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[Netleyned]

At the end of August I retired from a working life that started on the 14th September 1959
when I entered the gates of HMS Fisgard as a Tiffy apprentice.
I decided earlier this year that another winter going to work was a no no
I was going to build and sail my boats when I wanted to.

In two weeks I have fitted a new shower for my eldest son
and I have just finished youngest daughters new garden fencing.

I have been to B&Q more times in the past week than in the last five years

My children are going to make sure I don't vegetate
I just want to build and sail my boats

Ned

[pugwash]

Enjoy your retirement Ned.  Same happened to me - it took about 2 yrs before all the jobs were done,
but hopefully they will run out of things for you to do fairly quickly.

Geoff

[Propslip]

Welcome to the real world Ned. I to had grand plans for my retirement like yourself. Trouble is the kids left & then came back, then left again. Then they all started multiplying & now there are seven Gandchildren. Its like groundhog day. 2 spare bedrooms lost & struggling to hold onto my office/workroom, still at least the workshop is sacred but even there I'm not safe. Within 5 minutes of my seeking refuge, I hear the call, 'Gandads got nothing to do, he's in his workshop, take us down the park'!!! I'd go back to sea but I'm to old!!!
                                                                                 Propslip

[bobk]

Enjoy your retirement Ned.  I reached that age at the end of June, but am letting myself ease in gently by working half the the hours until I feel ready to cut the strings.  At least I work indoors, but in a supermarket some of the work can be heavy.
The family almost live round here at weekends anyway, nice.  After the big communal Sunday breakfast I slip away to the lake for a couple of hours, and have converted the old office into a workshop to slope off to when the TV seems locked into either MTV, Disney, or endless forensic dramas.

[dougal99]

I retired six years ago and spend most of my time doing the crossword, building boats, teaching over 50s computers, walking and trying to learn German, oh and regular visits to my father 250 miles away. Thus, my children and grandchildren know I'm busy and leave me alone (most of the time). I think you have to learn to say no on occasion, I think I'm getting there. 

[treeboa]

lose your mobile, throw out the alarm clock and remove the welcome mate to one that says urinate away 

[essex2visuvesi]

My late Grandfather had a great way of getting rid of us grandkids

he would start with "During the war...."

[irishcarguy]

Semi retired, doctors orders,slow down or die soon. Not much of an option.Have started model boat building.Worked in the auto trade for 48 years. I still build special engines for "nice" people,overhaul gearboxes, & rebuild SU carburettors all for vintage British sportscars. I have a converted bedroom as a worksop at home ( I still have my auto/parts & workshop on an acerage outside the city.) I still answer a lot of calls & give advice over the phone ) I now control my time much better than before & am having a lot more fun.Just bought a mini lathe & am learning how to use it, I have no experience with one so it is a steep learning curve. I enjoy the forum very much, lots of helpfull people on here. We have two American cocker spaniels that are great company & go everywhere with me, both adopted from rescue kennels.

[richald]

I can firmly recommend retirement - I packed in work in August 2008 at the age of 59
mainly due to hassle at work and medical problems.

Spent a year doing up and selling my house in Sheffield (and spent some time 'practising' at being retired!)

Upped sticks and moved to the country in East Yorkshire (which is brilliant after 41 years living in a city)

I have spent the last two years sorting and the house and garden, to suit me (new fireplace, kitchen
and bathroom)  -   thinks....must stop now, no more money left!

I have started fettling all the boats I didn't quite complete in Sheffield.

I have just finished a little Model Slipways Clyde Puffer and I am halfway through scratch building a
Mississippi (Grocery) delivery boat


This is a photo of the full-size vessel (30 feet long)



my hull and fittings... ¹/₂₄th scale

The only problem I have at the moment is that I haven't got anywhere to sail  - there are places at
Bridlington, Hull, and Goole but they are a little far, given the price of fuel, and my mild dislike of 'organised' i.e. club ponds.

Anybody know of any ponds round Driffield?

Richard

[justboatonic]

I had intentions of being semi retired within the next 4 years. But losing a lot of money in a bad business venture and two sons who wont leave home, that's looking like a pipe dream 

[grump52b]

i can understand your comments for me its just round the corner i am 59 just come back to model boating after 30 years away already getting comments like why go down ther and do that well its simple really peace and quite relaxing with friends just like minded guys doing thier thing of course she did say and dont think im going with you well that made my day so guys if you see me ill be the guy with the smile on my face just me the boat and all day to sail it batteries permitting that is ?? of course the eyes arent what they were but the legs wobble a bit now and again but and as i put my folding chair up and turn round the comment will be whers that boat gone it was ther a minute ago ah well vgot to go teas on the table id rather it was on a plate but you cant have everything 

[irishcarguy]

Hi Richald, seems to me you have got it figured out, & also there is no point busting your gut  if you can get bye without. We paid the mortgage off 2 years ago & have adjusted to getting bye on a lot less. Chasing the almigtly dollar is a rather silly hobby, building model boats has it beat hands down. We went to Maui last Xmas & are going again this Xmas & new year. It is not too expensive & really recharges the old batteries. It is the first time in my life that we are debt free & I cant get over the feeling it gives you, you wont believe it until you get there. All we have to do is pay the yearly taxes. I do some small jobs for some of my long time customers but always strictly in my time frame, if they get into the hurry up mode I send them on their way,no more stress for me,  Mick B.

[BarryM]

Enjoy your retirement Ned.  Same happened to me - it took about 2 yrs before all the jobs were done,
but hopefully they will run out of things for you to do fairly quickly.

Geoff

Then how is that as soon as I cross off a job from the top of thelist, SWMBO adds another one (or two) on the bottom? 

Barry M

[treeboa]

Then how is that as soon as I cross off a job from the top of thelist, SWMBO adds another one (or two) on the bottom? 

Barry M

tell her to write it on the loo roll, you will get to it eventually 

[Welsh_Druid]

Retirement is wonderful !!   I retired at 58, bought another boat ( a 32 foot ketch) and spent all the first winter doing it up. Going out at 9-00 am and back home at 5-00 p.m on days as I liked rather than when I had to, eased the transition from a working life to a life of leisure.
 
For the next ten years we sailed at home in Wales and off to Scotland, Ireland,Brittany, and north Spain.
 
Then sold the boat and then towed a caravan all over Europe - sometimes trips were over 5000 miles !

Then there was the model aircraft and then the model boats.
And the holidays abroad in the winter.  As I said - a wonderful life in retirement.

Then three years ago my wife died.

Now on my own and after 23 years retired my life is as full as ever. Still sailing (full size) with a friendly widow on her boat from the Marina just 7 miles down the road. Walking in the mountains with another widow. Days out visiting historic places with another widow. Holidays cruising the world in January/February with yet another widow ! (The main drawback is keeping them all apart !!!

And of course still making and sailing model boats and model aircraft.  Wow - where does all the time go ? (of course there is the housework and the garden - but thats no problem - I just don't do too much of it to interfere with the other enjoyable things)


Don't be afraid of retirement and old age - its wonderful .

Don B.

[treeboa]

Need to find that third widow with green fingers

[irishcarguy]

The moral of this post Welchdruid is keep any ladies I know far away from you. Casanova seems to be your #1 hobby. LOL Mick B.

[johnboscoirl]

It was great to read all the comments about retirement.  Im coming up 60 in December this year.  I work for a local council and have enough years pensionable service to go on my 60th birthday. Ive decided to wait a little as i found out earlier this year that i can allocate 50% of my salary into additional voluntary contributions which are tax free and you can draw them down as a lump sum or commute them to additional pension.  I wish i had realised this years ago as i thought the figure was only 9% of salary.  Obviously you have to be able to manage on reduced take home income, but what a fantastic way of saving. So therefore i am hanging in a bit longer and looking at the situation every 2 months. I terms of forward planning and i dont want to tempt fate, but i now have my model boats, 5 in total all in need of repair and overhaul.  I shoot recurve and longbow archery, something i took up 3 years ago. I have a recently renewed amateur radio licence after 22 years and i want to get back to Carp fishing, something i have not done for 5 years. I have a 200 foot garden which lovely to look out on is almost a full time job to keep on top off.  I guess the reality check will be living on less income than previous, something im now working on. Thanks to everyone for all the comments on retirement, they have been really useful.

[dondecap]

hi guys.

johnboscoirl
I had medical enforced retirement 18 months ago at 61 .....................major surgery for the dreaded 'C' and now am on 800+ a month instead of 1600 in the bank a month ...
it is hard to start with, but now we stopped every thing that was not realy needed...surprising what you are paying for when the money is there that you don't really need..........
 like minimal Internet and cable tv, even free view if you don't watch much, shop around for insurance.....take bigger exess...........how many times do you really claim?.................check out the benefit system really well.
get a water meter fitted etc our bills are now down to 350 a month plus food and that includes an older car.
we manage and I can't build as many as I want but we have no dept.

regards
don

[johnboscoirl]

Hello Don, nice to hear from you.  Firstly good luck in managing the dreaded "c".  It just shows that we can sometimes overcome the bigger issues in life.  Again some good stuff from you and a very open and honest assessment of retirement  Good luck with the models, enjoy as much as you can.  Best wishes

John

[cuppa]

hi guys.

johnboscoirl
I had medical enforced retirement 18 months ago at 61 .....................major surgery for the dreaded 'C' and now am on 800+ a month instead of 1600 in the bank a month ...
it is hard to start with, but now we stopped every thing that was not realy needed...surprising what you are paying for when the money is there that you don't really need..........
 like minimal Internet and cable tv, even free view if you don't watch much, shop around for insurance.....take bigger exess...........how many times do you really claim?.................check out the benefit system really well.
get a water meter fitted etc our bills are now down to 350 a month plus food and that includes an older car.
we manage and I can't build as many as I want but we have no dept.

regards
don

Hi Don

Sorry to read about your medical problems. I had to retire at age 52 following a stroke and now we live on a fraction of my previous salary. Might seem crazy but we are happier than when I was working. Now life's little treats mean so much more and we appreciate them greatly.  I cannot drive for medical reasons and so the car had to go but I have a bus pass and so we can get about. At first it was very hard managing on a small budget but once the 'ropes' are learned and economies made it becomes a lot easier.

I am very new to model boats but, before the stroke I flew model gliders.

It takes me ages to build anything because I have to buy parts as and when finances permit and scratchbuild things that I would have previously just bought.

Cheers
          Jon

[howyson]

I used to work for a small company until we were taken over by a big conglomerate, after which I could not wait until I retired. I was then diagnosed with prostate cancer when I was 58 but was able to continue to work through the treatment, and touch wood all is now OK. I eventually took the plunge and retired two years early, and have not regrettted it. That was nearly seven years ago and now like a lot of retired people I say 'how did I fit in going to work'.

Howard

[Norseman]

Congrats to all of you happily retired/early retired - I'm so envious of you all.

I'm 54 and working but the goverment has already pushed the pension age back to 66, for me it probably will go higher

That's a real pity because my body already feels like it's already hit retirement age    and the railway is a fairly harsh working environment (especially on permanent nights) Two things are good though - I have hobbies and I no longer work overtime. Too many people work to the last as though there is nothing else possible - then day one arrives and they haven't prepared for the change (I don't mean money) and they can't handle it.

Someone earlier on mentioned kids being back home - my lad's 25 and not working/contributing (daughter is similar but she is only 18) and I wonder if I am going to still be supporting them when I'm on a pension? My wife thinks the kids are a protected species 

Regards, Norseman

[irishcarguy]

Hi Norsman, the reality is the government want you to work until you die, that way they don't have to pay pensions & they continue to collect taxes. The working stiffs of this world have let the politicians get away with murder. They keep us so busy that we no longer organise to stop this kind of injustice. I was Lucky I saw it coming & got all my debts paid off. Legally I don't make enough to pay tax, I have enough write offs. You have to learn to play their game & be better at it than them. You are lucky to have a hobby it will fill a big space in your life when you retire, those that don't are usually lost. Mick B.

[Colin Bishop]

You are lucky to have a hobby it will fill a big space in your life when you retire, those that don't are usually lost. Mick B.

Very true!

I have been fortunate so far. I was given early retirement on the grounds of redundancy when I was 58 (nothing new about public sector job cuts I'm afraid although people don't seem to be aware of it) but I got out just before they started cracking down on severance packages. So I got a decent pension for my 33 year's service. I saw it as an opportunity to do something different so I used my existing skills to bring in freelance work so now I have a decent balance between free time and working to supplement the pension which helps pay for the holidays. Continuing to work provides a focus for my time and enforces a degree of self discipline but I'm still my own boss and can choose what I want to do.

In some respects I have been lucky to have the chance to do this but you still have so see and exploit the opportunities which might be available to you and pursue them.

Colin