Dod101 wrote:It all depends. I was coming back from Singapore a week ago sitting next to a guy who was clearly working and had what I hope was a sensible conversation with him about work etc. I still feel a slight tinge of regret that I am not working. I enjoyed my work and it fired me up to speak with him. I do not understand those that want to stop working asap, even by the age of 40. In fact I feel sorry for them. I am sure there are many people who enjoy working and we retirees need to ne grateful to them because they the ones keeping the world going round.
I retired just before turning 40. The pension mis-selling review was coming to an end and Actuaries who had spent the last few years working in it were going to see their incomes fall off a cliff. Our employability would go from being able to pick and choose employers and clients to having to scratch around for work because our mainstream Actuarial skills were a bit rusty and we lacked experience.
The thing is that I had planned for this day for about five years. My main client was surprised that I was the only Actuarial contractor who worked for them who hadn't asked them for a job. It turned out that one of their clients wanted to hire me; the problem for them was that I had made more investing in the last twelve months than three times their gross salary offer. So I declined.
Things I do not miss about work: office politics, commuting, paying National Insurance, unpaid overtime, "presenteeism" (see below) and being paid much less than people who add far less value than me.
The people who I've met over the years who find it hard to retire seem to have financial committments that mean that they can't afford to retire, or their identity and lifestyle is so closely bound up with their work that it would be awful for them to lose it. I was never one of these people.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presenteeism