Thank you BB, most would say I don't have them either lol. It's actually an unplugged night with several of us in a separate room in the pub or club, no mics or amps, no audience, you just do one song then it moves on until your turn comes round again or you feel like stopping. Far more, dare I say, intimate than an open mic night, but infinitely easier on the nerves.Originally Posted by bambam
The week I've described isn't that typical, a week like this is once a month with the music night and meeting my FiL the following afternoon, usually Wednesdays and Thursdays are quieter, a couple of long walks and maybe a swim. The Friday I mentioned is every week unless we go away somewhere.
Reading it back it sounds like a humble brag but that was certainly not my intention, I was just trying to illustrate that loads of money, expensive holidays and cars, and extreme sport past times etc are not necessary for a happy retirement
Didn’t read or take it as a humble brag at all! Just sounds like a lovely way to spend time. Appreciate that it’s not necessarily like that every week, but I agree that you don’t need loads of trappings to be happy and content.
Simple pleasures, doing what you enjoy, doesn't have to cost a bundle. I can see I'll be in the garden quite a bit this week, surprising how much contentment a bit of pottering provides, free fruit and veggies not withstanding...always tastes better when you've grown it yourself.
Serendipitously bumped into an old friend at the coffee place. She's an older British lady, widowed some years back who we really got to know and bonded with during Covid when she couldn't go to the store so we naturally did her groceries and kept an eye on her, been friends ever since. Her son's out visiting, by crazy, absurd chance he retires officially tomorrow, 61 and good for him.
Sorry BB, didn't mean to make it sound as if you thought it a humble brag, just concerned that it could sound as if it was generally.
Elderly parents, the surviving 3 are now over 90, limit what we can do or where we can live, but of course they can't be abandoned. At the risk of sounding morbid we'll have what I call a second retirement which will be different again when they pass (assuming I don't go first of course!).
Well, just to demonstrate yet again how useless planning can be...
I came back from leave 4 weeks ago to find that a very recent shift in our divisional reporting line had led to a Board-level rethink about our structure and resources. A couple of roles were very definitely at risk (one of them being mine) so I've spent the past three weeks negotiating a voluntary redundancy package that would allow me to walk away and make some unfettered choices about my future (albeit that the was settlement offer was reasonable but certainly not great).
I'm now on garden leave until the end of May, and then I guess I'm either retired or semi-retired. I'd be open to tying to bring in some work through my management consultancy or my headshot business (or both) but should neither of those things happen I'll still be fine. I've decided that I'll not now be looking for another full time/permanent role, though... life's too short.
Not quite sure that everything has been fully processed as yet, if I'm honest.
Good for you Tony, sometimes it’s the old “everything is for a reason “ and hopefully it will lead to a better life.
I’m looking to give up in the next few weeks. I can’t really afford it and may need to find something part time but works becoming much to stressful to deal with so the decision becoming more and more natural
Good luck to you both. Exciting times ahead.
A bit of mixed emotions, and I'm sure a little more challenging when not fully on your terms.
See it as an opportunity, and most say you need less in retirement than you think. If you can get a little consultancy on top, then it is win-win.
Best of luck as you embark on the next phase of your life.
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I would take it , as an opportunity, and fate!
I retired 5 years ago , aged 60...the best move I ever made!
Work is over rated! You only live once..... so go for it!
Good luck Tony, enjoy it!
Sorry to hear, but you have the right approach here IMHO. Your view on how it could pan out takes a really positive approach, and that is the most important thing. It will take a while for sure to process, my wife is going through similar & it has given me the odd sleepless night of the unknown.Well, just to demonstrate yet again how useless planning can be...
I came back from leave 4 weeks ago to find that a very recent shift in our divisional reporting line had led to a Board-level rethink about our structure and resources. A couple of roles were very definitely at risk (one of them being mine) so I've spent the past three weeks negotiating a voluntary redundancy package that would allow me to walk away and make some unfettered choices about my future (albeit that the was settlement offer was reasonable but certainly not great).
I'm now on garden leave until the end of May, and then I guess I'm either retired or semi-retired. I'd be open to tying to bring in some work through my management consultancy or my headshot business (or both) but should neither of those things happen I'll still be fine. I've decided that I'll not now be looking for another full time/permanent role, though... life's too short.
Not quite sure that everything has been fully processed as yet, if I'm honest.
Seem to recall you are property management related in your consulting? I am not sure on my contacts in that area, but have a few good friends in temp leadership / management consultancies often looking for extra heads on projects. Feel free to ping me your CV if you want and can get it under their noses. Often they just need a people leader, not subject matter expert, as people in the team do the SME stuff.
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Sorry if it isn't what you had wanted LTF, but hopefully as time passes you will think back at how this event fortuitously pushed you a little earlier than anticipated into your next - even better - chapter of life.
I for one long to be offered a redundancy package. Not that I have enough saved yet to retire and maintain the expected lifestyle for Lady H
I did!
Thanks Mike.
It's actually an FM consultancy, Matt, but I have property skills/experience as well (this is my website for anyone interested). Thanks for your kind offer - my CV is downloadable there, but feel free to ping me your email address and I'll send it to you direct.
It's only the timing that isn't perfect, to be honest. I'd pretty much had it with full time, unrelenting pressure after nearly half a century of it.Sorry if it isn't what you had wanted LTF, but hopefully as time passes you will think back at how this event fortuitously pushed you a little earlier than anticipated into your next - even better - chapter of life.
I for one long to be offered a redundancy package. Not that I have enough saved yet to retire and maintain the expected lifestyle for Lady H
Looks like a result to me, a payout and two of your own businesses already in place ... good luck.
A cautious “congrats” from me Tony - I’m assuming that this is what you want, but it is a bit scary having it pushed toward you at a time not of your choosing.
I went a bit manic when it happened to me; I created a business from a training course I’d written years previously. I built an app which I thought I could monetize and I began a business offering various methods of assistance to owners/sellers of dead posh cars.
Today, just 14 months later, the app has been sold to a big business in the marketplace targeted by my app, I built a decent pipeline for the training and delivered the course a number of times, but it is now managed by a large specialist training company. The only source of income under my control is the car work, which I keep because I really enjoy it and it’s irregular, leaving me lots of “me” time. I may stop even this over the next few months as it’s usually inconvenient when work is needed.
I have, and I suspect many people will echo this, ridden the wave of uncertainty/fear and I’m settling in to the retired lifestyle.
We had a lovely break in Wales over the past couple of weeks - the weather looked good so we booked a place to stay between Harlech and Barmouth and hit the road. The weather was beautiful all week, as was the area. Because we had the freedom to go when we wanted, and no firm end date for the stay, and it was still off-season, we paid just £50 a night.
My brother in law retired a couple of years before I did and is still working - his old company moved premises and he worked as a temp to help. He looks after people’s gardens and offers handyman services, but has no freedom whatsoever.
Going from earning and saving to spending your savings is scary, but try not to lock into the working retirement cycle early on, as it’s just as hard to walk away from that life as full employment, and people I know who have been locked in are, largely, still working way past their official retirement age.
Life in retirement can be very cost-effective. Understanding the difference between the things you need and the things you want is important, and having the time to (for instance) paint your own walls rather than pay somebody else really helps, doesn’t really eat into your time and is also good exercise! There’s lots of other examples of this re-focus mindset.
Last week I was offered a role by a person I used to work with, a person I get on with really well, but realised that I just didn’t want to get back onto the hamster wheel. I may do some business consultancy at some point, but will be very careful about managing my time.
Time for family is important. Both Karen and I have parents with increasing support needs, and being able to respond at short notice is useful. Having time to focus on what is really important to us is really important.
Doing what’s right by you is really importanter
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Last edited by dickbrowne; 15th April 2025 at 10:05.
I hear you there, I’m in an a weird place where I am way overpaid for what I do, and actively avoiding promotion as the extra money vs hassle is just not worth it, I’d need 50% more to be bothered, and that won’t happen!I did!
Thanks Mike.
It's actually an FM consultancy, Matt, but I have property skills/experience as well (this is my website for anyone interested). Thanks for your kind offer - my CV is downloadable there, but feel free to ping me your email address and I'll send it to you direct.
It's only the timing that isn't perfect, to be honest. I'd pretty much had it with full time, unrelenting pressure after nearly half a century of it.
Knew I got the terminology wrong, FM was what I had in my head but could not articulate. Must have been over a decade ago you were talking to me about doing my own consultancy via pm on here.
CV downloaded, sent to a few people in related roles. Have a few recruitment folk who owe me favours given how much they earned off me over the years lol, will see what they have too.
Still have that brown leather jacket & the timberland one too!
Your first line nails it really, Mr B... I'm cautiously optimistic about the future for the reasons you state. However, we will no doubt have to adjust our lifestyle a little given the unplanned nature and timing of the change.
I hear you about not getting sucked back into it all again, and that thought process is something that's still developing. I know I'd be happy focussing on my photography, and if I can generate any kind of reasonable income then I'd take that without a second thought. Management consultancy is where any lifestyle risk sits, as the kind of support I might be engaged for is by definition likely to be very full on, even if it's not permanent.
A fair bit of thinking to do for sure. Thankls for another really valuable response, by the way - I do appreciate it.
Hi Tony
I have nothing useful to add, except to say well done and kudos for having the courage to take the step. I know I would struggle to make that kind of decision.
best wishes
Well, just to demonstrate yet again how useless planning can be...
I came back from leave 4 weeks ago to find that a very recent shift in our divisional reporting line had led to a Board-level rethink about our structure and resources. A couple of roles were very definitely at risk (one of them being mine) so I've spent the past three weeks negotiating a voluntary redundancy package that would allow me to walk away and make some unfettered choices about my future (albeit that the was settlement offer was reasonable but certainly not great).
I'm now on garden leave until the end of May, and then I guess I'm either retired or semi-retired. I'd be open to tying to bring in some work through my management consultancy or my headshot business (or both) but should neither of those things happen I'll still be fine. I've decided that I'll not now be looking for another full time/permanent role, though... life's too short.
Not quite sure that everything has been fully processed as yet, if I'm honest.
best laid plans and all that......
hopefully this works out just right for you; having the decision made for you (sort of) is probably something a lot of people would benefit from.
i'm now selling off the BTL portfolio to reduce hassle and get a better grip on what i need/have/want to try and start the transition.
best of luck Tony; I hope it all progresses nicely for you.
Err... no thanks.
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
Tony, perhaps you may have more time so if you fancy a visit to the Algarve, drop me a PM anytime! All the best. Martyn.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Some will- do already keep going into their 70´s and beyond...however the odds of living with 1 or more comorbidities rise pretty dramatically from the mid 70´s thus the odds of ´enjoying´ a decade or two of well earned active-fun retirement once they´ve managed to leave work aren´t favourable...which to my mind begs the question, what the hell did they work so hard for as you can´t take the money- possessions with you.Err... no thanks.
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
What they mean by this is stacking shelves in B&Q and supermarkets, not being retained in highly paid professional management positions.
My mate I went to university with had to fall on his sword and resign after being prosecuted by the police for holding a mobile phone while driving his company car.
His company had zero tolerance policy with evergreen license checks outsourced to a third party.
He worked for the same blue chip a FTSE 100 company for 25 year, at sales director level earning £100k+ leading multiple large teams, and involved in all aspects of business management.
A year after resigning from work, he has had 3-4 interviews which have amounted to nothing. He acknowledges he is now on the scrap heap. He is 56.
Presumably after such a high falutin´career with big responsibilities and big salary he´s sitting on tons of assets and investments built up over those highly lucrative 25 years, thus at the ripe old age of 56 sitting pretty...otherwise what was the point to a certain extent of the considerable pressure, stress and all that responsibility...? Instead of thinking of himself as on the scrap heap, he should value his liberty...only my view and how I viewed work...(as a means to an end, pay your future self... acquiring enough to eventually say sod this for a game of soldiers)
Also good luck stack shelves and such manual work into the 70´s, arthritic joints and bad knees etc. Interestingly there´s a few highest fliers like yer Martin Sorrells still at it through their 70´s...
Last edited by Passenger; 22nd April 2025 at 11:46.
I think it is different when you don’t go in your terms.
The jobs he applied for were less senior and carried considerably less stress. He tried for a postie and couldn’t even get an interview for that!
It’s a tough one. Less roles available at that level and less employers with the budget to hire for that level. In some ways it’s like trying to sell a gold Rolex for £30k vs three steel Rolexes for £10k each.
He can go down a peg or two but half the employers will think he’s too senior or maybe he’s just too old. Tough game and a very harsh punishment.
Unfortunately this is all too familiar- finding it hard/impossible to get a role at the same or similar level in your 50’s.
Then there is the added aspect of not getting anywhere with more junior roles either.
So either people have built some assets and savings that can open some options for them or they may need to take more drastic action.
I know lots of people that are in the position of having to find a new role in their 50’s who are finding it very tough.
As someone who got made involuntarily redundant 5 years ago at age 53, I can certainly relate to the feeling of being "on the scrapheap" when it comes to re-employment at similar level and/or pay scale. I have thus far saved myself the inevitable stress and grief of endless interview knock backs by not actively looking for anything else, referring to myself as "on a career-break" or "semi-retired" if anyone asks, which they rarely do.
I love the freedom of choice for what to do every day that comes with having no job, albeit my leisure and lifestyle options have now to be tailored to the realities of a much lower income. No bad thing, as you realise very quickly exactly how much money you have wasted over the years on stuff you really don't need to be happy. The reset in that respect has been very welcome and a very positive experience.
Simple example : I've got into mountain-biking. The old version of me would have bought a brand new bike for £2-3K, plus a load of expensive branded clothing to wear doing it. The new more sensible me has bought a very nice 90s Marin for £80 and £20 of plain clothing from the sale racks at Decathlon. Same hobby and same experiences/benefits for a fraction of the price. Also shaved a third off our monthly food costs by embracing Aldi vs Waitrose. Retired life is good :-)
Make hay whilst the sun shines...words to live- work-plan-save by...good jobs don´t last forever...probably will get even more relevant with AI...just a thought.
Good thinking. At the end of the day however much you spend on a push bike it still only has 'one 459GMB horsepower' to utilise.
Now that is the spirit, good on ya.
Haha ! Indeed so, and such limitations make it more a case of gentle hills than actual mountains for my "mountain" bike LOL. I am lucky enough to have the South Downs on my door step (literally) so all good !
Nice, can't beat having good countryside nearby, and don't take too many risks at your tender age ;)
Last edited by Ruggertech; 22nd April 2025 at 12:40.
Cheers P !
Today's breakfast of retired champions courtesy of my favourite German supermarket :
Ingredients cost probably about one of Charles' finest quids. Old me would have spent £12 on that in some breakfast café :-)
I'm loving the challenge of having/doing/eating nice things on a budget !
Looks great, fit for a king. :)Cheers P !
Today's breakfast of retired champions courtesy of my favourite German supermarket :
Ingredients cost probably about one of Charles' finest quids. Old me would have spent £12 on that in some breakfast café :-)
I'm loving the challenge of having/doing/eating nice things on a budget !
I remember you mentioned that - in a thread about something else. That’s a tough punishment at 54/56 for what so many have done. There are a lot of jobs where looking for re-employment at that age - is bloody hard.
There’s a large tax/NI burden off that wage - not as big a salary as you might imagine, and that salary level was probably reached over a lot of years. a huge shock to the finances for it to suddenly stop at (say 54, when I think it happened to him).
Valid points Al especially re tax/NI...it's a funny old game innit when a 100k plus ain;t so large when the average is only 30k ish...major stroke of luck personally was the FPC level 1, quit the job after about 3 months too ruthless a gig for me but some of the lessons went in. Hope Notags mate hit his stride inside his first decade and listened to a good FA...reckon another possible bit of wisdom is it' never too early to think about early retirement..
Last edited by Passenger; 22nd April 2025 at 20:08.
Couldn' t agree more, don' t assume strong earnings will last, saving/investing for the future is far wiser than living a lavish lifestyle and spending up to the hilt.........far easier to see it this way as a retiree who got out at 52 by a combination of luck and judgement. Try telling a high earner aged 40 and watch his eyes glaze over, many of them just don' t get it!
Never too early to plan for early retirement, in my opinion it' s the ultimate luxury and it eclipses fancy cars/ big houses/ expensive watches etc etc by a considerable margin. Brewing a leisurely 2nd pot of tea in a morning whilst the rest of the rats choose to keep racing sums it up.
I know it's hard to believe but I'm told some people actually like their jobs.
Can't say I'm in that camp but there is some.
On par with pulling your own teeth out IMO, but some folks do clearly prefer work to the alternative.
Why do you work?
Why would you "fall on your sword" would be viewed as a minor traffic offence by most employers? (Not that it's something anyone should be doing of course, but it's a 6 point/£200 fine offence).
Especially at that age, the financial incentive to resign would have to be significant (maybe he had a 6 month notice period?). Even then I'd be paying for legal advice to see if the employment contract could be contested.
Last edited by Scepticalist; 23rd April 2025 at 12:37.
Company no tolerance policy means exactly that.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
You miss my point
Go back and read the thread - it covers the whole escapade.
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