The Best Age To Retire

[GuestHouse]

If like me you are still working, then I'm sure your mind drifts to retirement - Mine certainly does.

I've done the sums on the accounts and I think, well really I could retire more or less anytime after this next two years or so. Finances are sorted, but do I actually want to retire? And what is the right age to do so?

I know many of you, like my father, will say they having retired they don't know where they found the time to go to work - Life is busy. But its all relative, and while I accept that argument I also have eyes and ears of my own and have met/witnessed a lot of guys retired in Thailand who are talking a boring situation up.

Recently on ANOther Thailand related website, we had a guy writing posts for months on how happy he was in Thailand, just retired and busy building a house, then a pool, then doing the gardens.... then nothing... then a post offering his house for sail - Inactivity was driving him back home.

So putting aside the financial side. When do you think is a good age to retire and yet still enjoy a meaningful life?

[BAKABAS]

I too have been thinking about this since my return to Australia from Thailand. I think 50 would be a good age, so i have 7 years left of working hard . My holiday in thailand has made a difference to my spending and saving . It is hard to spend money here , knowing what it can buy in Thailand. I come from a family of workaholics. Gee, even my 86 year old grandfather is still working. I have now realised there is more to life than working. It would be good to still have a small business in Thailand with my future Thai wife, just to help keep bordem at bay, cause i'm not the green thumb type. So yep , you get 50 from me.. Good luck

[Jingthing]

50 is the best. Sure.

Defer to the infallible wisdom of Thai Immigration.

[BAKABAS]

Howdy Guesthouse,

Mate, i cant stop thinking about what you reckon is enough to retire on. I have tried to do the sums, but i need more x perience in LOS before i can come to that conclusion.

Let me ask this: How much money per week would you need to retire on for a family of 4 living in Country area of LOS. ? I guessed 3000 BHT Week. What are your thoughts.

Oh, That is if you own your home, but still got rates, elec, water etc.

[bendix]

I'm 42. I must be one of the few people in the world who actively wishes he was 8 years older. At a push I could retire here now and still have a comfortable lifestyle, but mentally I don't think it would be possible for me to do that yet.

If i was 50, I'd feel so much happier making that decision than now, so I guess i defer to the conventional wisdom that 50 would be a good age.

[GuestHouse]

Bakabas,

Not to disregard your question, I'm really asking about retirement in terms of all the other stuff outside of money.

Keeping busy, having interests in life etc.

I see quite a lot of people who keep busy, but I'm never convinced that retirement is all that it is cracked up to be, if there is nothing around to do.

I had an email this week from a guy who had visited one of the provincial towns (Not Pattaya) who went there with a idea he might like to live in the area, but wrote of how horrified he was after meeting the local expat community.

Bordem and tedium, he commented, had turned them all into a bunch of the kind of men that get old women a bad name- gossiping and whinging about each other.

Like wise during my last visit to Pattaya I witnessed guys in my favorite breakfast cafe sitting there every morning alone staring into oblivion - I was there three days, went around Thailand for three weeks, came back and found the same guys sitting at the same tables.

hel_l it looked like a scene from Groundhog days.

[chownah]

Putting financial concerns aside the best time to retire is as soon as you see that you have things that are important for you to do and your work is keeping you from doing them.

Chownah

[Old Man River]

I retired at 54. Most of my friends told me that I was not the type to retire and I would be miserable. I told them they really didn't know me and I would have no problem retiring. They were right. I was miserable. I am now happily back at work, albeit with a lot less stress than in the past.

[lannarebirth]

I think 50 is a good age to retire as well. I retired at 43 due to the type of career I had (seagoing) which was right for me. i think what's important is, that you not do nothing. Instead find another vocation or avocation that you enjoy, that is less stressful and less demanding of your time. Don't be in a position where you HAVE TO make money at this endeavour, but at the same time it should not drain your finances. If you find a way to make money doing something you enjoy, in surroundings you also enjoy, then so much the better. My former career felt like I was selling off little pieces of my life for money. I DID enjoy the career and the remuneration was handsome, but it doesn't make for a complete life. You have to know when it's time to say "when".

[duratanium]

Guesthouse, I think a lot has to do with your mental age as well as finance.

I was medically retired aged 42, never to work again. For the first few years I sank into depression while feeling useless and working out what heading I would take in life.

The boredom of staring into space can drive you a bit crazy until you find that direction. Mine was to write books - which I have done quite successfully even if I have not made a fortune out of it.

The problem was that I had enough mental energy but nowhere to direct that energy. Also you lose contact with people you work with and most of us do relate to those we work with and often meet, go to the pub etc., with those same workmates. This can lead to isolation in varying degrees.

Maybe those you see sat at the same tables staring into space have so little to do with their lives. No friends they can relate to, to have some banter with. Maybe not quite enough money to be able to travel around enough, yet enough money to be able to 'live' in Thailand. Possibly too old to do much and growing mentally older and deteriorating.

Seems to me that the best age to retire is in your 50's while you can still be young enough to enjoy life to its fullest and have enough money behind you to sustain a varied lifestyle.

Also you need 'something'. An aim in lfe. Or you can become another 'vegetable' like so many retired people who are too 'mentally old' or who do not have the funds to sustain some forms of activity.

In general we are brought up to work and to be social animals, so it can take a special someone to be able to sit in the sun all day, every day and still be really content with life. You need to be able to dumb down if you do not have an aim in life.

Maybe a wife and kids can give you that aim. Maybe the ability to travel around, go to different countries for a break, or a small kob to do, but at the end of the day you need something. Look at the amount of people who retire in their own country and simply vegetate or become grouchy old men/women.

Anyway - as said above - age in your 50's to retire, but have something to keep you going.

[GuestHouse]

Some good replies here, keep it up chaps.

Here's another experience.

I have a cousin who's husband had a high stress job (managing a retail company), he decided one day to pack it in and become a postman. Well, kids out of the way, house paid for etc.

Not long into his Posty job he gets spotted as someone with educaiton/experience in management and five years later he's managing the local post office clearing station. Stress to stress.

Yes I think having something to do is vital, having too much to do is a bit of a risk.

duratanium what books have you written? Sounds interesting.

[mpdkorat]

Some good replies here, keep it up chaps.

Here's another experience.

I have a cousin who's husband had a high stress job (managing a retail company), he decided one day to pack it in and become a postman. Well, kids out of the way, house paid for etc.

Not long into his Posty job he gets spotted as someone with educaiton/experience in management and five years later he's managing the local post office clearing station. Stress to stress.

Yes I think having something to do is vital, having too much to do is a bit of a risk.

duratanium what books have you written? Sounds interesting.

I retired at 39, after the initial fun time, I started to get bored. It then took me about two years getting used to doing nothing to come to terms with my new lifestyle. Now I just enjoy the ability to do what I want when I want. I think this acclimatization period is relevant no matter what age you retire. The main thing is have enough money to enjoy your retirement. This amount obviously varies from person to person, depending on personal wealth and personal needs.

[soundman]

I retired from working for other people at the tender age of 24 years. Been working for myself, doing only stuff I enjoy doing ever since. Made a hel_l of a lot more money too.

The one thing that inspired this:

I was a restaurant manager for the McDonalds corporation at 21 years of age. It came to the yearly pay review. My "performance" was above average in all categories with a few "outstandings". They proceeded to give me a 3.5% pay increase. This was in Melbourne in 1991. Inflation at the time was running at about 4.5%. I told my bosses they were actually giving me a pay decrease. They couldn't see the logic, & I gave them the bye bye. Stupid idiots.

Never been happier since.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[AmeriThai]

It's a question that most people start to ponder in one way or another. I think it really depends on the individual as well as their financial resources. Some people may want to retire full-time. Others may be workaholics and continue working. And still others might decide to work part-time.

If you can afford to retire full-time now, then it might be worth taking the time to explore the opportunities of enjoyment and relaxation. But it may also be worth having a backup work plan in case you start to become bored. At that point you might want to work part-time, maybe one or two days a week or even less frequent. That will still give you plenty of time to kick back and enjoy your retitrement as well as work at something for a change of pace.

Full-time retirement doesn't have to be boring though. Seems to me there is enough variety of things to do without becoming bored. To my thinking, doing absolutely nothing but sit around in the same place, or just doing the same things day after day, would lead to sheer boredom. Staying active and doing new things, maybe things you've always wanted to do but never had the time for, doesn't sound boring. It's all a matter of how you lok at things and what you want to do.

[Lucifer]

The best age to retire...about 18, if possible. Anytime later is just hard work.

[lazeeboy]

The best age to retire...about 18, if possible. Anytime later is just hard work.

ive been retired for 7 years not done a stroke im now 47 and have never been bored or inactive have time for all my hobbies seen all the new movies and really enjoy life before this i work like a donkey was always ill or stressed out if you can afford it do it as soon as you can lifes short ask my father .. oh you can died at 55 worked so hard for his old age but never had one where as im having mine now just in case..

[Casanundra]

I pretty much retired just after my 38th birthday and went to phuket.

3 Months later I was so bored I came to Bangkok and got a job at a University and have been here ever since.

38 was too young to retire. I am 40 now and I am still too young to retire.

In fact, I don't think I ever will retire.

Right, I'll go to bed now and retire for the evening...

[kat1]

I retired from married life at 36. I retired from a long-term career at 43. I retired from UK life and property commitments at 44. I travelled for a couple of years, got in touch with letting life control me rather than attempting to control life, and now find myself married with a step-daughter and property in LoS, but the one thing I would rather not return to is work.

My life since I started retiring from things, has been an adventure and full of enlightening experiences. It has utterly changed me as a person.

I guess my point is your life will be full of twists and turns, once you let them in, but ultimately you have to choose when you feel ready to fully embrace them.

Good luck!

[meom]

Finances are sorted, but do I actually want to retire? And what is the right age to do so?

From a company perspective you should retire when somebody younger can do your job equal or better. Youth has the future and nothing worse than old(er) people hanging on to a job preventing young people from moving up specially if your finances are sorted.

[bmanly]

So putting aside the financial side. When do you think is a good age to retire and yet still enjoy a meaningful life?

Hi GuestHouse, this is the first time I have ever engaged you in direct conversation, hi. Before I go any further I just want to tell you I enjoy reading your posts because you are a man of honesty and experience and I enjoy that you speak the true experiences of your life. I am always amazed at the people who have never lived in Thailand who try to belittle you and we all know who they are.

To answer your question it is simple, I believe as soon as possible. By that I mean as long as you are financially capable then do it ASAP.

I recently corresponded with a girl I met in 1984 in the USA and we spoke about the trip we made. I told her I was retired and she said "I remember that it was always your goal to retire early, well done". She remembered way back that it was my dream to retire early. I have done this and now I am retired for 6 years already.

I will keep money out of this as you requested this and thank God you have because that subject can go on for 679 pages and it ends up in a pissing competition, it has no bearing because people only boast about how much they have.

So why did I say as early as possible? Because life is so short and believe me when you get too old you can't do the things you want to do.

For me being retired I wake up in the morning and decide on the day what I want to do. No bosses, no business pressures, I like that.

I am also a prolific traveller, I go anywhere anytime, sometimes with and sometimes without my wife. My wife is not so enthusiastic as I am so sometimes I go alone but most of the time she comes.

To keep my brain matter fit and healthy I study and invest in the Australian Stock Market, never a dull moment there. I do not trust anybody else with my investments.

When I am travelling I do not log in and check my investments as I know I made sound investments in the first place. All in all investing and the internet is my hobby and my income.

The key to retirement is 1. Make sure you have enough money to take care of you and your families living expenses. 2. Live well, don't penny pinch because that will make you miserable. 3. Keep active and keep the brain matter working, anything else is a bonus.

Life is beautiful, you just need to know when is enough. At this time in my life I still sometimes think "I wonder what it would be like to work for so and so making "whatever" but I am too busy to actually to ever get to that time. By the way I have to add this too, I live in Thailand 6 Months then go back home to OZ 6 Months, that makes it so much more realistic and easier.

Good on You Guesthouse, Good Luck with what ever you do, cheers.

[toptuan]

I believe Kat1 and AmeriThai have hit the nail on the head--a retirement in stages. It gives one time to transition and make the necessary adjustments over time. I've seen a lot of people go from full-speed working, to full-stop retirement, and many could not handle the sudden adjustment. For the majority, boredom quickly set in, or health began to deteriorate rapidly.

After a full work life of heavy stress and multiple daily high-stakes deadlines, I chucked a business career and came to Thailand to teach in my early 50's.

In business, I worked 70-80 hours a week. Now, I am scheduled to work about 12-14 hours a week in the classroom, 4 days a week, and the rest of the time is mine. Even though I spend a lot of time in preparation outside those scheduled hours, there's something about being my own boss for my outside-classroom hours that make me feel semi-retired.

The three days off per week, plus an academic calendar sprinkled with many holidays and a 3-month break add to the semi-retired feel. The generally loose management style of tertiary education in Thailand (do what you want, just don't bother the administrator, and keep the students happy), further adds to the feel.

It took me a year to realize that my stress level was at about 10% of the previous business career, and that I was really mentally and emotionally semi-retired! Plus, I was getting an opportunity to jump into new areas of interest (photography, writing, regional travel in SE Asia, gardening, etc.). It is these new areas of interest which will carry me into full retirement in about seven more years (plan to quit teaching at 65, when major retirement benefits from my home country kick in). By then, I expect these interests to expand into filling my time completely.

Since I will be fully retiring much later than most of the expats posting here, I have had to compensate in a number of areas. For example, I exercise rigorously every day (climbing 12 flights of stairs, 15 miles on a bicycle, weight-lifting, stretching) so that I can stay healthy enough to enjoy those years as long as possible. It's paid off so far: I'm 57 and in perfect health. In fact, based on a few sports and hiking activities at school, much stronger than most of the 20-year-olds in my classes. So far, so good! (Knock on wood).

Although I didn't plan it this way (retirement in stages), that's how it's working out, and I feel extraordinarily lucky that life is dealing the cards out to me this way. I highly recommend it!

Edited March 15, 2007 by toptuan

[Heng]

Retire as in not working for others? Or retire as in being financially independent without having to work (not counting one's funds working for you) again for the rest of your life?

If it's the later, is there ever "too early" an age?

Edited March 15, 2007 by Heng

[LoveDaBlues]

Retired at 48. Never been happier. I know people where I used to work who are working for only 10% of their pay! That's right....if they retired they would draw 90% of their current salary in retirement. But they have worked so long I guess they're scared to leave......scared of life I guess.

[GuestHouse]

Again more great answers. I like the broader view many are offering.

bmanly, I hear everything your saying and I think your answer has many merits, I think I should add though, since you mention travel being important to you, my job gives me and my family lots of opportunity to travel - The variety it offers is something quite special.

Meom,

From a company perspective you should retire when somebody younger can do your job equal or better. Youth has the future and nothing worse than old(er) people hanging on to a job preventing young people from moving up specially if your finances are sorted.

Yes I agree, and the skills sharing portion of my duties is not something I take lightly, actually I would say it is one of the most enjoyable and personally rewarding parts of my work. I've said as much in the past, especially when I hear expats justifying their position in Thailand on the basis that Thais can't do the work - I have no problem rubbishing that argument running down the Thais when I hear it.

However, I should add, at the moment industry I work in there is an acute shortage of staff., many old guys are coming back out of retirement and picking up silly money. So there's no push from the younger generation, just yet.

Edited March 15, 2007 by GuestHouse

[shochu]

It depends on the individual.

I could never retire, only becuase I like to keep busy. I may change jobs, but i will never retire.

In terms of people who are relying on pensions, I would advise extreme caution. We are on the verge of a huge finacial collapse and most gov't's will not be able to meet their pension obligations. All currencies - fiat money -are on the verge of being inflated to the point of being worthless.

Keep busy either in fun, work, or love.

[Alf Witt]

There are two "right" answers to this question. The first is "as soon as possible / practicable" and the second is "never".

It depends what one is retiring from and what you intend to do with your time.

If you are working for an employer (and, in some cases, even if you have your own business which is making excessive demands upon your time and energies) then retirement represents personal freedom. The sooner you can achieve that status the better. If, on the other hand, you have a very manageable business which already permits you a lot of personal freedom then you should probably never give it up entirely. Just reduce your role and the nature of your input.

If you intend to join the drongos and sit around doing nothing then that is never desireable.

Satisfaction comes from achievement and if retirement enables you to devote your time to achieving different goals more appropriate to your interests and energy levels (which could be anything from sailing around the world to reseaching the origin of the species) then one should do that as soon as it is sustainable. There is no rule that says you shouldn't make some money by your choice of activity(ies).

An intelligent individual never really retires. The unintelligent confuse retirement with idleness.

That said, in practical terms, 50 is a manageable target for most of us who have the opportunity. Some, unfortunately, are lifetime slaves.

[duratanium]

stress.

Yes I think having something to do is vital, having too much to do is a bit of a risk.

duratanium what books have you written? Sounds interesting.

I wrote books for children with reading difficulties. So a child of 15 who has a reading age of 8 or 9 years needs a story that is simple enough to read with small words, yet is exciting enough to have the ability to keep a teenager interested enough to want to read.

These books would average 6k words + pictures and mainly be used in schools and libraries. (A little bit like the Janet & John books us oldies read at school in the 60's )

My books were primarily published in the UK. The first was also published in Australia by Zapper Books. 2 others were published in Asia (Indian sub-continent) and 1 in the USA.

I am quite proud of them too, even if I did not make a fortune, but I had the house double glazed, had holidays and the money made improvement to the quality of life generally.

Sadly, Ginn Educational were taken over and the books are no longer in print, though I kept the original works and a small selection of books.

I am hoping to start writing again when I get back to Thailand next month as I now have a computer there and am taking back all the software that I need - as the progs I do have are currently in Thai.

Sems idyllic .... sitting in the sun surrounded by banana trees, coconut palms and the countryside and writing again.

[jetjock]

Now that I am retired, I wake up each morning with absolutely nothing that I have to do however by the end of the day I find that I am only half finished ! All joking aside, since I retired, I am much busier and have much less time than when I was working and even though I am having the time of my life, I still long for the days when I was working. My sports and hobbies have now become a much bigger part of my life as I have become more involved in them and they now consume a tremendous amount of my time. I was forced into retirement because of the mandatory age 60 retirement age mandated for airline pilots here in the US. My retirement was one of the saddest days of my life and if it were not for mandatory retirement, I would still choose to be piloting 747's all over the world rather than be retired. There is obviously more than just the money aspect to retirement as is evidenced by Bill Gates who has all the money in the world yet chooses to continue working at a young age because he loves his work as I did mine. I think we all need to pursue our passions in life. As for me, I lost my greatest passion when I retired however fortunately I still had many other interests to pursue. One of the best things about retirement for me is that I am now able to spend more time traveling together with my beautiful Thai wife and we both can spend part of the year living in Thailand. In my humble opinion, it all depends on the individual and retirement is not the best choice for everybody.

[AmeriThai]

It depends on the individual.

I could never retire, only becuase I like to keep busy. I may change jobs, but i will never retire.

In terms of people who are relying on pensions, I would advise extreme caution. We are on the verge of a huge finacial collapse and most gov't's will not be able to meet their pension obligations. All currencies - fiat money -are on the verge of being inflated to the point of being worthless.

Keep busy either in fun, work, or love.

Well said. All the more reason to work.

For others I should mention that doing something you enjoy doing, and still have enough flexiblity to allow more time for other things is a good way to add extra income other than just having a government and/or private company pension alone.

For those who prefer and can afford to go for full-time retirement in a way that's comfortable for them, I say that's great. Go for it. But some retirees like to work part-time as well whether it be for need or for enjoyment. There's nothing wrong with that. Working doesn't have to be a bore especially if you work for yourself, enjoy what you do, provide something useful to others, and still have plenty of time left over to do other things you want to do.

It's all going to vary for different individuals.

[jdinasia]

35 was ok for me ... but am getting a bit stir crazy now ... so after 7 years may start doing SOMETHING