The reality of retirement

When did you know you were ready to retire?

Steve  

I worked way past state retirement age because I enjoyed what I was doing. A friend of a similar age said to me “You’ll find out when you should retire when on one Monday morning, you wake up and think – I don’t want to go to work anymore.”. And that’s what happened. It was a Eureka moment.  

Lorna  

I just didn’t enjoy working anymore when Covid came along and we all had to start working from home. So that made my mind up. I knew I’d made the right decision as soon as I made it so there was no going back.  

Paul 

I made a list of all the things I wanted to do but couldn’t because of work and I ended up with 98 things on the list. And my list of reasons for continuing to work was much shorter!  

So I was ready to retire but didn’t realise I could. Then one day, I was sitting in an online meeting and scribbled down some quick calculations and thought – why am I still working? As I could make it work financially.  

Susan

I’ve only recently retired. I’m not sure if I was ready then and I’m not sure if I’m ready now!  

I didn’t come to the decision independently. Paul had been retired for two years and the balance in our household wasn’t right. He was like Dobby, running around and doing all the cooking. And I was stuck in a back bedroom for over ten hours a day.  

Then, we started planning this year. There were family events and trips we’d planned I couldn’t do on six weeks leave. All of these factors combined together and I made the decision very quickly.

Do you wish you’d retired sooner or later, or even cut down your hours?

Steve

I cut down to working three days a week for the last year or so. That gradual transition made a big difference as there wasn’t a dramatic change in the way I live my life, so I think I retired at the right time and eased into it gently.

Lorna

I did talk about semi-retirement but couldn’t work the hours I wanted. If I’d been able to, I would have carried on for a bit longer.  

Susan

I could have cut down my days quite easily, but I'm an all or nothing girl. I was in charge of my empire and would have hated to lose that. I probably would have worked just as hard on part-time hours as I did in full-time hours, so I thought, no, I'm not going to do it. 

Paul

From my point of view, part-time was never an option. When I give up, I give up. I’ve got too many interests I want to pursue. I wish I’d realised I could have retired earlier.

What would you have done differently?

Lorna

If I had known what I know now? I’d have started paying over and above the minimum contribution a lot sooner than I actually did. I just jogged along with my employers, paying the set amount. With the benefit of hindsight, paying more would have been a good idea.  

Susan

I was surprised at how hard it was psychologically. I’d read books about retirement, so I’m not sure what I could have done differently other than understand that it was going to be a lot more challenging than I could have ever imagined it being.  

How did it feel transitioning into retirement? 

Lorna

Because of lockdown, it didn’t feel that different. It gave me a lot more freedom to do what I wanted during the day. I started volunteering for the National Trust. I’m off walking and hiking. I go to the gym. There’s lots of meetings and things for volunteers to do and that can be like a job.  

I’d done a course on life planning which had a session on retirement, so I was prepared for what it would be and how it would work. A lot of people aren’t really prepared.  

You go from having only weekends to do whatever you want to seven days every single week free, and for some people it’s huge. They just don’t know what to do. Especially if you live on your own. So, when you suddenly have seven days a week on your hands and you’re not earning any money, do you have the resources to enable you to live your life? 

My husband has just retired. He doesn’t like it at all. He carried on contracting with his old company after retiring. Since we’ve moved to Devon, he’s got a delivery job with Sainsbury’s working only 16 hours a week. He works because he still chooses to, not because he has to. He wanted to leave his job because it was very stressful. But he didn’t actually want to give up work completely.

Steve

It was generally a good experience. I wake up most mornings and I can choose what I do that day - that’s really quite a liberating experience.

Paul 

I fell straight into it and really enjoyed it from minute it started. I was doing a lot of work around the house so that filled the initial gap.  

I got involved with charity. It took up much more time than I thought so I’m stepping away from that to get back to my list of things I want to do. I’m learning Italian properly to conversational level. And I’m getting back to art.

Susan

It was complicated, challenging and uncomfortable. Which sounds miserable to say, but it is hard. I'm incredibly good at hanging out the washing now. I’m still trying to understand what retirement is.  

I feel like I’ve lost my purpose a little bit. But I feel better about that now than I did a couple of months ago. It’s really weird. People must think I’m mad, but I just think what’s the point of life now? All I’m doing is talking about having lovely holidays. Before you’d probably think “God, I wish I could do that,” but actually, when it’s the only thing you can do – where’s the challenge in that?

What’s the best thing about retirement?

Lorna

I just love the whole thing. Not having to go out to work, to be honest. Not having to get up at silly o'clock in the morning and go out when it's still dark and frosty. And being able to go on holiday when you want and for as long as you want.  

Susan

I have time to read now. I didn’t have it before other than on holiday. It’s quite nice to sit there and not feel guilty about reading because you have something else to do. Travelling is at the top of my list.  

Paul

Retirement doesn't mean old age. It doesn't mean infirmity. It doesn't mean an inability to do things. It's freedom as far as I'm concerned. 

Steve

The best thing about retirement is having space and time to reflect and explore new ideas and interests. 

What’s surprised you about retirement?

Lorna

Probably how much I’ve enjoyed it. Although there is an odd feeling when you don’t have a salary coming into your bank account every month.  

Paul

The thing that surprised us was the old cheesy thing that retired people say – that you never realise how busy you're going to be. It's true. It's just unbelievable. We don't have gaps in our diary at all and we're always double booking ourselves. I don't know if there’s a tip out of that, but just enjoy it. Life is amazing. 

Susan

The challenge – I thought it would be easy! 

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Lorna

Save more money. Get the maximum contribution you can from your employer, even if you have to put more money in yourself.  

Your younger self doesn’t appreciate the implications of how much more you can save. You’re just thinking about how much you’re going to take home and what you’re going to do with it.  

Paul

Mine would be - why didn't I retire earlier? Because I'm enjoying it so much. 

Susan

If I was going to do the whole thing again, I would encourage anybody at a younger age to put something by for their pension. It’s no good only thinking about it when you get to 58. If you want a good lifestyle, you need to be thinking about what you’re going to need when you retire from an earlier age.   

What you don't know when you're younger is that life takes twists and turns. You get divorced, things happen. Maybe the answer is to always look out for yourself as an individual, regardless of whether you have a partner, and make sure you will be personally financially secure.  

Steve

Be kinder, be more grateful and be more patient. 

What do you miss about work?

Lorna  

The people. We felt like a family at work. If I missed anything, it’s that.  

Paul 

I don't miss the work. But I really valued the people.  

Susan 

The people, the challenge, the achievement. I don’t miss the long days!

What advice would you give to people about to retire?

Lorna

You need a plan because the days are long. You go from working 10 hours a day to having 10 free hours to fill with something. Think about whether you have enough money. And go out and find things to do because these things don’t come to you.  

My husband found it difficult until he found things to do. And if you are married, remember that you’ve probably never spent any length of time with them apart from holidays. And suddenly you’re together 24 hours a day, every day of the week. That takes a bit of getting used to. 

Steve

Your world can become smaller unless you make a conscious effort to replace the time and energy spent at work with something else. It’s wise to develop interests and friendships well in advance. 

Susan

Strap in for the ride, it's bumpy. It's the psychological thing that you just don't expect, even if you’ve read about it.  

Also, keep physically able. Make sure you move a lot, walk, get to the gym, swim, all of those things.

Published 22 April 2024