Retiring

[mallyh]

oh and i retire early next year am i the only one scared at the thought of this .

[rockyracoon]

My mum is thinking about it at the moment and she's terrified, mainly about the financial impact :(

[mallyh]

yes rockyracoon that's what i'm mainly worried about .

[woofgang]

if you have the finances sorted its awesome, i don't know anybody who wishes they were back at work!

[andy-hughes]

I will clock up forty years in the same job in February, so retirement is on the horizon, even if some way off.

I am looking forward to the change in routine, but it will be a big change after so long coming to work.

I think aprehension is entirely natural.

The trick is to keep a routine - just not as rigidly as required for work, and have some structure to your day.

I plan to do lots of nice things I haven't had time for previously, and generally have as good as time as i am able before old age and infirmity put a stop to it all!

[mallyh]

i think it's just fear of the unknown .

[Tilly2]

Mallyh, do you work full time now?

[RATTER15]

Do you have to retire? could you just carry on working or maybe just do part time?

I am not looking forward to retiring, I love my work to much :-)

[mallyh]

no i'm unable to work, my problem is living on pensions .when i say we're retiring i mean oh is retiring and i also start my pension .

[Sqad]

\\\ my problem is living on pensions .\\\

and there lies the "rub."

[mrs_overall]

Mr O semi retired and does a bit of freelance work. He does the freelance work in between tending to his allotment, playing table tennis, badminton, volleyball, swimming, sailing & archery. He has done a couple of night school courses and also had 30,000 bees to look after until they all dropped dead. He plans to cycle the Coast to Coast route next spring and is in training.
He says he wonders how he ever found time to work.
Retirement is what you make it. I have a relative who is the same age as Mr O and since he retired he sits at home all day doing nothing and waiting for death.

[paddywak]

I was unlucky and suffered a stroke in 2001 which effectively finished my working life. After about a year when I could finally start getting about again I soon found out how much better it was then going to work,even with a disability, and it's even better since Trish finished. Of cause it will take you a while to adjust especially when you've always worked but you'll soon be wandering why you didn't finish earlier.

[boxtops]

I retired from the fulltime job in August and am doing part-time now. People say that one should assume a 50% drop in income when you retire - it's quite a scary thought. We've done some careful budget forecasting - paying off the mortgage means we should be able to afford to live - if not, I'll keep working part-time.

[mallyh]

we defininitely wont be sitting waiting for death lol .

[boxtops]

... and no, the prospect didn't scare me at all. After a working lifetime of fulltime work, I'm enjoying having time to start addressing all the jobs which have waited, like clearing out my wardrobe, and painting that bit of skirting board behind the TV.... :-)

[mallyh]

it's just me been silly i know ,we'll be ok just i'm a worrier .

[boxtops]

Prepare carefully, mally - write up your budget for each month, now - so you can see if you need to make economies or do things differently when you're not working. There are savings - no daily travel, for example!

[mrs_overall]

You will have to budget but there are savings to be made (being from Yorkshire I have spent all my life doing this lol). It can be quite an enjoyable project

[mallyh]

yes we have done that ,like i said it's just a fear of the unknown .it will be nice to do what we want without working round days off from work for oh .thankyou all for your input it's helped xx

[mrs_overall]

mallyh, just view it as an exciting time when you will be free from the 9-5 shackles. xx

[mallyh]

my oh is a yorkshireman so watching the pennies is second nature to him lol