I'm now in my 50s (50 and 2 months to the closest month). And I wish when I was 35 I'd planned to retire at 50 and die at 65.
I am so bored of my current work, but I have to endure just bit longer. Maybe I can retire in 2027.
Still, I have picked a date of death of Summer Solstice 2042. I'll enjoy the longest day of the year, plan to have spent or given away everything I own (I won't need funds to last me into decrepitude, care, or to make it to a century), and ready to meet my maker.
I don't ever want to be a burden to people, I don't want to lose my marbles (like my dad did), or need someone to wipe my arse and hoist me out of bed in the morning (like my mum did), I don't want to ever be cared for. Now, if I get to Summer Solstice 2042 and I still think I have something to give to the world, well, maybe, who knows.
If I'd had this plan at 35, to retire at 50 and die at 65, there are things I would have done differently for sure. The main one is all the money I blew on stuff.
I blew a lot on cars from 2016 to 2025 - maybe £200k. Bought stuff I ended up binning - like I went crazy on dakimakuras, say £10k wasted. Bought toys I didn't need - say £40k wasted. Then there were the stupid relationships (one that is still on going) and crappy relationship holidays, that cost me over £250k and counting. That's like half a million pounds squandered.
And if I had that half a million pounds now, would I be retired now!? Hell yeah!
I actually think if I got sacked now, I could still retire. My mortgage is mostly paid off, sell the house, sell most of my possessions. I'll get a small private pension at 57 (the UK government pension will probably not be available until 70 - all those years paying National Insurance, we should get a refund if we have no plans to use it ... or get to the governments age of retirement.) And when free from the shackles of work, the shackles of the 9 to 5+, work out what next.
If you're 35, think seriously about planning to retire at 50. I loved my career at 35, but now I am bored out of my mind, but still in my role because it pays well.
Example of My Folly
All the cars I have owned since 2016, only one of those I have now, and it is not a sportscar, just a simple car, and that's all you need. Modern driving isn't fun. Sportscars don't live up to the dream. The people rich enough to bring their track day car to a track day on the back of a trailer have the right idea, I could never have afforded that, nor would I have had anywhere to put a trailer.
24 cars, only 1 I have now, 23 cars sold for a loss. Many of those cars I spent money on detailing and stuff. Yes, I had some good experiences, but not value for money experiences.
In hindsight, I would have kept the first grey car and still have it now and not had any other daily cars. And perhaps still keep the first orange Exige after having first bought the blue Elise (I think I would have needed to live with an Elise for a bit to get the confidence to live with an Exige.)
