Is your retirement as good as you thought it would be...(-;

[ShiftZZ]

How did you manage to give up the inhalers @ShiftZZ, the gym?

Loss of weight helped along with long walks. I try and get to the gym daily and do about 30 mins on the tread mill at 5.5 miles per hr. A bit over a year ago I was struggling to do long distances. Target this year Snowdon. Ofter do 5 miles, we did 13 miles on one weekend in asbourne.

 

[Larby]

Took a while to get used to retirement, (3 years now). Still seem to go shopping at weekends, but breaking the habit.
Get up, coffee, walk dog, drive 3 miles to sons garage, tidy paperwork, do some 'phoning, take engines to bits and rebuild if needed, go home about 3pm.
I'm not working, I'm keeping occupied, no clock, no boss, no accountability.
Do their VAT for them and prepare books for accountant, helps them and helps my grey matter. Thankfully all marbles accounted for and no ailments, yet, so very fortunate.
Many years ago, 1 week's holiday, then 2, then 2 +1, retired, had 1 month in MH, then 8 weeks in 1 go, this year, Peterborough, then Cornwall in May/June, then Bagwell and straight from there to Dover and France for around 8 weeks. So far around 100 days accounted for.
Still got early May and Easter depending on friend's plan (teachers)
I would sum up retirement as being a kid but with knowledge and money.
Worked 50 years, paid taxes, invested in company shares and pension scheme.
Taking grandkids to Pantomime later, we are daft enough to enjoy that.

 

[Cat53]

I finished work last July, not of my choosing but there you go. I have been trying, without success at the moment, to get my HGV licence back so I can do a few days driving.
I don't miss work but I do feel guilty that Angela is still working. I get up every morning to make her a brew and some toast, I don't have to but I don't want to lay in bed while she has to venture out. I now do all the housework, washing, cleaning, shopping. Much of the cooking and Angela thinks it's great but I still feel guilty.

From a woman's perspective ( and my man taking over the housework and catering reins for the last 3 months whilst I recover) can I say, it's just heaven. Heaven to NOT have to wonder what to cook for dinner, or to have to put a load of washing on when your tired, and then dry it afterwards. I hate dusting, so it's heaven to have it done for me. So I bet Angela feels the same way. I don't think you will ever know or fully understand what help and support you are providing!

 

[Carol]

Retired 10 years ago bought the Van said if we can get 5 good years out of this will be great, we travelled all over enjoying every minute now it's 10 good years and still enjoying our lives so no complaints.

 

[laird of Dunstan]

im working today, and its a saturday ,so is the missus shes an accountant and jan is a crazy month for her. I am bored with work,i have no enthusiasim what so ever for it , but we have a plan , and if it all falls into place i will be retired by this time next year.

I feel for people like chris ,ive just got my DA through , and im in a reasonable financial position to consider early retirement, i want to play with my toys weither thats my motorbike ,ham radio, etc or the stuff i want to learn more about such as bird watching and Astronomy ,maybe even rent the odd sailing boat.

What i dont want to be doing is working full time , i left school at 16,started work in a factory straight away and for the last 43 years have worked , stuff it ive had enough

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Zains Pops]

Retirement came along three years ago, do I miss work...not for a moment, I am still in the office lottery so pay my subs every few months....I have to do it, as it would p*ss me off big time if they won without me being on board. I drive away from the place and every time think.....thank god I don't have to put up with all that any-more.
Our main occupation seems to be looking out for our two ageing Mums, mine now 95 is house bound but manages to keep going, MIL is 88 and has just moved south from Yorkshire so she can be nearer. A load of work, but at least no more trailing up and down the A1. Then we have the 3 grandsons in London and 2 daughters also in London. So we are very heavily involved with family stuff.
The last 6 months have been restricted due to health issues (crocked knee), however that's due to be fixed soon.
So in answer to the OP, has it turned out as we thought, not really, we are far too busy looking out for others to really look out for ourselves. Hopefully that will change.
Advice to potential retirees, go for it as soon as possible, you never really know what's coming.

 

[Puddleduck]

Our main occupation seems to be looking out for our two ageing Mums, mine now 95 is house bound but manages to keep going, MIL is 88 and has just moved south from Yorkshire so she can be nearer. A load of work, but at least no more trailing up and down the A1.

How did you manage to persuade her to move?

We were thinking of moving from here to be nearer family but my parents said that if we were going to move we should move to a house in the same road as them so we would be able to do all the odd jobs. I suggested they moved near us, I would buy the new building plot and have a house / bungalow built that would work for them but they were horrified. I dread to think what the future holds.... their house needs so much work, nothing major except for rewiring, but it is very old fashioned in decor and layout. As they get older and less mobile their house (several levels) will become so difficult for everyone. I understand what a huge wrench it will be for them to leave after so many years in the same house but all but one set of original neighbours have gone and even Mum has acknowledged she can no longer manage the housework (I've organised a housekeeper) and I do what I can with "personal" housework when I am down there but it isn't easy.

 

[Zains Pops]

How did you manage to persuade her to move?

We were thinking of moving from here to be nearer family but my parents said that if we were going to move we should move to a house in the same road as them so we would be able to do all the odd jobs. I suggested they moved near us, I would buy the new building plot and have a house / bungalow built that would work for them but they were horrified. I dread to think what the future holds.... their house needs so much work, nothing major except for rewiring, but it is very old fashioned in decor and layout. As they get older and less mobile their house (several levels) will become so difficult for everyone. I understand what a huge wrench it will be for them to leave after so many years in the same house but all but one set of original neighbours have gone and even Mum has acknowledged she can no longer manage the housework (I've organised a housekeeper) and I do what I can with "personal" housework when I am down there but it isn't easy.

She has been on her own now for 30+years and found that life in the house was becoming more difficult, especially in inclement weather and there's loads of that in Yorkshire, so after last winter she said that she felt isolated and did not want to face another winter up there on her own. So really we didn't persuade her to move, the idea came from her, although really its five years later than it should have been, but there would have been no way to move her before it became her idea. There were plenty of wobbles along the route, but we just kept addressing them one by one and as there was no real plan B just kept on going.

Advice to us all from the experience would be to de-clutter big time whilst your still young enough and fit enough to address it, stop buying stuff you don't need!! and accept that maybe by 80 if your lucky enough to be around, move into a place that's very low maintenance, has easy internal and external access, doesn't require a car to live day by day and is ideally near your family.

Well we can all dream I suppose and I no doubt will not be keen on the kids suggesting I move out of my home either.

Is that the Amazon man I hear ringing the door bell with another little box of stuff for me that will be really useful one day??

 

[Puddleduck]

Advice to us all from the experience would be to de-clutter big time whilst your still young enough and fit enough to address it, stop buying stuff you don't need!! and accept that maybe by 80 if your lucky enough to be around, move into a place that's very low maintenance, has easy internal and external access, doesn't require a car to live day by day and is ideally near your family.

Yep, I'm already doing that - the declutter that is. We were thinking of moving but have decided to stay put for now and look at the issue seriously again in 10 years time.

My uncle's partner (he died last summer) has sold just about everything including her house, it was hers and not his, and has moved into a small rented flat so she has no worries about maintenance, just pays the factor charge.

 

[buttons]

im working today, and its a saturday ,so is the missus shes an accountant and jan is a crazy month for her. I am bored with work,i have no enthusiasim what so ever for it , but we have a plan , and if it all falls into place i will be retired by this time next year.

I feel for people like chris ,ive just got my DA through , and im in a reasonable financial position to consider early retirement, i want to play with my toys weither thats my motorbike ,ham radio, etc or the stuff i want to learn more about such as bird watching and Astronomy ,maybe even rent the odd sailing boat.

What i dont want to be doing is working full time , i left school at 16,started work in a factory straight away and for the last 43 years have worked , stuff it ive had enough

To get the most from retirement laird you need to start early, you will soon be sixty better get your finger out. The one thing that really moves once retired is time. A year has never gone so fast and ten years has passed in a flash. I have not found a way of slowing time down yet but I am working on it.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[PeteH]

To get the most from retirement laird you need to start early, you will soon be sixty better get your finger out. The one thing that really moves once retired is time. A year has never gone so fast and ten years has passed in a flash. I have not found a way of slowing time down yet but I am working on it.

When you find the time machine, I will be your partner!$$$$$$$$$ (Please, please, Pretty please?).

My body feels old, But my mind don't accept the fact!!

Pete

 

[tjay]

We have been retired for 13 years ! me I was 52 and wife was 47 years young. Retired early due to a very bad motorcycle accident.
We were motorhomer's before the accident so it was obvious for us to continue in this vain.
As we had more time we went away for longer/further.
Did France,Spain, Portugal. Then decided to some of the other countries that we fancied, so we went to Belgium, Luxemburg Germany, Austria, Italy , Slovenia, Croatia, to name a few.
Met loads of interesting folk,made loads of new friends too. Visited some wonderful places and saw some fantastic sights.
Then we decide that having visited a lot of Europe that we should see what the UK has to offer, went to Devon and Cornwall , Wales, rest of England and saw some more wonderful sights/places again.
Last couple of years stayed at "Home" in Scotland visited wonderful beautiful places ,saw amazing things/views, went to highland games, castles, car shows, motorbike show, then went to the Islands, Tiree fantastic, quite ,stunning, ditto for Skye, then over to the Outer Hebridies, same kind of views , stunning scenery, music festivals ect.
Then further north to the lovely Orkneys, saw whales playing of Stromness point, went the world famous "Skara Brae" Local folk festival where children of all ages play instruments and sing, Saw cathedral in Kirkwall and much much more.
Although we love going abroad our wonderful islands take some beating so if you are retired start here, you will enjoy and appreciate it.
Don't be put off by the idiots who say English to welcome here, nothing can be further than the truth !!

 

[The Old Man]

Only a year in but enjoying every minute. I worried I would miss work, as I loved my job, but I quickly realised that I had moved on to the not so Far Cliffs and there was new, expanded world to explore.

 

[buttons]

This is an interesting read, as we plan to retire early (in 2020) and are working furiously towards making it a reality.

We recently moved from a neighbourhood where many residents were retired and mostly the gents regularly passed the time of day saying that they "missed work".

I would always comment that "I could not wait to retire" and most would say "not to wish your life away" and "work as long as you could".

All are different of course, and depending how you fill your life, partner, finances, etc all come into the equation; but I do envy you guys and am counting the next 47 months.....

Hi Mickx someone has just dragged this thread out of storage reading through the first couple of pages I came across your contribution. How's your plan, if you are on target only 38 months to go now. I am still loving every day of it. If only I could halt the ageing process it would be perfect....

 

[Tanya_and_Mick]

Hi Mickx someone has just dragged this post out of storage reading through the first couple of pages I came across your contribution. How's your plan, if you are on target only 38 months to go now. I am still loving every day of it. If only I could halt the ageing process it would be perfect....

Hi Buttons, yes we're still on plan; still 700+ days to go (working 220 days per year) - we do keep re-running the numbers to see if we can do it earlier; but yup still 3yrs 2 months 2 weeks and 1 day to go

Not that I'm counting lol

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[buttons]

Hi Buttons, yes we're still on plan; still 700+ days to go (working 220 days per year) - we do keep re-running the numbers to see if we can do it earlier; but yup still 3yrs 2 months 2 weeks and 1 day to go

Not that I'm counting lol

Really glad to hear that Mickx, just because you retire early doesn't mean that you cant still do the odd weeks work if you get fed up but what retirement gives you is complete freedom of choice. Think I'll have another cup of tea now......

 

[Melvin]

I retired in July having reduced my working days over the last few years mainly due to my wife's health and then our wonderful NHS gave her a new lease of life. So now now we are living every day to the full,not missing work or anyone to do with it at all,just wish we were both a few years younger.

 

[maison]

Is our retirement as enjoyable as we thought it would be?

Yes, yes, yes!,

 

[Billy23]

Is our retirement as enjoyable as we thought it would be?


Retired at 64.5, nearly 76 now, still alive, so YUP!!!

 

[Speve]

Into our fifth year now as others have said time goes so fast but we are thoroughly enjoying retirement don't really know how we found time to work.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Only a year in but enjoying every minute. I worried I would miss work, as I loved my job, but I quickly realised that I had moved on to the not so Far Cliffs and there was new, expanded world to explore.

I lived for my job but the stress monster took over, so after a few choice rows with my Russian boss and his sidekick decided to quit. Dropped the whole business in the poo as a result and still feel a bit guilty, but looking at the state of the shipping industry nowadays, probably bailed at the right time. Now do a bit of very well paid consulting but too busy to chase work and lucky enough not to have to. Last consulting job (last week), I turned down.

Too many things to do, too many places to visit..........

 

[Peter Sansom]

In our sixth year of retirement. Should have done it in our thirties! (I wish). Caravans and now motorhome. Been there seen it, done it and still doing it. Work is vastly overrated!

 

[Tanya_and_Mick]

On my current contract I've negotiated a 4.5 day week (for 5 day pennies) so a small victory in the right direction.......
I'll soldier on.

 

[Jaws]

Well it is coming up to two years now.. Rather expected to get out in the van MORE, but somehow ended up going less !
And the fone is still ringing several times a day .. Technical questions, magazines wanting info for articles etc etc..
I keep tring to walk away but the buggers keep dragging me back ..
I seem to be doing more or less the same as I did before retirement, but now with absolutely NO pay !

 

[The Old Man]

Well it is coming up to two years now.. Rather expected to get out in the van MORE, but somehow ended up going less !
And the fone is still ringing several times a day .. Technical questions, magazines wanting info for articles etc etc..
I keep tring to walk away but the buggers keep dragging me back ..
I seem to be doing more or less the same as I did before retirement, but now with absolutely NO pay !

Have an early Christmas present;

You need a new SIM card

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}