[Redway]

Not really a poll-able thread (for a change) so … yeah. I’m not gonna. I’ll keep it broad.

Basically, for those of you who’ve reached that threshold and are now retired, what were your thoughts about it in your working years, and how’s that corresponded with your actual experience of finally making it to retirement? And for those of us who are very-much still working up to it (to put it one way), what are your thoughts on it? Are you more worried about what retirement signals (getting “old”) than the prospect of retirement itself, or are you actually looking forward to it in any case?

[MTVN]

I think retirement looks like an absolute dream providing you are in reasonable health and have enough interests. And just being retired helps with the health thing because you remove all the pressures and time spent working which often contributes to poor health. It does sometimes prey on my mind though that you need to get a bit lucky to avoid all the different things that can cut your life short to properly enjoy it. As a civil servant one of the main pay benefits is we get a very good pension which should make for a very nice retirement but you've obviously gotta get there first. Only another 30 years or so for me...

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by MTVN

I think retirement looks like an absolute dream providing you are in reasonable health and have enough interests. And just being retired helps with the health thing because you remove all the pressures and time spent working which often contributes to poor health. It does sometimes prey on my mind though that you need to get a bit lucky to avoid all the different things that can cut your life short to properly enjoy it. As a civil servant one of the main pay benefits is we get a very good pension which should make for a very nice retirement but you've obviously gotta get there first. Only another 30 years or so for me...

I agree, and my pension is a government one so it’s great.

People need to put more focus on their pensions though. I know so many people who opt out and don’t put money to a pension elsewhere, which to me is crazy. I strongly believe by the time we retire the state pension will have ceased to exist or will be pretty much worthless, so our working pensions will need to be good.