LondonIrish
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I have been meaning to add my 2 cents to this thread. I am in my early 50s and in late 2023 I voluntairly stepped back from a very stressful but well-rewarded job. The comapny was changing hands and I was one of the few original staff left. I worked out a notice period of 18 months but leaving was still a shock despite all the time I had to prepare. To go from an all-encompassing job to essentially limitless free time was an unsettling experience. That said, I have learned a few things along the way.
In order to make myself feel busy and also to ensure that I had regular social contact with others I signed up for some volunteering including Citizens Advice. I must admit that the volunteering roles quickly became a chore. I am not sure why but I suspect that having spent 30+ years in mostly well-run firms, I found it difficult to adjust to the slow and often bureaucratic culture of the voluntary sector. After a year I happended upon a part-time opportunity at my old firm and I feel much happier now I have a job of sorts. My new role pays a fraction of my old, but it is flexible and I get to interact with people all day long which is something I really missed. If I could have arranged a gentle glide into early retirement by slowly adjusting my working days lower I would have, but in the role I occupied this was not an option.
I fretted about money a lot even though I had more than I really needed. It has taken a long time for me to get comfortable with spending in the absence of my old salary. One thing that I did find helpful was to keep a track of my net worth which provided psychlogical comfort whenever money doubts set in. Furthermore, now that I have a modest salary I feel a lot better about my own finances. A retired friend got me thinking when he asked me what would I need in my pension fund to pay me the salary that I am on now and that was a lightbulb moment for me. My new lower salary would need a fairly hefty pension pot or investment pool to pay me the equivalent annually, so whilst I have an income of sorts I also think of it as a temporary boost to my retirement savings. I guess I am trying to say that earning anything is better than nothing, especially when you are enjoying yourself.
I made lists of all the things I wanted to do. I listed all the museums, galleries, theatres, tourist attractions etc in my city and made sure that I went to at least one a week. I got on the mailing lists for Time Out and a few other similiar newsletters and tried to push myself to do new things which I mostly succeeded in doing.
I got into cooking and enjoyed spending a morning walking around small shops gathering ingredients.
I signed up for lots of beer and wine tastings.
I made a list of all the people I know and another list of people I had lost contact with over the years. I made sure that I had 2-3 social encounters per week. Like Cervelo, I cycle a lot so I found groups of other cyclists who went out mid-week but I also met people for coffee and walks. As for old friends, I tracked quite a few down and met up with them. The aforementioned list was checked at least once a week and I used it to remind myself to make contact with people.
I was never a huge fan of TV so that was less of an attraction but I never turned it on until after 8pm but I have enjoyed slowly watching some classic TV shows as well as finding stuff from my youth on YouTube.
Ultimatley, I found a virtue in keeping myself busy. My own personal fear was that I would end up loafing around the house all day but thankfully I had enough determination to prevent that from happening.
We still have a child in school so epic travel adventures are for a later date but we did quite a few day trips to see new places even if it is just for a walk and a coffee.
Don't underestimate how bleak the winters can be. If you are like me and a chunk of your social life revolves around an outdoor activity, the winters can sometimes feel very limiting and I must admit that I struggled on those days when you cannot really go out much.
In the future we hope to spend more time in warmer climes but a two-week summer holiday in the Algarve has caused us to rethink how we might do this. We spent a few weeks in a golf resort and found it to be very boring - it probably does not help that neither of us golf. It was quite the revelation too because the area we stayed in is someting of a mecca for Irish retirees. If it was dull in the summer the winters must be much worse...
Also, like some others here I am not a huge fan of flying but suffer it as a means to an end. I did find the Easyjet (online) fear of flying course really helpful and I now feel a lot better about being on planes.
Thank you to all who contribute to this thread. I know that there is no 'right' way to retire but I have found it comforting to read about the experiences of others.
In order to make myself feel busy and also to ensure that I had regular social contact with others I signed up for some volunteering including Citizens Advice. I must admit that the volunteering roles quickly became a chore. I am not sure why but I suspect that having spent 30+ years in mostly well-run firms, I found it difficult to adjust to the slow and often bureaucratic culture of the voluntary sector. After a year I happended upon a part-time opportunity at my old firm and I feel much happier now I have a job of sorts. My new role pays a fraction of my old, but it is flexible and I get to interact with people all day long which is something I really missed. If I could have arranged a gentle glide into early retirement by slowly adjusting my working days lower I would have, but in the role I occupied this was not an option.
I fretted about money a lot even though I had more than I really needed. It has taken a long time for me to get comfortable with spending in the absence of my old salary. One thing that I did find helpful was to keep a track of my net worth which provided psychlogical comfort whenever money doubts set in. Furthermore, now that I have a modest salary I feel a lot better about my own finances. A retired friend got me thinking when he asked me what would I need in my pension fund to pay me the salary that I am on now and that was a lightbulb moment for me. My new lower salary would need a fairly hefty pension pot or investment pool to pay me the equivalent annually, so whilst I have an income of sorts I also think of it as a temporary boost to my retirement savings. I guess I am trying to say that earning anything is better than nothing, especially when you are enjoying yourself.
I made lists of all the things I wanted to do. I listed all the museums, galleries, theatres, tourist attractions etc in my city and made sure that I went to at least one a week. I got on the mailing lists for Time Out and a few other similiar newsletters and tried to push myself to do new things which I mostly succeeded in doing.
I got into cooking and enjoyed spending a morning walking around small shops gathering ingredients.
I signed up for lots of beer and wine tastings.
I made a list of all the people I know and another list of people I had lost contact with over the years. I made sure that I had 2-3 social encounters per week. Like Cervelo, I cycle a lot so I found groups of other cyclists who went out mid-week but I also met people for coffee and walks. As for old friends, I tracked quite a few down and met up with them. The aforementioned list was checked at least once a week and I used it to remind myself to make contact with people.
I was never a huge fan of TV so that was less of an attraction but I never turned it on until after 8pm but I have enjoyed slowly watching some classic TV shows as well as finding stuff from my youth on YouTube.
Ultimatley, I found a virtue in keeping myself busy. My own personal fear was that I would end up loafing around the house all day but thankfully I had enough determination to prevent that from happening.
We still have a child in school so epic travel adventures are for a later date but we did quite a few day trips to see new places even if it is just for a walk and a coffee.
Don't underestimate how bleak the winters can be. If you are like me and a chunk of your social life revolves around an outdoor activity, the winters can sometimes feel very limiting and I must admit that I struggled on those days when you cannot really go out much.
In the future we hope to spend more time in warmer climes but a two-week summer holiday in the Algarve has caused us to rethink how we might do this. We spent a few weeks in a golf resort and found it to be very boring - it probably does not help that neither of us golf. It was quite the revelation too because the area we stayed in is someting of a mecca for Irish retirees. If it was dull in the summer the winters must be much worse...
Also, like some others here I am not a huge fan of flying but suffer it as a means to an end. I did find the Easyjet (online) fear of flying course really helpful and I now feel a lot better about being on planes.
Thank you to all who contribute to this thread. I know that there is no 'right' way to retire but I have found it comforting to read about the experiences of others.