Reply to: "Retire" early...?

[d000hg]

When you find a *career you love you'll never work a day in your life.

* Or a fully remote high paid contract

This is somewhat a fallacy, I think. Because for many people, turning their hobby into a career is a way to ruin it. No matter what it is, when it's your job you have to do it even on the days you don't feel like it.
Quite a lot of sports-people don't enjoy their sport, or at least not always. We've seen a lot of big YouTubers, who generally got a career by accident out of something they literally did as a fun hobby, quitting because the relentless nature of it as a job takes the joy out of it.

A job you take satisfaction in is great. But if there's something you really love, I'm not sure doing it as your livelihood IS the best idea if you are relying on it to feed your family.

[malvolio]

Oh no you're not!

Well, probably not now, since the post was in February.

Anyway, I've no plans to retire.

I was. I'm now rehearsing a small but important role Sister Act. All go, innit!

[Unix]

When you find a *career you love you'll never work a day in your life.

* Or a fully remote high paid contract

[d000hg]

SWMBO and I started volunteering as room guides at a local National Trust property. We discovered it is a really fulfilling role; the history of the property embraces two families over 850 years and a host of interesting artifacts. Seven years on and we not only know the families in some detail as well as a wealth of social history stuff (all helps to bring the place to life for the visitors), we find it a genuinely interesting and pleasurable experience. Talking to guides at other houses, it is a common theme; you get really involved with the history of your property.

My late father did this at St. Michael's Mount for a while with a mate. From what I recall they had a great time.

[NotAllThere]

...(currently appearing in one panto...

Oh no you're not!

Well, probably not now, since the post was in February.

Anyway, I've no plans to retire.

[malvolio]

Our options are somewhat limited by SWMBO's rheumatoid arthritis ruling out a lot of activity based options. Even visiting places in the motorhome has its limitations (although we still do it, usually on a day on day off basis so she can recover!).

But among other hobbies and pursuits SWMBO and I started volunteering as room guides at a local National Trust property. We discovered it is a really fulfilling role; the history of the property embraces two families over 850 years and a host of interesting artifacts. Seven years on and we not only know the families in some detail as well as a wealth of social history stuff (all helps to bring the place to life for the visitors), we find it a genuinely interesting and pleasurable experience. Talking to guides at other houses, it is a common theme; you get really involved with the history of your property.

It's not for everyone, but it is something to consider.

[cojak]

How's the painting? Do you still dabble?

Yes I do, not quite a much as I used to but I still do. I’ve stopped posting my paintings for some reason (just not taken photos of them) so I’ll put them up again.

[WTFH]

When I retire, I'll have more time to moderate this place.

[vetran]

Why not join some groups for things that interest you, or get involved in some volunteering? If you like pubs, start spending a few hours a week in the pub of your choice with the kinds of people you're comfortable around - you'll soon get chatting to the regulars.

When/if I retire, hopefully within the next 6-10 years, I have no plans to sit on my @rse watching daytime TV and moping all day - I'll do stuff I wasn't able to fit in when I was working 50-60 hours a week. Day trips out, travelling, volunteering with local or national charities, hobbies, going to music festivals, fixing all those things around the house I never had time for before. Plus a reasonable amount of sitting on my @rse at home reading or listening to music etc.

spoons it is!

[Zigenare]

This holds true for me.



I took up walking when I retired, got into it and took a qualification as a walking guide and now am training to walk across Scotland next year and possibly Spain the year after.

The worst bit of advice I have ever read said that if you don’t do something before you retire, you won’t do it after which is absolute b0llacks in my opinion. Retirement is the perfect time to try out new interests (if you have your health). Walking isn’t expensive when you start out, you just have to avoid becoming a gear-head.

How's the painting? Do you still dabble?

[cojak]

This holds true for me.

It sounds like you need a new direction in life.

If you can survive on a reduced income give retraining a go. Look at what you used to enjoy and that will bring in money, even if it's not as much as you've had in the past.

Something outdoors maybe, or craft/arts based.

There's more to life and work than IT.

I took up walking when I retired, got into it and took a qualification as a walking guide and now am training to walk across Scotland next year and possibly Spain the year after.

The worst bit of advice I have ever read said that if you don’t do something before you retire, you won’t do it after which is absolute b0llacks in my opinion. Retirement is the perfect time to try out new interests (if you have your health). Walking isn’t expensive when you start out, you just have to avoid becoming a gear-head.

[Snooky]

Right. My turn.

I'm 60 and contemplating retirement. I've been permie for five years. Over the course of a 20+ year contracting life I was almost always away from home. My contractor mates became my mates; my hobbies were beer, eating out, going to random midweek football matches. Weekends at home were for family. And chores. I really did not invest in hobbies, or a close-to-home friendship group.

As a result of this, plus moving around a lot in my twenties, my retirement is likely to be spent in a city where to all intents and purposes I'm a comparative stranger. I'm not, despite what my wife says on a nightly basis, a total idiot, but I've certainly been daft enough to see how bleak retirement might look yet do nothing about it.

Currently I'm reading a book purporting to be a practical guide to planning and enjoying the retirement you've earned and according to the decision matrix I've just done I should "carry on working because I've eff all to live for". Naturally, as self help books go, this message has come as a bit of a blow.

I've a few chapters still to read. Presumably at some point I'll find one entitled "What's the point of living?" Or "The practical guide to ending it all without soiling the carpets". Ahh, you gorra laff.

Why not join some groups for things that interest you, or get involved in some volunteering? If you like pubs, start spending a few hours a week in the pub of your choice with the kinds of people you're comfortable around - you'll soon get chatting to the regulars.

When/if I retire, hopefully within the next 6-10 years, I have no plans to sit on my @rse watching daytime TV and moping all day - I'll do stuff I wasn't able to fit in when I was working 50-60 hours a week. Day trips out, travelling, volunteering with local or national charities, hobbies, going to music festivals, fixing all those things around the house I never had time for before. Plus a reasonable amount of sitting on my @rse at home reading or listening to music etc.

[DoctorStrangelove]

By the time you've reached the stage of watching tv in the afternoons it probably is time to go.

After all there's only so many Randolph Scott films, NZ, Canadian & Oz customs shows to keep one going.

I can't decide whether the existential angst is a cause or an effect.

[I just need to test it]

Right. My turn.

I'm 60 and contemplating retirement. I've been permie for five years. Over the course of a 20+ year contracting life I was almost always away from home. My contractor mates became my mates; my hobbies were beer, eating out, going to random midweek football matches. Weekends at home were for family. And chores. I really did not invest in hobbies, or a close-to-home friendship group.

As a result of this, plus moving around a lot in my twenties, my retirement is likely to be spent in a city where to all intents and purposes I'm a comparative stranger. I'm not, despite what my wife says on a nightly basis, a total idiot, but I've certainly been daft enough to see how bleak retirement might look yet do nothing about it.

Currently I'm reading a book purporting to be a practical guide to planning and enjoying the retirement you've earned and according to the decision matrix I've just done I should "carry on working because I've eff all to live for". Naturally, as self help books go, this message has come as a bit of a blow.

I've a few chapters still to read. Presumably at some point I'll find one entitled "What's the point of living?" Or "The practical guide to ending it all without soiling the carpets". Ahh, you gorra laff.

[mattster]

This place never changes.

I stopped seeking work a couple of years ago in my late 40s having been an IT contractor from my early 20s. It was driven by an estimation that we had 'enough' coupled with a compelling desire to stop wasting time, as I saw it, doing a pointless job.

If you can cut out expensive crap and can be creative enough to exploit your new found free time, it's a winner. If all else fails, find some paid work. But accept that after probably a year or so, there's no way back to your old job and the life that went with it.

I "dropped out" for just over 10 years, staying at home with the family but admittedly keeping somewhat "with it" by developing and selling my own software. As income from that faded a bit (and also my enthusiasm for sitting alone in a garden office), I ventured back into contracting when the market was booming a few years back and didn't actually find it that hard - I am now nearly two years into a city banking role. So anyway, I'd say you probably *can* get back into it but you probably also need to time it right - I think I would find it next to impossible in the current market to do what I did a couple of years back.