The best part of retiring is.....
- Thread starter ubuysa
- Start date
SpyderTracks
We love you Ukraine
You lucky, lucky...
Bravo sir, all that works paid off then!
Bravo sir, all that works paid off then!
ubuysa
The BSOD Doctor
You should have posted the most obscene build known to mankind, waited for keynes to ask about budget and intended use, then revealed your news
Grats on your windfall!
I did think about doing that but we've already had what looks like one of those today!
I remember my parents saying this to me, and I remember at the time thinking that retirement was so far away to be unimaginable, but it pays to save for your retirement. This new pension was a surprise, but we've been living on our combined private pensions for over 12 years now. My wife got her state pension last year and I get mine next month. Life is good.
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ubuysa
The BSOD Doctor
I'll PM you my PayPal account, feel free to send some of that over
but congrats, and enjoy, you've earned it
Thanks!
Catharine Evenson
New member
Well congrats! Enjoy your pension.
Jade Roberts
Member
Congrats!
SpyderTracks
We love you Ukraine
I've got about 20 years til retirement, but after much consideration I think I should retire now because I'd be good at it, a much needed career change. I'm willing to retrain. Would I speak to a careers adviser about this?
ubuysa
The BSOD Doctor
I have no wish to try to teach my grandmother to suck eggs - I've always thought that a strange saying because as far as I know neither of my grandmothers ever sucked eggs, but I digress...
Retirement is something you never plan for properly, it's always in the far distant future - until you actually come to do it of course. Then you get a bad case of the 'why didn't I plan better when I was younger' syndrome. We were fortunate that we've had a plan for retirement for a very long time (since our mid-30's) which was to retire, buy a boat, and live on it in Greece. And that's worked very well for us.
I'd offer two items of advice about planning for retirement:
1. Figure out what you want to do when you stop working. I know lots of people who define themselves by their job and without it they felt worthless. If you're one of these people you'll hate retirement. 65 is the new 40. I'm as fit and active and keen to try new things as I ever was. Certainly I'm closer to the end of my life than I am to the start, but it sure doesn't feel like that. You'll need something to keep mind and body active in retirement, and it really does need to be something you enjoy. I can strongly recommend living on a sailing boat for a few years, especially in Greece - and I'm happy to chat to anyone who wants any advice on doing that.
2. Once you know what you want to do in retirement work out how you're going to fund it. Apart form ensuring sufficient income, for me they key to a financially happy retirement is having no debts. With no debts to service you're in total control of your spending. For us, in the lean years when the pound dropped to near parity with the Euro we had almost a third less income than we'd planned (it was €1.46 to £1 when we retired) and being able to rein in our spending (by eating out less often and by anchoring rather than paying to moor) we were able to live very well. TBH my state pension is a bonus, we could continue to live on our private pensions if we had to, but the state pension means we can eat out pretty much whenever we fancy and we can treat ourselves to a few goodies too (like my new phone - that's apparently going to be rubbish!).
Most of us on here will reach retirement age and it doesn't plan itself. My stepson has everything in place to retire in 5 years when he's 50. Good for him. Remember the five Ps - Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
Here endeth the lecture.