So.....I'm 60 on Boxing day and can retire (well actually, I'll probably still work about 2.5 days per week at the very most and then only a few hours on each day. As I'm self employed, I can be a bit picky). :claphappy: :claphappy:
So....I'm very much counting the days now and due to having a couple of days off next week, I have only 5 days of Full Time work left !
Looking forward to having more time to do as I please (including, of course, more modelling time).
And....more time to waste spend browsing the various posts on here.
I hope you enjoy your retirement port perran. I think its a good idea to keep working part time if you can. It helps maintain contact with the world outside model railways and also helps to pay for all the N gauge 'must haves' which seem to crop up on a daily basis.
I'm coming up 70 next year and still work a couple of days a week on average. Will probably pack up work at the end of 2015 as the job I currently have will disappear then.
Then I'll have no excuse not to accelerate the layout building.
I retired at the end of last year and now I don't know how I found time to go to work. I was self employed and worked all over Europe and Scandinavia, so lots of travelling. Now I've retired, I should have plenty of time to finish the layout, but things keep getting in the way. Day trips out, weekends away, short breaks, so much so that I got more done on the layout when I was working than I do now. Still, I wouldn't go back to work if you paid me. Thinks...they did pay me, but I still don't want to go back!!
Congratulations! You'll have to keep us updated on your adventures so those of us who still have another 40-odd years to go can live vicariously...
Quote from: d-a-n on December 10, 2014, 05:45:07 PM
Congratulations! You'll have to keep us updated on your adventures so those of us who still have another 40-odd years to go can live vicariously...
....I certainly will. We have a few adventures planned. One of which will involve a rather exciting rail journey !
Quote from: port perran on December 10, 2014, 05:54:25 PM
....I certainly will. We have a few adventures planned. One of which will involve a rather exciting rail journey !
Don't keep us in suspense.....do tell!
Quote from: Malc on December 10, 2014, 06:30:39 PM
Quote from: port perran on December 10, 2014, 05:54:25 PM
....I certainly will. We have a few adventures planned. One of which will involve a rather exciting rail journey !
Don't keep us in suspense.....do tell!
Nearer the time (the trip is scheduled for probably early to mid April next year).
It all has to be planned carefully so the itinerary still has to be finalised etc and I've found that really helpful website http://www.seat61.com/ (http://www.seat61.com/) invaluable as a planning tool.
All will be revealed nearer the time.
Congratulations on your retirement, my advice for retirement is keep fit by walking, keep your mind active like building model train layouts, don't spend to much time watching TV and most of all if you are married agree with everything your wife tells you, silence is golden.
Quote from: longbridge on December 10, 2014, 07:49:28 PM
Congratulations on your retirement, my advice for retirement is keep fit by walking, keep your mind active like building model train layouts, don't spend to much time watching TV and most of all if you are married agree with everything your wife tells you, silence is golden.
I agree with all that 100%. If you like dogs then get one. You have to take them for walks or they make your life a misery!
Quote from: longbridge on December 10, 2014, 07:49:28 PM
Congratulations on your retirement, my advice for retirement is keep fit by walking, keep your mind active like building model train layouts, don't spend to much time watching TV and most of all if you are married agree with everything your wife tells you, silence is golden.
I have no problems with keeping active. We both love walking/sightseeing and are lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the world that offers so many walking opportunities. Indeed we have many walks right from our back door to both North & South coasts. And some to local hostelries !
We also have 2 large allotments which will help to keep us very active.
In addition I have just started to learn to play the guitar (a birthday present from my lovely partner, Lorraine) which is something I regretted not doing 40 odd years ago!
And....lots more to keep us active and (hopefully) healthy.
Plus the model railway (OF COURSE).
I retired four years ago (aged 53).
I have no idea how I ever found the time to go to work. My eldest daughter constantly complains that she has to make an appointment to see me.
Keep busy, do what you want to do but make sure you do something that gest you out of the house.
Erm - shouldn't that be model railways i.e.plural, Martin?
Whatever you do - enjoy it. I've been retired nearly 18 months now and just love it :thumbsup:
Quote from: newportnobby on December 10, 2014, 08:49:32 PM
Erm - shouldn't that be model railways i.e.plural, Martin?
Whatever you do - enjoy it. I've been retired nearly 18 months now and just love it :thumbsup:
Certainly should be. Plus, of course, Mrs PP is building Descanso Farm .
It's great for the first few years, but it can start to drag when you pass 80; me get up and go just got up and went.
It's not helping that I've had this 3 bedroom 102 year old ex corner shop on the market since March, but can't do much about finding a rented retirement flat until a buyer gets as far as exchanging contracts. I dismantled the layout and salvaged as much as possible, tried sorting out what furniture and other stuff to sell and what to keep, but until I know where I'm going I'm not sure what I'll need.
Quote from: port perran on December 10, 2014, 06:43:55 PM
I've found that really helpful website http://www.seat61.com/ (http://www.seat61.com/) invaluable as a planning tool.
Thanks for the link Port Perran, looks like a good/useful site. The wife and I were planning to go to Hamburg this year but it was postponed due to my employment status not quite going to plan. Hopefully next year though especially if the job interview I attended on Tuesday was successful :-\
I supposedly retired nearly 5 years ago, and while I admit I haven't worked this year - things like Wigan show getting in the way - I was given an offer too good to refuse, so I went back to work today until the 19th!
Good to see the majority enjoying retirement :)
My official retirement age is 17 years away but I can't see being able to afford to retire - housing costs are far greater than a pension would pay :(
Fortunately I love my job! Which also keeps my mind agile :)
Best regards
Michael
Well I am suppose to retire in 2 1/2 years time but funds state that I will not be able to afford it, my wife is disabled and her money is stopping soon, I will probably have to work into my 70's I am not bothered about working because it keeps me fit and the pittance of the pension is so low that people who have worked all there lives do have nothing what they should have, I am still propping up one of my lads who has come out of University and finding it hard to find a job.
I may well be among the last but I was able to retire just over 3 yrs ago - aged 58 - by volunteering to take a package. Glad to go - my final boss was a real pain. But mercifully my pension earned over 22 years was fine. And one from my first employer was available once I turned 60. And I am old enough that I can draw my state pension at 65. So we are OK financially.
As for work - how did I have time. 4 grandchildren, model railways, church responsibilities, and until earlier this year overseeing my elderly mother, all keep me busy while I am reasonably middle aged and fit. No way am I re-entering the employment market.
I was lucky enough to be sent on a pre-retirement course by my then employer. Amongst all the financial advice, and tai chi (!) one of the speakers gave us a very good idea, which I have followed. She told us to make a "bucket list" of all the things we either meant to do over the years, and never did, or any thing new we thought we would like to do, now we have the time.
My list included learning guitar, getting full motorcycle licence, getting a sports car (sad), going on balloon safari in Kenya, plus lots of other personal ones. She did say make a list of 20 to start with, and as they were completed, add another, so as not to run out!
One of the items on my bucket list is to see if there's life after death.
Maybe I shouldn't have put it at the top of the list :worried: :uneasy:
Quote from: newportnobby on December 11, 2014, 02:43:27 PM
One of the items on my bucket list is to see if there's life after death.
Dunno :worried: about that but theres certainly death after life
Quote from: Dorsetmike on December 10, 2014, 11:53:39 PM
It's not helping that I've had this 3 bedroom 102 year old ex corner shop on the market since March
I know what you mean Mike, the Bournemouth/Poole property market sucks – I lost a fortune due to having to move during times of negative equity!
Quote from: Geoff on December 11, 2014, 09:38:45 AM
Well I am suppose to retire in 2 1/2 years time but funds state that I will not be able to afford it
In the next few years this is going to become a much bigger problem as health deteriorates but people can't afford to stop working.
Ageism could become an issue too. Luckily I haven't seen this in my world of software. There appears to be few young engineers to replace us. Looking around the office there are many grey/balding heads!
Best regards
Michael
I certainly wish you a long,happy and healthy retirement Martin.
I learned to play guitar in me twenties, but now I'm in me sixties with a genuine Fender, it kills me arthritic fingers.
Dunno how the Rolling Stones do it :'(
Quote from: Bealman on December 12, 2014, 09:33:59 AM
I learned to play guitar in me twenties, but now I'm in me sixties with a genuine Fender, it kills me arthritic fingers.
Dunno how the Rolling Stones do it :'(
I've just started learning. Great fun.
Wish I'd done it years ago.
Getting a bit tired of Stereophonics -"I wouldn't Believe Your Radio" though. It's the song my guitar teacher started me on !!
The two classics I learnt in the 70's were House of the Rising a Sun and Hey Joe, plus almost anything by the Quo.
Quote from: Malc on December 12, 2014, 11:24:55 AM
plus almost anything by the Quo.
Just goes to show they had geetars in the Stone Age :D :P
I bought a second hand Fender Strat and started to learn how to play then all interest went, my lad said I will try and learn it but he said sod it so the Guitar is on my lads wall, All I need to do is nick it back one day and cash it in for more Loco's lol.
I retired at the end of march after over 40 years service, although I am only 58 - an early leaver package that was too good to miss, and a real pension. I would have stayed to 60 but the lunatics had taken charge of the asylum and I had grown tired of pointing out the obvious(to us old timers) to managers half my age, so I took the money and ran - I've had a ball ever since.
Regards
Alex
I was lucky to retire 3 months early last year at 65, I also have tried playing guitar but give up when my son played it far better than me. I decided to go back to playing keyboards. I just bought secondhand Yamaha synth 2 months ago and love it, and me a ex Honda biker......he... he... :laugh: