"Living with dignity" in retirement

[Michael Hodgson]

43 minutes ago, AyJay said:

I cannot get away from the constant menu of daytime TV "Today we are with X and Y as they search for a property in popular Marbeya  and I'm using all of my skills....."  😒   

 

That's an insult to your intelligence.  Turn the bl*&dy thing off or it will turn your brain into a vegetable!  Radio's not quite as bad.

I've been retired so long that the post-retirement redecorating needs doing again.🥱

[Steamport Southport]

I think I'll just leave this here.....

 

 

Full version.   

[Andy Hayter]

1 hour ago, AyJay said:

Two months ago, on the Monday I handed in my laptop and pass, shredded my notebook, then took my two managers out to a coffee shop.

On the Tuesday morning, very early, I went out for a walk to the local park and exclaimed "Now what!!!"

In one step, I went from a professional Engineer to an amateur decorator.

 

I no longer have to get up very early, although I do. Neither do I burn an obscene quantity of fuel while losing up to 3 hours a day in commuting.  I am completely flexible with how I spend my day.

 

But...

The sense of purpose that has driven me all my adult life, is now gone.

I miss the interaction that I used to enjoy with my peers.

I cannot get away from the constant menu of daytime TV "Today we are with X and Y as they search for a property in popular Marbeya  and I'm using all of my skills....."  😒   

 

 I do secretly miss my working life.  I have contacted Pendon and shall be volunteering there, just as soon as the decorating is finished.

As for the money aspect, yes it probably would be cheaper to spend my end times on back-to-back cruises. Perhaps P&O and Carnival are missing a marketing opportunity.

 

 

That should be a lesson for all planning to retire.

 

Your retirement plan must include a plan of what you will do in retirement.

Things you want to do.  (finish those kits, build that layout, places/people to visit etc)

Things you need to do (keep the garden in good shape - or even get it in good shape; redecorate those rooms you have been putting off for years; mend the.... (that could be a long list).  In my case that involved finishing off what was a complete rebuild of our property.  

Then things you might like to do.

 

The first thing I did on retirement 10 years ago Friday was to allow a number of railway publication subscriptions lapse.  That might sound strange but in retirement I actually had less time than I did working.   In work and with a great deal of business travel, I had lots of 15-30 minute slots of time when I could not do any work on the laptop, so I could read a few pages of the latest publication.  Ditto at the end of the day in a foreign hotel where the choice of stations would be things in languages I had no feeling for or CNN - sometimes BBC World but after 30 minutes you go around the same subjects.   All those reading opportunities were lost on retirement.

 

Like @Michael Hodgson, I am now at the stage where some of the things that have been done, need re-doing or at least refreshing.  

 

I would recommend starting to put that plan for retirement together 18 months at least before the actual event.

 

[SM42]

4 hours ago, 33C said:

Cheaper to move into a hotel or cruise liner! Prices care homes charge per week...

 

Try finding a hotel and staying with full board for less than £800  - £1,000 per week. 

A single night B&B is  pushing up towards £100 p.w round here nowadays. 

 

The main enemy in retirement is boredom. 

 

I was talking to a neighbour earlier this week, who retired in February. 

 

His solution. Buy a campervan and disappear with the missus on a regular basis. 

 

Colleagues who have retired recently have launched into their hobbies or taken up new ones. 

 

Launching off into the unknown without a plan is not a good plan. 

 

Me.  I'm looking at another 2 to 4 years at work, depending on the health of my pension pot.

I'll be taking a double hit on not hitting 40 years in the scheme and retiring early, so the calculation will be critical. 

 

Travelling with Mrs SM42 whilst we are still young enough is high on our list, as is doing all those things work got in the way of. 

I realise I may spend a lot of time doing DIY, not by choice. 

 

Regardless the thought of retiring is attractive but daunting all same. 

 

After all, work is a big part of my social life and I suspect it is for many. 

 

Whilst I don’t meet up with many of my colleagues socially, we are a close knit team in general and it is a pleasure to be in their company during the working day.

 

I love my job. It's the work I hate. 

 

Andy

[DCB]

1 hour ago, AyJay said:

 

I cannot get away from the constant menu of daytime TV "Today we are with X and Y as they search for a property in popular Marbeya  and I'm using all of my skills....."  😒   

 

It's easy. Stay in bed until noon and watch late night TV late into the early morning.  Much more entertaining, or watch YouTube clips.  I often do that except I arrange music while watching TV, it takes me about 20 hours to do a 3 minute piece for Brass Band ( 17 parts ) on the laptop listening through ear phones so as not to disturb my wife or son (who has a 6 am start at weekends.  I can't really use that time for modelling as the noise (swearing mainly) causes issues.    For most people the sudden loss of workmates at retirement is traumatic, I have been made redundant and had the company close a couple of times, it is horrible.  Depressing, clinically. The loss of income and all that spare time, watching the pennies.  At least with retirement you can plan it, stockpile track, fishplates, kits, wood, buy power saws  as well as rolling stock so you can get stuck in modelling without flashing the plastic and incurring household wrath.

[The Johnster]

My income, from pensions and council Housing Benefit, is around the Grauniad figure, but I do not own my property.  I'm 71 and managing, but sometimes struggle a bit!  My rent is not high for the area or type of property, but HB only covers about two-thirds of it (finding a property within HB levels would be next to impossible) and I have to top it up out of my own pocket.  My life did not follow a course that was stable enough to save and provide for my dotage or to complete the purchase of a property (partner spent the mortgage money on her fruit machine addiction and I knew nothing of this until coming home from work one day to find the locks changed and myself homeless; she was on holiday in Spain with her parents at the time).  I never really recovered from this blow, and went off the rails for a bit, but have built up a sort of life now.

 

My main concern is security of tenure.  Those who are not living in private rented property assume that the law protects them, and indeed protection for full tenancies is very good, but full tenancies are rarer than rocking horse doodoo.  The standard baseplate deal is what is called a shorthold lease, almost always for the shortest period allowable, six months, after which you have to sign a new lease and tenancy agreement, if, that is, the landlord is satisfied that you have kept the tenancy agreement, fair enough, and does not want to use the property for his own purposes, again, fair enough, but the bottom line is that I don't know if I will still be here in six months' time!  In fact, I've been here since February 2011 and am on my third landlord and second letting agency, so it's not as bad as it sounds, but the fear is ever present (and the repossession experience did not help).

 

It depends on how you define dignity!  A part of my definition would certainly be security of tenure, but this is an elusive dream...

 

I spend about £25 a month on trains, can't afford much more I'm only a poor pensioner.  I've designed the layout to be capable of breaking down into sections in case I ever need to move; it isn't portable in the sense of an exhibition layout and comes apart by means of sawing through the track and scenery at the baseboard joins and repairing the damage afterwards.  I've done this once, when the then landlord decided to refurbish my flat and moved me into the one across the hall for six weeks while the work was carried out.  It was not difficult to get back up and running and repairing the damage was not a major concern, and the experience was a re-assuring proof of concept.

 

I can't manage a moderate lifestyle, nor have I been able to for many years.  No car, no holidays, plain food, up the pub maybe two afternoons a week for no more than two pints, takeaways are a monthly luxury.  Can't afford Burger King or pub lunches any more; inflation has hit hard, but I'm not the only one!

Edited June 29, 2023 by The Johnster

[kevinlms]

11 hours ago, 33C said:

Cheaper to move into a hotel or cruise liner! Prices care homes charge per week...

The cruise liner prices I've heard is great, until you get sick and have to pay the ships rate to see the doctor. Then everything falls apart!

[Bernard Lamb]

9 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

9 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I've been retired so long that post-retirement redecorating needs doing again.🥱

Having packed up work 20 years ago in April I am now going through that experience. Front room and living room finished. But I have now been ordered to re-upholster the dining chairs.😃

Bernard

 

[dave55uk]

Not saying there's something fishy going on, but my rent [housing association flat] for the last two years has gone up by the same amount [within a £ or two] as the amount of increase in my state pension.

[AndrueC]

11 hours ago, SM42 said:

I love my job. It's the work I hate. 

I love the main part of my work - computer programming. It's interesting, it's challenging and who doesn't love a good mystery?

 

:)

 

But what I hate are: The increasing bureaucracy so that management can create an illusion of control to make themselves feel better. The unreliable and unstable developer tool that Microsoft Visual Studio has become. Watching those younger than me slaving away on the same treadmill that I'm about to get off.

Edited June 29, 2023 by AndrueC

[AyJay]

13 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

That should be a lesson for all planning to retire.

Oh I do have a retirement plan Andy,  been thinking about it for a while.

 

The main features of it are: Not taking up golf.  Not sitting on any committees/governing bodies.  Not being behind the counter of any shop.

My plan involves: Regular excursions on my bicycle. Improve my modelling skill. Read more. Continue with Parkrun. Rediscover my Wife as my companion and best friend.

 

At the moment, the immediate goal is giving our home a makeover.  I quite like decorating; also when the cat died, I promised that the carpets would be replaced and the kitchen & bathroom will be replaced. So that's me busy for a few months.  Then I will be free to do as I please.

The only obsessive pre-occupation right now is constantly monitoring interest rates (don't get me started) and shuffling savings about. 

[33C]

1 hour ago, AndrueC said:

I love the main part of my work - computer programming. It's interesting, it's challenging and who doesn't love a good mystery?

 

:)

 

But what I hate are: The increasing bureaucracy so that management can create an illusion of control to make themselves feel better. The unreliable and unstable developer tool that Microsoft Visual Studio has become. Watching those younger than me slaving away on the same treadmill that I'm about to get off.

You're not wrong. I have just read a safety manual. Within, references are made to 12 different focus groups of at least six persons each and 3 committees of the same. The title is produced by 4 groups totalling 64 different sub committee/group members. Opinion is asked of one, front line, staff member who is told by all these people, how better to do her/his job. All he/she wants is another person to help.......but that would cost too much apparently. Roll on retirement!

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Without wishing to be too morbid about it, make plans by all means, but be aware those plans might not pan out exactly as you think/hope they will, you might need a plan b!

My wife and I's many years of financial planning, (I started with Prudential life policies in 1970 and made sure my workplace pension was the best it could be. changing to the staff plan whilst still a manual worker), to ensure as comfortable retirement as possible was blown out of the water 20 years or so ago, sometimes being retired isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

Mike.

[PhilH]

1 minute ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Without wishing to be too morbid about it, make plans by all means, but be aware those plans might not pan out exactly as you think/hope they will, you might need a plan b!

 

Might? Try definitely will. My experience, 10 years in, is you only need one plan…adapt and overcome.

[melmerby]

18 hours ago, 33C said:

Cheaper to move into a hotel or cruise liner! Prices care homes charge per week...

When we had the guest house, we came to hear of a certain retired lady "of independent means" who lived solely in guest houses/small hotels, every day of the year.

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 minutes ago, melmerby said:

When we had the guest house, we came to hear of a certain retired lady "of independent means" who lived solely in guest houses/small hotels, every day of the year.

 

I would imagine that the price was negotiated to allow for the (many) months of the year occupancy isn't at full capacity, thereby probably making it a viable option.

 

Mike.

[kevinlms]

22 minutes ago, melmerby said:

When we had the guest house, we came to hear of a certain retired lady "of independent means" who lived solely in guest houses/small hotels, every day of the year.

You mean it was like Fawlty Towers, with the Major and the two ladies, Miss Gatsby & Miss Tibbs! With you taking the star role? 😱

[woodenhead]

1 hour ago, AndrueC said:

I love the main part of my work - computer programming. It's interesting, it's challenging and who doesn't love a good mystery?

 

:)

 

But what I hate are: The increasing bureaucracy so that management can create an illusion of control to make themselves feel better. The unreliable and unstable developer tool that Microsoft Visual Studio has become. Watching those younger than me slaving away on the same treadmill that I'm about to get off.

Recently got a new laptop, set about adding SQL Management Studio, Visual Studio, Postman etc.

 

Most things work fine, except Visual Studio - all the extensions to add and even though it's the same build as the old laptop - this one doesn't open nicely, many times it does not render the package visually, I have to click away and then back for it to render or the misplaced scroll bars.

 

I've probably a couple of years left doing what I am doing now, my desire to develop myself is waning and maybe when the time comes to say goodbye to my current employer I take a career change.  All the development work where I am seems to be focussed on wrapping stuff around ChatGPT and funnelling the work to overseas development teams whereas I am very much into taking a process and automating it, making live's easier.

 

As I'm into my last decade of working I've recently looked at my pensions and savings, I think we will be ok when I retire, so really the pressure is off a little.  If my company doesn't want me in a couple of years, then I can look around see what's on offer, I don't need to do the same thing and maybe I can go for something with more human interaction, perhaps I begin re-training now for some new skills away from IT.

 

But at the moment I am still very useful to the company in my day to day activity, I've proven that today, my salary more than covers the savings I bring in through development work.

[woodenhead]

1 hour ago, AyJay said:

Continue with Parkrun. Rediscover my Wife as my companion and best friend.. 

I stopped Parkrun when Covid broke, I was volunteering as well - used to do the tokens - the sweat and spit covered ones that you'd hand out to people breathing all over you and then sort back at the cafe over a bacon butty and a coffee.  I see they still have tokens and at our local one I note that they now ask people to place the tokens into a storage box with seperators 0-50, 51-100 etc - so much faster for sorting than the old big bag emptied onto the table.

 

Rediscover the wife - don't wait till retirement....

 

Covid provided a massive reset for me and Mrs W, we've become inseperable as a result - lots of walks, dinners and enjoying each other's company.

[Steamport Southport]

23 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

You mean it was like Fawlty Towers, with the Major and the two ladies, Miss Gatsby & Miss Tibbs! With you taking the star role? 😱

 

 

 

When I was involved in the music industry I knew musicians who virtually lived in hotels, tour buses and recording studios. No point having a house as they were never home!

[SM42]

Planning for retirement is something that a former, now retired  colleague and me used to bang on to younger colleagues about quite a lot. 

 

 

Fortunately we have managed to get a few of them, currently in their 30s, to take a  bit more interest and whilst they don t understand all the nuances of pensions ( I suspect  few do. I don't) they are doing something proactive while they are young enough to see some payback for that on retirement. 

 

It also worked on a colleague who started upping his voluntary contributions 4 months  ( 3 payslips)  before retiring.  Didn't really seem worth it in his case. 

 

Pension discussions / questions are quite regular in the office now and I think everyone now is making some lwvel of AVC. 

 

Andy

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I would imagine that the price was negotiated to allow for the (many) months of the year occupancy isn't at full capacity, thereby probably making it a viable option.

 

Mike.

She moved around a bit, as at certain busy times of the year some establishments had year on year bookings* for other guests and couldn't accomodated her.

We had a couple of calls from Keswick Tourism to see if we could accommodate her but we were fully booked at that time.

 

*Typically during "Convention" a religious festival during which everyone is normally booked up.

[alastairq]

11 hours ago, The Johnster said:

My income, from pensions and council Housing Benefit, is around the Grauniad figure, but I do not own my property.  I'm 71 and managing, but sometimes struggle a bit!  My rent is not high for the area or type of property, but HB only covers about two-thirds of it (finding a property within HB levels would be next to impossible) and I have to top it up out of my own pocket.  My life did not follow a course that was stable enough to save and provide for my dotage or to complete the purchase of a property (partner spent the mortgage money on her fruit machine addiction and I knew nothing of this until coming home from work one day to find the locks changed and myself homeless; she was on holiday in Spain with her parents at the time).  I never really recovered from this blow, and went off the rails for a bit, but have built up a sort of life now.

 

My main concern is security of tenure.  Those who are not living in private rented property assume that the law protects them, and indeed protection for full tenancies is very good, but full tenancies are rarer than rocking horse doodoo.  The standard baseplate deal is what is called a shorthold lease, almost always for the shortest period allowable, six months, after which you have to sign a new lease and tenancy agreement, if, that is, the landlord is satisfied that you have kept the tenancy agreement, fair enough, and does not want to use the property for his own purposes, again, fair enough, but the bottom line is that I don't know if I will still be here in six months' time!  In fact, I've been here since February 2011 and am on my third landlord and second letting agency, so it's not as bad as it sounds, but the fear is ever present (and the repossession experience did not help).

 

It depends on how you define dignity!  A part of my definition would certainly be security of tenure, but this is an elusive dream...

 

I spend about £25 a month on trains, can't afford much more I'm only a poor pensioner.  I've designed the layout to be capable of breaking down into sections in case I ever need to move; it isn't portable in the sense of an exhibition layout and comes apart by means of sawing through the track and scenery at the baseboard joins and repairing the damage afterwards.  I've done this once, when the then landlord decided to refurbish my flat and moved me into the one across the hall for six weeks while the work was carried out.  It was not difficult to get back up and running and repairing the damage was not a major concern, and the experience was a re-assuring proof of concept.

 

I can't manage a moderate lifestyle, nor have I been able to for many years.  No car, no holidays, plain food, up the pub maybe two afternoons a week for no more than two pints, takeaways are a monthly luxury.  Can't afford Burger King or pub lunches any more; inflation has hit hard, but I'm not the only one!

 

It is so nice to read of a viewpoint which seems so contrary to the demographic of this thread [and forum?} 

 

It really is a pity I don't read of others' experience when life hasn't followed the expected social norm!

 

From my own viewpoint,  I can safely say, Civil Service pensions are not what the media [and society in general??} think they are!  Same with  the salaries!!

 

My total income from pensions probably falls around the 15K mark, before tax.  That includes the State pension [of which I don't receive the 'full' amount, owing to one of my small pensions being of the type that leads to a reduction in State pension]

Of my total monthly income , around half goes in rent. Housing benefit is but coppers a month, as my income laces me close to the permissible limit.

 

Incidentally, Housing Benefit round here, like most of the country, makes me a second class citizen...given that, despite the fact that , nationwide, rents, and house values, have risen out of all proportion to reasonableness...Housing Benefit, [based on a notional rent value somewhere within the local authority area ] has NOT been allowed to be increased proportionally!  In fact, I cannot find anywhere rentable in the area of concern to me, that is a s low as that set by my Local Authority!  They are aware of this anomaly, but cannot do much, if anything, about it.

Yet, daily I see those with mortgages bleating about interest rises, those bleating they cannot afford the inflated house prices, etc etc....

 

 

Therein also lies an issue The Johnster mentioned...that of security of tenure.

 

I am lucky [tohg wood!] in that I have a private landlord who, I hope, values having a really long term tenant who doesn't 'wreck' the property, over short term financial increases. [I doubt I'd be able to 'afford' any significant rent increases...and he knows it....So, increasing the rent sends him back to the never ending merry go round of constant changes of tenant, constant refurbishment, and frequent lapses of income when the house hasn't got a tenant!}

 

Also, luckily, it was his family home when starting out, rather than one of a chain of properties.

 

For my part, it is worth paying the extra to have a property which gives me space, is very rural, relatively quiet, and really worthwhile actually 'living' here, rather than wishing I could get away from the area for a few weeks every year!

 

I have 'space' for my old cars [a bit of an enthusiasm of mine]....so that I don't really have to worry about finding space here & there...and paying for it.

 

I don't eat 'fancy' food...having the time to deal with the more basic commodities.

I prefer to give my business to local retailers...farm butchers, farm shops, etc....and perhaps the likes of Lidl.

My telly-watching has diminished even further these days, as, being tied to a satellite dish, I have found , over a decade and a half, that i can no longer receive BBC anything.....since it has gone totally over to HD...which my ancient equipment cannot handle. I'm in no rush to upgrade, either, given the choices of programs!

My luxury, especially in the winter months [October to May these days].... is  a piping hot bath, and a decent soak.  

My biggest expenditure each month  is petrol.

 

Because I have a job as Dads taxi!   Shared with my last Ex, for my son, as he wends his way through a degree, and, hopefully a masters.....and being on the autistic spectrum, he requires an element of support behind the scenes, from his parents. [His Mum is full time carer...we have good folk running around behind the scenes at our Local Authority. ]

 

My only loss of dignity occurs for around 5 minutes after climbing out of my motor....

 

A good enough reason [aside from I haven't the funds] for not obtaining a car or bus made much after the start of this century. 

 

 

 

[The Bandit]

When I started work my pension contributions were taken out at source and I’m now glad they were. Yes, I could have done with the money to buy a bigger house or nice car but I got used to not having it. Once opt outs were allowed, some people did so, saying they would buy a second property, rent it out until they retired when it would be their pension pot. They then started buying fancy cars and going on loads of holidays - the second properties never materialised. 
Retiring is certainly a different animal - you do need to plan ahead both financially and what you are going to do with your time. However, it can be very rewarding. My advice for any young (?) members reading this is please plan ahead and put money to one side at an early stage if possible.

[AndrueC]

3 hours ago, AyJay said:

Oh I do have a retirement plan Andy,  been thinking about it for a while.

 

The main features of it are: Not taking up golf.

Ha ha. My retirement plan is play as much golf as possible.

 

Then play some more :)