Hi all
I would like to hear experiences good or bad from those of you who decided to opt for early retirement following HA. I appreciate all our circumstances are slightly different but we are all heart warriors x
Early retirement or not: Hi all I would... - British Heart Fou...
Early retirement or not
Written by
GFFF
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53 Replies
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I decided to take retirement at 63. The stroke got me a few years later, then AVR another five years later.
The few years of retirement before ill health issues was great.
I would resent retiring due to serious ill health.
I found it was easy to fight the illness for about seven years. But after that, the fight has gone. So I would urge anyone to grasp the good years whilst you can.
I'm sure we've all read the mortality tables and taken comfort in how life expectancy has risen, the average male life expectancy in this country at birth is now 79 years and for women it's 83.
What's not so widely publicised is that years of good health haven't risen nearly as much. So many of us face ever longer periods of sickness, disability and infirmity at the end of our lives. The average years of "good health" are now only 63 for a man and 64 for women. So the average person won't remain healthy long enough to even reach state pension age, let alone enjoy the supposedly golden retirement years.
Unless your work absolutely defines you as an individual, and if you can possibly afford it, then I'd say retire at the earliest possible age.
The real problem many of us face is that the 21st century working culture is what has driven our heart problems. Long commutes, broken sleep, constant stress, sedentary lives with no exercise, constant snacking, too much highly processed convenience food. The list goes on and on. No wonder that two thirds of us are either overweight or obese, and the hard truth is that we're just getting fatter and fatter as time goes on.
Making the right life style choices is rarely easy, but in a pressured work environment those smart choices are far, far tougher.
I appreciate that for many people early retirement is just not possible, but if it is a possibility then grab it...and use that new freedom to build the healthiest possible version of you. One that can squeeze every ounce of joy from each precious year of healthy life.
Just my 2p's worth. Good luck!
Brilliant response and along my thought process.I want to enjoy the rest of my life, rather than working like a trojan and being yoo exhausted to even enjoy weekends x
What an insipring and wise reply! I sort of retired (without yet fully comitting to it as I am self employed) a year ago at the age of 50 after a stressful and demanding but rewarding career. So far it has been absolutely the right thing. I've never been healthier or fitter or happier and its so true that living well while working is very, very hard. I don't miss work and have lots of interesting things to do with my time. When people ask me what I am doing with my time I just say I'm working hard on restroing my health and living well. There is some guilt that perhaps I could be doing more to help others, but perhaps I will turn to that with time. Good luck GFFF with your decision.
Having just had a quadruple bypass 3 weeks ago and my 55 th Birthday in hospital I am thinking May be now is the time to think about the future, I semiretired 11 years ago when I had cancer and that made me think life is to short so I only work 3 days a week 8 hours a day.My wife is 53 but she has Spina bifida and I’ve been trying to get her to finish for sometime as at some point she is going to be paralysed.
We’ve got a nice big motorhome and I think the time is coming to use it more and more.
I do love my job and I suppose until I’m well again and recovered from my surgery and got over all the shock it’s hard to know what I’ll do or even if work will let be back because of the lifting and general stress.
Only time will tell in the months to come.
I had my bypass at 51 - I’m 55 in October & after 35 years with my company have decided to hang up my laptop for retirement on 11th November. Reading these replies is absolutely why- but I do have to keep reminding myself as love my job & the people I lead. But I still have the genetic condition so time to look after myself is why it’s the right thing- I’m sure over the next 124 days I will need to keep reminding myself!
I fully understand that, it would be an easier decision if I hated the job !If only we all had a crystal ball and could see how our health path would develop x
Had to take early retirement from the NHS at 60 due to HA and many other health issues, never looked back. If you can take early retirement and enjoy life while you can.
I was "forced" to retire at 66 due to ill health. A full time job, social life, hospital appointments etc etc was causing a lot of stress. That was at Xmas last year so 7 months on and my stress levels are so much lower which can only be good for my health! I do Ladies Wot Lunch with my girl friends and family, theatre trips and I do 2 afternoons a week volunteering in our local Hospice shop.I'm fortunate that my pension allows me little luxuries but I worked hard for 52 years for that so please don't begrudge me.
If you can afford to, I say go for it !
Very pleased to hear its working out for you, reducing stress is my main aim x
Hi GFFF, good luck with your decision. All our circumstances are unique, of course, and a lot depends on how you feel about your work and your finances. I had urgent valve surgery in late 2019, And was recovering during lockdown. My work involved frequent long-haul travel and I knew insurance would be an issue, so I retired without a plan and without a pension. I can make ends meet by renting part of my house, but it is annoying. Life throws things at you, and plans sometimes don't happen as you thought. I guess my point is, retire when you want, if you can. Feeling pushed out isn't great. I hope you have friends and family who can help and support you. Best of luck.
My husband had his first heart attack when he was about 45 years old he carried on working after it then he got diagnosed with MS when he was 49 years old. He also carried on working however 4 years ago when he was 55 years old he decided to take out his one pension and carried on working on Bank as a tutor, he is a qualified teacher. However about a year ago he was really struggling and could not cope with work any longer he was getting too many angina attacks and his MS was playing up, turned out he needed re stenting as well. He is still getting angina bad on occasions. So yes he finally did need to retire fully best thing he did.
Wow, he has faced some big challenges along the way, hats off to him for persevering so long x
Life is too short,so go for it,and remember you are only a number.6 weeks after you finish you will be forgotten.Good luck
If you can afford it do it!
I retired last year at 55, I got cancer 2.5 years ago which they cut out, decided that life goes on and kept working.
Then last year started having heart problems which developed into a heart attack, a dilated Aorta and regurgitating aortic valve and Afib.
This resulted in heart surgery in August 21 for a new mechanical valve, I am still not fully recovered but doing OK, but not sure what I would have been like if I had to work.
Luckily I have enough funds to live ok in early retirement.
So now re-read the first line of my post 
Like you, I have a lot more going on in addition to the ticker and have always ploughed on, Just lately something has made me realise its no point slogging away until you are not well enough to enjoy what time is left x
My husband retired at age 57 due to his heart condition from his very stressful job, having had 1.5 years on sick leave. He stayed in his job for many years because it has a good pension scheme but maybe if he had changed he wouldn’t have had the health problems he did, who knows. Retiring is the best thing he ever did as his condition improved immensely. He fills his time with things he enjoys and helps others too, but at his own pace so he isn’t pressured which makes all the difference. The cardiologists he saw all said if you don’t have to work and don’t love what you do, why would you work?
Good morning GFFF. Obviously it depends sometimes on the financial situation. I decided to retire at 64 and enjoy life. Then 8 months later was diagnosed with severe copd and needing a pacemaker all in the same week. But I still enjoy life now. I only missed having a purpose to get up for in a morning. So I started doing voluntary work which I enjoy and do 3 days a week. Other factors are if you have family to consider as well. If you don't just start enjoying life and spend the money. Because you can't take it with you. Also you can use your 25% tax free lump sum out of any pension pots. And also take a bit more out tax free each year for your yearly earnings allowance before you start getting your old age pension. Hope I have given you food for thought and enjoy your weekend. Brian
If you can afford to retire then go for it. Have some quality time to do what you like, when you like.
Hi GFFF,
I originally planned to retire at age 60, but was unable to achieve that due to making a considerable loss on a major project. I eventually closed my Architects' practice when I was 65 and the stress of sorting it out was partially responsible for me having a HA three months later. I had been asked by several clients to carry on working as a consultant on planning projects, so I was still working, though reduced hours. I eventually called it a day when I was 68. As it turned out, this was at the start of lockdown, so I got my freedom from work, but was required to stay at home!
Had it all happened to me at an earlier age, I probably would still have carried on. I was back working one week after my HA. I guess being self-employed for many years and having a strong work ethic kept me in there. Even when I did hang up my tee-square (as they say in the profession), it took 18 months for me to stop feeling guilty about not bringing in a wage.
As to your situation, well only you can decide. Being self-employed was a large part of me being able to carry on and control how much work I took on. A salaried position would have been far more rigid and pressurised. I would definitely have given early retirement serious consideration had I not been self-employed.
I hope you can come to a decision that you are happy with.
Gerald
Hello GFFF,The Pandemic was my impetus to retire, laid off and not feeling mentally or physically allnthat good I started to look at my options. Long story short, I could use my private pension pot to bridge the gap between my 60th and 67th birthdays and then live on our joint pensions.
That thought process was cemented by my cardiac arrest a month after my 60th.
Like others have said, getting healthy is my main goal now, having tine with my wife and living for us is what's important for the time we have left.
What ever you decide, make it right for you. Take care. All the best, Andy
I retired at 59, not because of my HA that happened in the 4 months before I finished. I was just getting back to full weeks as well. So that was in March 2020 and I retired into lockdown….so much for the thoughts of more travel round the uk and Europe.
I was contacted earlier this year by an old colleague and I’ve gone back as a contractor on some short term projects. Loving it as well. Just four days a week and out on different sites every time. Well I suppose I’m getting my uk travel in at last…😂😂
I’ve worked for the Nhs since 1980. I’m coming to the end of my long term sickness this month. It’ll be 12 months since my STEMI. I looked long and hard about returning to work I was very fit before my HA and despite having some reduced ejection fraction and cardiac arrhythmia’s ( which I’m seeing an electrophysiologist for beginning august) I still have a level of fitness. I’m not returning to work firstly I couldn’t manage my new fitness Activities for keeping me and my heart healthy as well as work.
I swim, do cardiac gym, ( both twice a week) , Pilates which helps with some arthritis- and walk. I’d rather put my energies into something that will help prolong a healthy life than managing difficult work loads and stresses.
Work helped this decision by only offering me reasonable work adjustments that weren’t any less stressful than my original role. I’m not feeling any regrets about this decision it feels the right decision for me. Go with your gut feeling. Good luck
Hi GFFFF interesting post with many replies. Twenty two years ago I retired at age 50 from a job I loved but I felt because I was off sick so often it wasn’t fair to my colleagues, so after consulting with my own GP and the works Dr the decision was made.
My husband continued working for another 10 years but I found it easy to fill my time. We downsized and had a lot of holidays and I’m so glad we did as my husband suddenly died at age 68. I still enjoy life and take advantage of the good days. I have been a big part of my grandchildren’s life which might not have happened had I continued to work.
As I get older I realise possessions and ‘things’ don’t matter much at all what matters is enjoying the time you have with the people you love.
As long as you have enough money to live in a warm comfortable home and have a bit left over for food and leisure that’s all you need.
Make a plan of what you will do in retirement and go for it.
Good luck and have a happy life.
Good morning, I retired at 62 I have to say it was the best decision I ever made even though I had HA last year 67 I still wouldn’t have change it I love my life it is more easier now I can do what I want I love walking it has helped me a lot. Everyone circumstances are different but if you can I would say go for it provided you have something to do. Best wishes to you.
I had breast cancer in 2008, and had 6 months off work (I worked in the NHS). I had worked solidly from qualifying until then and as I was 57 I could take early retirement. I decided that there was more to life than work so retired and went back half time, which gave me long weekends as I worked MTW and had the rest of the week off. The pay I received and my NHS pension was nearly the same as working full time. I have really enjoyed my life since then and retired fully 5 years later. I am so glad that I retired and went part time when I did. I am now waiting to have an ASD fitted to close a congenital hole in my heart, and can hardly do anything.
if you can financially afford it then I would say go for it. Hung on and didn't make the move until turned 70 and staff changes meant that I wasn't enjoying the place or people as much, that was in nov 2019. Left with all these plans for travel and visiting family & places I'd either been to and wanted to return to or new places I wanted to explore unfortunately march 2020 hit and the thought of travel and its joys seem a distant memory with the newly added hassles and cancellations etc. So I would definitely say go as early as you can afford it and enjoy as full a life as you can.
If you can afford to retire early - do! I retired at 65 from my teaching post when we also sold part of our farm. I was looking forward to a few holidays and overseas tours, along with time to please ourselves.
Hubby decided that the money should instead be invested in the other side of our business and he continued working (he was 68).
6 weeks in my dad became ill and needed much more support. 8 months in and hubby’s health started to go downhill. Dad recovered, hubby had a CABGx4 which went well but had a stroke a few weeks later - he recovered to about 95% and returned to work. 2019 was ok, 2020 and 2021 were difficult and costly (not much paying work but we got lots of repairs done).
Then in March this year hubby had another stroke which affected his left arm and left leg. He has spent 15 weeks in a stroke rehab unit and is able to walk a few steps and get in and out of the car. He uses a wheelchair for anything more than a few steps. He is home now still making progress but he now gets very tired and we can’t travel far. A holiday would be out of the question at present.
I am still running the business as he won’t finish it - it was his whole life!
Retire with plans if you can do it - you can always get a part time job in the future - and enjoy yourself!
Jane
Well didn’t your enquiry bring out a lot of replies. You are very popular.
My original reply was, in part, made because no one else was answering. Oh me of little faith.
Anyone going to reply to tell us if we can afford it ?
Best wishes
It certainly got everyone talking and unless I have missed anything no one has said its a bad idea…..just the $6million question of money
I needed AVR and only had a few weeks to live. And all the NHS hospitals were closed.. so I paid for private treatment. I didn't build that in to my financial forecasts!I also didn’t grasp that the state pension is only index linked for the basic part. So my carefully accumulated extra pension for delaying taking the payout etc is not increased. What a swizz.
And my small pension from employment is deducted from my state pension..
But I was covered by having my own personal pension plan and having savings in a few shares.
Best wishes
There are a lot of pitfalls with pensions and unless you are willing to payout for a truly independent financial adviser it is a minefield
Thanks for asking this question GFFFI’m going through the same predicament, had a HA and Cardiac Arrest last October, don’t think I could return to work, don’t think my body could take it to be honest, as some days I’m so fatigued,
I have worked for the NHS for 21 years so and as we all know with the NHS we don’t do it for the money but because we enjoy it. As a paramedic I’m not sure I’ll be able to lift anyway people are getting heavy these days and will my chest take it after being opened up let alone my heart with it’s 4 new bits of pipe work. It’s a hard decision to make but then I’m only 3 weeks post op yet so I have a lot of time yet before I need to make a decision. The other thing is trying to tell your mind you don’t need all the lovely things we wast our money on like stupidly expensive cars to use a few times a week to go 5 miles down the road.
This time last year, I was in recovery from a Plural Effusion, just diagnosed with Hypertension, Heart Failure (EF at 38%) and Kidney Function eGfr of 29. After a long history, it was the straw that broke the camel's back, so I decided I was going to retire come what day. I told my employers my intentions, and 10 mins into first call with Occupational Health, they had heard enough and recommended I retired due to ill health, The whole process was finalised in December when I officially retired aged 60.
Following five weeks in hospital since April, that decision has been reinforced as the right one.
Best decision I've made.
GFFF in reply to
Were you able to takecearly retirement with the support of OH or did you resign ?
in reply to GFFF
Generally supported by Employers although my Manager laughed at me somewhat as having No Chance. The OH Report could have been written by me, but the simple fact is my health had been deteriorating over the last few years. OH couldn't understand why I was still working.
I have a Final Salary LGPS Pension and under the rules, my Pension and Lump Sum is made up to my pensionable age.
I'm probably luckier than most in that regard.
GFFF in reply to
Yes doubt many others will be so lucky, thankfully occupational health are generally more understanding than most managers
I retired 12 years ago at 45 following Sepsis. I did try to go back to work but I had a demanding job and couldn’t hack it. I applied for ill health retirement which gave me a lump sum and a pension. I invested the lump sum but the pension was less than half my salary and I worried if we would be able to manage on only one proper salary. I hadn’t taken into account the savings to be made - paying for lunch every day, work clothes, petrol etc. Best decision I ever made. Still have my investment and we managed perfectly well on a reduced income. My husband has since retired, we paid off our mortgage and now enjoy life together. He is 14 years older than me, so we take the view that we should enjoy ourselves while we can. Hadn’t banked on needing a heart operation a couple of years ago so I feel very much it was the right decision.
Sounds as though you definitely made the right call. Most people have saved a lot of money with working from home the last 2 years, must admit it has come as a shock to start paying for petrol and parking again. Thanks for sharing your story x
Ahhh sweet retirement, every one dreams of that day but when our health begins to break us down we start "fighting" retirement. I suggest retirement HAS to be WHEN OUR BODY, is still able to have fun! Motor Homing it, bike riding it, playing tennis, running short marathons, volunteering in anything helping others. Not when we have health issues that limit us, n we can only motorhome for a few weeks before we run out of our medication. Retire now, you're ready because your thinking about it. Be blessed and thankful you had a job you loved, enjoyed. Time to pass it on to someone that will love it as much as you. God bless you
Just on a lighter note ...I' ve enough money to last me for the rest of my life....providing I die a week next Tuesday!
Morning, I agree with the majority of these comments. I was made redundant at 58 from a very stressful and demanding job. I really enjoyed the work and the people were great and thought I would get another job straight away which gave me purpose and in a role that I would be “needed” . My reality was very different, I planned to take 3 months off and then find my next dream job.
I didn’t even look for the next job, the stress free life and freedom to do what and when I chose made me realise what I had been missing.
Then at 59 I had a HA, 6 months after finishing work. The lifestyle had caught up with me.
I was overweight, unfit, with an unhealthy diet. One year on I have officially retired. I’ve lost weight, swim 3 times a week, walk my dog twice a day and have taken cooking lessons, so we cook from scratch. I volunteer in a local club.
Most importantly I have time for my husband and family, which to be honest didn’t always come first when I was working.
I did have 2 final salary pensions and took financial advice how best to maximise what I had and also, should I die ( a feature which is at the front of my mind most of the time) how my family would be best looked after.
It was expensive process but now, we can live very comfortably and I know should I not have spent it all before I die 😁😁the rest will go to my family. This gives me great peace of mind.
Like many others my materialistic way of living has mostly gone!you really don’t need all the stuff you thought you needed but in reality just want!
I invest in the more simple and enjoyable things, which I didn’t have time to see or do before. Just being in the garden is a joy.
So if you want to retire I would go for it, financially you will find a way.
My husband says I’m not the same woman as when I worked, which I think is a good thing, In my job I invested lots of time and energy in other people, and neglected myself and my family. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed my job plus the trappings and rewards, but I recognised probably too late you need a balance.
I can highly recommend retirement and you have the time and energy to look after yourself and enjoy being your family and friends.
Deb
Thanks for sharing Deb, it is so easy to get submerged into work life & not so easy to notice when the work life balance tips the wrong way.Since my HA last year I have been taking stock, just need to look at finances in a logical way of how much I genuinely need without frittering money on the things I have got used to wanting x
Retired at 49 after HA. Just could not hack it. Husband went on working as now we thought we must make sure we can afford to live in retirement! We stuck to our ‘plan’ and he finally retired at 66. We had such plans for retirement, travelling, living in foreign cities for longer periods of time etc etc. Husband returned from last day at work very ill indeed. My health got worse worrying about him. Terrorism and the Pandemic followed. Luckily we are both finally feeling better but I can’t say I have shrugged of my bitterness altogether for losing time in our sixties. I have heard older people saying if there is something you want to do, do it in your sixties because by your seventies you will be less able. We have found this to be true. Wish we had taken it on board. It should be in every prospective retiree’s information pack! Now we are in our seventies and whilst comfortable, the thought and desire for travelling etc is not what it was. We don’t spend nearly as much money, like one of the previous contributors mentioned and frankly we are pleased with the little things we do and appreciate that we have survived what we have. Don’t forget my bit of background bitterness though. Retire ASAP!
What an amazing response, thank you all very much for your comments, I am sure a lot of people have found them useful, not just myself x
Hi GFFF, I had my ha 2 years ago, I had actually took early retirement 6 months before it happened. The job was very physical repairing machines sometimes 30ft high or underground usually alone. Had I still been there on the day of the ha, what ended up a mild ha would have been far worse or even... you know! as I may have worked on and not been found until too late. I wouldn't dream of doing the job now. I am capable but retirement is wonderful apart from side effects of a bad dose of covid I contracted when in hospital. If you can do it and afford to, do it now. It's another world, time for leisure, grandchildren, no timetable etc. Best wishes.
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