on the canals and rivers of Europe for three years.

We retired early and bought a boat and off we went. Then bought this house.

We had no idea then that DH would die of an agressive cancer just three months after reaching the official retirement age of 67.

So please, don't wait. I trust things won't turn out as sadly for you two as for us, but at least towards the end we could look back happily at a fulfilled dream.

And while we were travelling we met looads of people who had wanted to do something similar, but had, as they said, "waited too long, and now it wasn not possible."

I would retire when you can. I stayed till 66 and wondered why? I should have give earlier,

I knew I’d want to still keep active so I help people save on their hills and earn extra to travel, days out and lunches without having to worry and take it out of my pension. All as and when it suits me.

I was very lucky indeed to be able to take redundancy and an immediate occupational pension at age 50 so I had an (albeit reduced) income but a very chunky payout as I'd been with the same employer for over 25 years. (Rules have changed now, you have to be 55 to take your OP early, I think). DS was still at school so it was nice to be home for him in a way I hadn't been much before -- i had always worked as i loved my job.
I was a bit uncertain at first but quite honestly I've never looked back.
We have three or four holidays a year including a whole month in southern Spain in January just to escape the cold and dark British winter. We've travelled to Cuba, Hong Kong (twice) Japan and Vietnam as well as the US and several European countries. We've also had longer stays in France incorporating intensive language courses to improve our French and really explore an area.
We've also made a point of visiting British cities we hadn't been to before and made a pilgrimage back to our Alma Mater in the northwest of England, where we met.
Trips planned for the next year or so are to Italy, Provence, and northern Spain, for now. There maywell be more, especially while we can still travel independently and arrange it ourselves. Coach trips and tours are definitely not for us!
If you can afford it I would always say take the money and run. Not everyone likes to travel but you will have choice and freedom. Life is short.