Retire early or travel while we can?

I retired at 55. No regrets!

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

What a fabulous adventure you've had Graceless.

I took early retirement and redundancy at 50. I paid off my mortgage and went to South America for a year. When I got back I sold my house in the south east and moved to west Wales. Then I was a volunteer teacher in Nepal for two years. Back in Wales I started a community bookshop and did an MA.
Now I'm 77 and have several health problems that mean I probably don't have much time left. I've never regretted my early retirement or the many things I've done since.

Do it! We all say “you never know what’s round the corner” and we have found out to our cost just how true that is.

Completely out of the blue and not feeling poorly at all my husband had a massive stroke in Nov. Our lives changed completely in that moment.

Do what you want while you are well enough and can enjoy it.

If you can afford to then retire. And travel if you want. The saying nobody ever says when on their death bed, 'I wish I had worked longer'. True. enjoy!

You frequently hear and read that you need more money in retirement in order to keep yourself entertained.

We found the opposite. It quickly became apparent that whilst we were working we spent an awful lot on treating ourselves to things to compensate for the grind of working - a magazine and a coffee for the train, dinner out after a hard week, a weekend away to escape. It amounted to hundreds, if not thousands, a year.

After we retired all that stopped because we didn't need to spend to cheer ourselves up. Perhaps we're lucky that the retirement activities that keep us happy tend to be cheap/free - like a long walk, sea swimming, the allotment and camping.

Yes, now got to focus on getting the sums right. Tempted to rent house out to earn income. But 20 something son an option to look after it.

We did this and never regretted it. We have seen all the places we wanted to see and have lovely memories. I would not want to do it in later life as you need stamina and good health. Just make sure you do your sums.

Do it, if you are able to work out if you can live on less money, do it. If your workplace offers a course or anything take it. I regret not having travelled earlier in life, though have been to a few countries, so at least have seen some of the world. I have found a big difference health wise from my 50s to my 60s and realistically seem to be having a different issue each year. If you can afford it, retire but look at your budget and bills before making a decision. If you can pay your mortgage off, that's the main millstone from around your neck, removed!

There's no point saying, "if only", in 10 years down the line when it might be too late to go travelling.

Just do it. Lost two friends 54 & 59- you never know the minute. If you decide it’s not for you, you can always get another job.

I retired at 60 and took a years contract as a volunteer in a community in South Africa (unpaid but similar job) it was a fantastic experience and allowed for further travel