strugglinauthor
Member
Hi Maniac,
I retired at 40 (I'm now 45) and have absolutely no regrets. Like others on here I used to love my job, but as I climbed the greasy pole I liked it less and less until I reached the point where I had plenty of money but no time to spend it and a racing heartbeat to match. So, the decision was simple.
But I should stress that it's something the wife and I planned for 12 months and it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to having a bad week at work.
As far as I'm concerned there are two elements: firstly practical - e.g. can you survive without the income? :? Secondly, there's the emotional side - can you have no specific reason to get up in the morning and still be content? My father retired at 50 and emigrated to Spain. He was surrounded by people who'd sold their businesses and were living the life everyone was jealous of - sitting in the sun with a glass of wine. But it was amazing how many just couldn't retire - they needed a function in life and so some carried on working just as hard out there and others simply drank too much. I used to think the old man was joking when he said that doing nothing is an art - but he was right! Having said that, if you can afford to give up work then I suspect you'll quickly find something satisfying to do.
Practically, what I will say from my own (and my parents') experience is that if your aim is simply not to work, then you can surely survive on a lot less than you think. OK, I have a new(ish) Z4 but other than that we live very simply. If I told some of my former colleagues what I live on in a year they'd probably have a fit or think I'm a hippy. Actually it's quite easy and half of them could do it as well...if they really wanted to. But - how important are the toys to you and how you perceive yourself? If you're really honest with yourself and admit you need them, well then you gotta work.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
I retired at 40 (I'm now 45) and have absolutely no regrets. Like others on here I used to love my job, but as I climbed the greasy pole I liked it less and less until I reached the point where I had plenty of money but no time to spend it and a racing heartbeat to match. So, the decision was simple.
But I should stress that it's something the wife and I planned for 12 months and it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to having a bad week at work. As far as I'm concerned there are two elements: firstly practical - e.g. can you survive without the income? :? Secondly, there's the emotional side - can you have no specific reason to get up in the morning and still be content? My father retired at 50 and emigrated to Spain. He was surrounded by people who'd sold their businesses and were living the life everyone was jealous of - sitting in the sun with a glass of wine. But it was amazing how many just couldn't retire - they needed a function in life and so some carried on working just as hard out there and others simply drank too much. I used to think the old man was joking when he said that doing nothing is an art - but he was right! Having said that, if you can afford to give up work then I suspect you'll quickly find something satisfying to do.
Practically, what I will say from my own (and my parents') experience is that if your aim is simply not to work, then you can surely survive on a lot less than you think. OK, I have a new(ish) Z4 but other than that we live very simply. If I told some of my former colleagues what I live on in a year they'd probably have a fit or think I'm a hippy. Actually it's quite easy and half of them could do it as well...if they really wanted to. But - how important are the toys to you and how you perceive yourself? If you're really honest with yourself and admit you need them, well then you gotta work.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
... I never looked at it that way but you may well be right...
y next job starting in august has 24 hour on-calls and 90 hour weeks...absolutely dreading it. will say bye bye to having a life for at least 6 months 
USA