"Retire" early...?

[RSoles]

So who on this thread actually retired ? :-)

Or found something that worked for them ?

OK I'll bite.
I loved working in software development, so I hung on until age 64. Then I was forced to retire as I lost my wife.
I've spent my time since then as a single-parent and 'Gentleman Farmer'; patching up and repairing my farm.
I'd rather neglected things for the past thirty-odd years, so am now doing a load of healthy outdoor things.
I spent last week replacing slates on an outhouse roof.
I still love IT so a 3d-printer and a load of Arduinos keep that itch scratched.

Oh, and I've never had so many calls from agents.....grrr

[BigDataPro]

OK I'll bite.
I loved working in software development, so I hung on until age 64. Then I was forced to retire as I lost my wife.
I've spent my time since then as a single-parent and 'Gentleman Farmer'; patching up and repairing my farm.
I'd rather neglected things for the past thirty-odd years, so am now doing a load of healthy outdoor things.
I spent last week replacing slates on an outhouse roof.
I still love IT so a 3d-printer and a load of Arduinos keep that itch scratched.

Oh, and I've never had so many calls from agents.....grrr

Sorry about your loss and am glad you keep yourself active now. If you were to go back to being 55 (I am now), what would you do differently? I am not being nosy, just that I can learn from people' mistakes instead of repeating it.

[ChimpMaster]

OK I'll bite.
I loved working in software development, so I hung on until age 64. Then I was forced to retire as I lost my wife.
I've spent my time since then as a single-parent and 'Gentleman Farmer'; patching up and repairing my farm.
I'd rather neglected things for the past thirty-odd years, so am now doing a load of healthy outdoor things.
I spent last week replacing slates on an outhouse roof.
I still love IT so a 3d-printer and a load of Arduinos keep that itch scratched.

Oh, and I've never had so many calls from agents.....grrr

My condolences mate.
It's hard when you plan for a life together and then have to re-write everything when the unplannable happens. Seen this too many times, and it breaks my heart. All I can learn is to spend as much time with family.... eventually everything changes and we can't plan for every eventuality.

Well done on getting so many agent calls though! I've not had one in 3 years

[vetran]

Sorry to hear your loss and am glad you keep yourself active now. If you were to go back to being 55 (I am now), what would you do differently? I am not being nosy, just that I can learn from people' mistakes instead of repeating it.

Sorry for your loss.

I am thinking about building more consultancy customer appeal (I started about 2 years ago joining one of them) I want to hit 60 doing 1-2 days at home and one day in the smoke with a nice lunch turning in what I earn now (not impossible)

More time with the wife & kids - check.
More time at the gym (not so much).
More time travelling. (maybe)
More time learning.

good luck

[malvolio]

Sounds like being stuck in a recurring nightmare. Apart from the volunteering.

Don't see why. I've travelled the world, swum on both sides of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, photographed the big five, driven Big Sur and the Great Ocean Highway, seen Uluru, the grand Canyon and a dozen other must see places, met a platypus and cuddled a koala. Pottering around doing things I enjoy, including a few tens of thousands of miles in the motorhome, hardly seems the stuff of nightmares...

Perhaps it's all a matter of perspective....

[PCTNN]

Don't see why. I've travelled the world, swum on both sides of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, photographed the big five, driven Big Sur and the Great Ocean Highway, seen Uluru, the grand Canyon and a dozen other must see places, met a platypus and cuddled a koala. Pottering around doing things I enjoy, including a few tens of thousands of miles in the motorhome, hardly seems the stuff of nightmares...

Perhaps it's all a matter of perspective....

it's the motorhome. Nothing says chav more than having a motorhome

[SueEllen]

it's the motorhome. Nothing says chav more than having a motorhome

Are you a snob or a nob?

[northernladuk]

it's the motorhome. Nothing says chav more than having a motorhome

Couple of years ago I might have agreed but I'm totally bought in now. During lockdown when countries had the isoloation rules in we found we could catch the party boat from Hull to Zeebrugge and get to Amsterdam and then in to Germany without any quarantine. Took 4 of us in a rented motorhome for a week and I have to say I'm converted. It was epic. Stopped in Amsterdamn, Koln, Black forest and other spots on the way for next to nothing and had a great time. Only issue is the continent is fully prepped with hook ups right in the centre of Koln and onther places. Here you can't find a proper hook up for love nor money.

We are actively looking around for one and can't wait to spend every weekend we can away in it with the dog. Got the potential of a gig with a right b*****d of a commute as well so might actually help with that as well.

[Snooky]

it's the motorhome. Nothing says chav more than having a motorhome

I'm really happy to hear you say that. It means that when I retire and get a motorhome, there's zero chance I'll encounter you and your baseless air of superiority at any campsite

[malvolio]

it's the motorhome. Nothing says chav more than having a motorhome

Actually. nothing says chav more than making sweeping generalisations about something about which you are clearly profoundly ignorant.

OK, I'll sell it and realise about £40k plus the £2k or so a year running costs and another £2k or so on site fees. How should I be spending that kind of money...?