17 steps we take to stay happy in Early Retirement

[@janl7552]

Very wise words Richard & Jackie. I lost my life partner 5 months ago but we were so lucky to have had 35 years together. Enjoying your channel… thank you. Jan. xx

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we can’t even begin to imagine what you are going through! We are ever grateful for the time we have together and try and make the most of every moment. Your positive outlook is truly inspirational and we thank you for that x

[@bungholebob]

Only recently came across your channel and we are contemplating early retirement too. We are really enjoying your positive out looks and as you say we are all different.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Bob- we are really pleased that you have found the channel and hope that it will be of some use to you. Have a great week👍

[@AngelaMiller-g5c]

Brilliant advice. Thank you.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@retirement-adventures]

OMG!! I love you. In 2years time it will be the end of 37 years if teaching. I'm over it!!! Everything is different to all those years ago when I signed up. 3 Heart attacks makes you take stock of "the job".

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Oh wow - it sounds like you need to retire ASAP 😮 37 years teaching is a long stint!

[@thisispw]

Great advice. Good to know for many, that they are not on their own in their journey. I retired, finally, 11 years ago. My advice, enjoy every day and appreciate what you have. The little things are actually the big things. Enjoy.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Oh this is so true! Thanks for sharing this. For us, the little things really are the big things. Thanks for the comment.👍

[@amandasymon4363]

Learnt a lot from this video. I need to plan ahead more. Thank you

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad there were some things that resonated with you 😊

[@christinebrush4399]

Recently found you by accident and am so appreciative of your videos. We were Born and bred in Brum, married and emigrated to Canada with 2 children in 1967. We had 2 more children and had a life similar to yours until he died after 52 years together. My husband was an elementary school principal here until he became an Anglican vicar at 55! It makes me happy to share in your life together and helps me remember all the lovely times he and I shared. Enjoy every minute together, They are so quickly taken from us. Blessings from this old Brummie in North bay Ontario. Canada.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We are so glad we are able to help trigger some of the amazing memories you have built up over the 52 years together and we feel for your loss. One of the main reasons we early retired was to be able to build more memories together and spend more quality time doing the things that we love. Wow - Birmingham to Ontario and Canada must have felt like a big change! Thanks for watching and sharing your experiences with us x

[@christinebrush4399]

Thank you. We spent Most of our years in Beautiful Nova Scotia. I moved to Ontario after Bob died, where our children are. Do Please try a trip to Nova Scotia..it will warm your hearts:)

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@christinebrush4399 when we get our teachers pension one of our thoughts is to ship our van to Canada - the container ship actually docks at Halifax - we want to spend a year exploring Canada and the USA. We have visited BC and Vancouver Island which we fell in love with.

[@fionaridley5011]

Your videos are so relevant to us, thank you for making them and reinforcing our ideas of making an earlier retirement possible, very similar approach to yours although we're several years older. I'm not resenting my 6th day of not leaving the house with flu as we just had an amazing holiday/visited family abroad and I'm ill after not during! Also, I will get better/it could be a lot worse. Taking the time to plan future van/cycling trips. Just knitting, watching You Tubes/ TV, get very little time for that in summer. Long term planning. Home made soup for lunch. Sorted. May as well be ill when it's pouring outside! First world problems when my biggest stress is all the fitness I've now lost and it's going to be hard getting back on the bike/back to gym after a month off with holiday/illness!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

I think these words sum up what we are all trying to achieve. Wow Fiona- such positivity- very inspirational. Thanks for taking the time to reach out- we love this. Fitness will soon come back- always best to rest when you are poorly. Hope you are feeling better. R

[@dominic8218]

Great points as ever Richard and Jackie. Both my wife and I retired at 54 and are now 1 year in. Fortunate that we can also draw a pension from 55 if required, but the best thing we ever did. We are different people with no work pressure, but as you say there are other things in life which can have an impact. Great advice to live in the moment and be grateful for what you have. Keep up the good work 👌🏻

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Dominic- glad that you are enjoying your retirement adventures- it really is liberating isn't it? We cannot believe what effect work actually had on us. We are definitely better off this side of retirement and we are grateful for that every day. Have a good day.

[@BoninBrighton]

We have a Date Day on Thursdays it’s great fun, we take turns to arrange it. Sometimes it’s simply afternoon cinema… or a Garden Centre lunch….or a trip out to a National Trust location…. or a walk along the beach and lunch. It’s the one day when we spend time dedicated to ‘us’. ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

What a great idea ♥️

[@user-ks4dh4be8q]

Hi Jackie and Richard - oh it is so refreshing to just listen to words that resonate with me right now. I found your channel this evening and have watched lots of your videos - great content with a positive and realistic approach. You guys are naturals (I know there's a lot of hard work that goes in to the planning, filming and editing too!). I am almost 1 month into early retirement after maaaaaannnnnny years of teaching so I'm kind of living what you are saying. I started researching seriously a number of years ago just to try and understand the finance / pension etc.. and am now making it work. It's a different scenario for me being a single female at home compared you both of you but I am excited about the days ahead and already see the creative opportunities that I can develop. Sometimes you just have to pull the future into the present and live now - still being watchful for those rainy days too :) I am so glad I found your channel - keep up the great work!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we are glad you have found some of our content helpful. It is a big decision to early retire and the finality of handing in our notice was pretty scary but we have now settled into a great routine and have loved every minute. We know if there are any money worries - the worst that could happen is we need to do some part time or seasonal work - but it would not be teaching and all the stresses that go with it. Enjoy your freedom living in the present - it’s a great feeling x

[@PeterKirton-nu9iv]

A good informative video. I was made redundant at 52 and made the decision to do some travelling before seeking a new job spending some time in both New Zealand and Australia. I loved NZ and have been back several times meeting my now wife on my third visit. I never went back to full time work but took my occupational pension at 55 which meant a reduced amount but enough to pay the essentials. Make the most of your youth because it gets harder as you age. I am now 77 with health issues and life is not so good.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Wow sounds like you made the most of the situation that was thrust upon you! Yes we have decided that the reduced amount we will get as a pension is enough for us to live on. Reading your story reaffirms that for us, we made the right decision - we want to make the most of our health, which is certainly more important to us than wealth.

[@michellechapman6961]

I have just recently found your channel and I’m hooked. I also retired at 50 and now at 62 have thoroughly enjoyed every single day of my retirement. I am now looking after my mum with vascular dementia, she is very frail therefore our travel plans have had to go on hold. Early retirement has allowed me to be in a very privileged position to have my mum live with us enabling us to provide love and care for her. Every minute of every day is precious as we cannot have today again tomorrow. You seem to be enjoying your retirement, looking forward to more adventures.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi Michelle- many thanks for reaching out to us with your comment. We absolutely agree how valuable early retirement is in having quality time with our loved ones. You may be aware that my mum is in a similar situation with Dementia, but she needs to be in a care home to meet her needs. The time that we have with mum is so amazing and we are grateful for every memory we build- despite the cruelty of the disease. We truly believe living in the moment is the key to a fulfilled life. Thanks again and best wishes, Richard.

[@michellechapman6961]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust Thank you, I was unaware about your mum, totally agree such a cruel disease. I am fortunate to have mum at home, helps that I was a nurse before retirement. I also worked in a school for five years part time after retirement. My career was amazing as was the school time wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

[@martynsmith5374]

Really appreciate your videos, appreciate the relevance in my first year of retirement

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Great to hear! Hope you are enjoying your retirement as much as we are x

[@karinbjarnason8576]

Thanks for the happy start to this day. ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

☺️ thank you

[@geebutteree4755]

Great advice, loving your channel 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@alannorman1773]

Thank you for this. Kindness is so mutually beneficial and unfortunately the opposite is so true. The thing I find most depressing is when someone is unkind to me. I realise that it is my choice how I respond and I try to avoid a negative response but it can be hard as generally I am naturally a kind person. One thing I often discuss with my patients is about embracing vulnerability. We are not and cannot be perfect and appreciating our vulnerability can often help. That and training yourself to live in the moment. Thank you for taking the time to share this ❤.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Yes Richard was known by the children at his school for his mantra ‘polite, courteous, respect’ and we try and live by that. They even had a mug made up for him when he retired with it on 🤣 We like to believe that we are both positive people and hopefully that reflects how people are with us. It does upset me when people are unkind to us - but that is their choice. Sometimes we do not know what baggage people bring to a conversation so we always try and show compassion- but at times that can be difficult!! We are loving our new lives living in the moment and making the most of every day x

[@susanharkema2888]

Thanks so much Jackie and Richard! We will retire this August and I am already working on the happiness aspect in preparation. At age 53, I want to overcome some of the mental attitudes that have held me back once and for all. Your 17 items covered them like loosen your grip, be present, have no expectations. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and journey.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi Susan, thanks for reaching out. We found it so exciting in the final few months of working- try to enjoy the process- sometimes we found it quite overwhelming, but reminded ourselves of why we were doing it. For me (Richard), loosening my grip is a daily challenge as it is a hard habit/trait to change. Slowly but surely I think I am getting a little better at it. Each day at a time! Good luck and best wishes. R

[@motorroamingaround]

Great advice as per usual guys. You both have a great outlook on life. Keep safe. Irvine & Karen.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@gregmiller9437]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. My girlfriend and I are retiring in 4 months. We enjoy your channel.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Exciting times ahead - hope you enjoy every moment as much as we have! Thanks for watching x

[@dieselbushcraft1299]

I have to admit, I really admire your outlook on life. Certainly some words that resonated for me.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad that the video was of use. Thanks for the lovely feedback👍

[@camillesaint3544]

Thank you. Needed to watch this today. Especially number 14.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hope today has been a better day for you x

[@peten4043]

Such wisdom from you guys…. I really enjoy your view on life 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we have not always been so positive, I think sometimes things happen in life that change you forever. Luckily for us we chose the right path. It could have been so easy to be dragged down a negative spiral - we are ever thankful for what we have now 😊

[@andrewbilton5993]

Really loved this.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@rostaylor7723]

Loved this video - so many great tips!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@carolinenelson7890]

Thanks for sharing. Your ideas and the way you talk about them is very calming.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for the comment Caroline. We have found ourselves so much calmer since early retiring. We cannot believe quite how things have changed!

[@LaurieHopkins-t2r]

Love your videos, positivity, and perspectives. Very inspiring- thanks!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for the lovely feedback. It is always most appreciated. Have a great day.

[@janehutchinson9999]

Another great video. There are quite a few things I can take away from you advice and will certainly do so. Thanks for sharing😀👍

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Glad you found the video of some use - thanks for your continued support of our channel 😊

[@nanad1408]

Great video

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@garyhollywell2112]

Don't they say that Comparison is the Thief of Joy! Great Vlog many thanks both.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks for this Gary...yes we think they do! Have a good one.👍

[@clairegrundy1628]

Great advice!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@pb26]

Hello Richard & Jackie. I subscribed to your channel last week. I appricieate this video! We have just retired three weeks in and are so happy to be out of the race. At some point we'll return to the UK. We're in SE Asia for now exploring. Look forward to more content. Take care PB

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi PB, thanks for reaching out with the comment and for subscribing- we really appreciate everyone's support. Glad that you are enjoying the early days of retirement...from our experience it just seems to keep getting better and better. Safe travels.

[@davidhall8745]

Some great tips thanks and we are just getting into a routine as we have just started full timing in the motorhome. Good daily habits are key to being on track

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Wow- full timers...I don't think that we would ever be that brave! If you have any tips for habits on the road, that would be really useful as that is where we find keeping to our habits most difficult. Good luck and happy travels.

[@davidhall8745]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust I have followed Stoic philosophy for a few years now and that gives a good basis for habit and discipline. Worth a look and I think you would likely embrace it.Thanks Dave

[@julian-1955]

Another good informative video well presented as usual. I've been following for some months now and thoroughly enjoy your style and content. Well done on getting out of your comfort zone and making a great success of what's become a new career.👏 I've shared your channel with a number of friends and family. We owned a resort in Thailand for 9 years built on good TripAdvisor reviews. I always replied to every review. I notice that you (plural) also always respond to comments which I commend you for. It's a lot of work, I know, but us viewers appreciate that personal touch. And the comments are just as interesting. Please keep up the great "job". My wife and I always tune in. And we have some back catalogue vids still to look forward to saved for rainy days.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment, it really made our day! After such a full on frenetic career as teachers this just feels like fun and we are really enjoying learning all the new skills that we need to run a KZbin channel. We are somewhat surprised at how many people have subscribed and follow us but it is lovely reading all the comments on how similar all our experiences can be. Wow, owning a resort in Thailand! We have so many questions. As part of our new years goals, I said that I would like to visit a new continent and Asia is probably where we will head in November - we are trying to decide between Thailand and the Philippines, just researching the monsoon seasons and trying to make sense of all the new places we have never heard of before. I bet that was such a rewarding thing to do with no 2 days being the same! Thanks again for watching x

[@julian-1955]

You're very welcome for the comment. You deserve it as a way to show our sincere appreciation which you can see in just how much and how quickly your subscribers have increased. I would highly recommend Asia as a destination. Just so different. So relaxing and "free". I'd punt for Thailand myself, biased probably. The best food! But Singapore is so worth a visit too. Amazing country from almost nothing. Stunning gardens. Modern. Diverse cultures. Indonesia not as nice. Decor is lovely. Vietnam is pretty and hectic, but a bit stuck in the past and, perhaps understandably, we still found very anti American, and westerners all look American. I'll email you about Thailand.

[@thefabulouswomanwho]

Hi 👋 I’m new to channel and loving it! I’d be really keen to see/hear more on the financial aspect of you retirement plans (not the minutiae obviously lol) but how/what have you planned for…what determines‘enough’?

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️ we have done a video linked a little to our retirement planning from our teaching careers that comes out later in the week and we did go through some aspects of how we manage our short term finances in an earlier comment on this blog - I think it was SupaNova Steve’s comment.

[@SuperNova-Steve]

Have you guys talked about your income? Are you on a teacher’s pension? Money goes out, unless there is a huge pot of gold money must come in? I understand humble, minimal living but rates, phone bills, food, power etc need money. I’m curious how you navigate this.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi Steve- thanks for reaching out- a great question! We naturally get a lot of questions about finance, and we hope you understand that we are uncomfortable sharing the pounds and pence details of what we do, but we are happy to share an overview. We do not access our teachers pension until we are 55. Up to that point, you are correct in the assertion that money is only flowing in one way! We have a carefully structured financial plan that covers us up to getting our pension. We worked really hard to pay off any debts and in the last few years of work, doubled down on growing our savings pot. These savings, combined with some equity from our house move (downsizing), is what we are living off up to 55. Our calculations show that it should last, and 18 months in we are still on track. We know we are really fortunate to have a pension at 55 that will also provides a lump sum which will replenish our savings. By accessing our pension at 55, we are taking a significant hit on the monthly pension and lump sum, but we are very much of the mind that the richness of time together outweighs the cash value. Please be aware that this is our own personal view and it would not suit everyone. We set our monthly budget at £2K per month- this covers everything. We have £700 of standard monthly bills such as utilities, etc. We aim to live off £200 per week cash, that covers petrol, food, and any other day to day expenses. This leaves a surplus each month from the £2K that we try to keep for the inevitable things that crop up. Our travel adventures are as cheap as you can get them, as we own our van outright. However we do get a small income from freelance travel writing that we put in a separate savings pot for our travel adventures- that helps with ferry costs, campsite fees and other expenses. Our fallback, if everything goes pear shaped, is that we are still young, and if we need money, we can return to some form of work. It would never be teaching, as we no longer need that level of salary or responsibility. It would likely be seasonal, temporary work that fits with our thirst for adventures and new experiences. I hope this helps? Have a great day. Richard & Jackie

[@SuperNova-Steve]

Copy that. That’s a great reply and makes sense. Cheers @@earlyretirementwanderlust

[@paulaspinall919]

Are you getting great value for what you spend? A few months ago I was looking at my outgoings and asking myself questions like ‘do I really need it’ and ‘do I get enough enjoyment out of IT’. I stopped my monthly music subscription and changed my ‘sim only’ phone contract from one of the big boys to a minor supplier. I have reacquainted myself with my dvd’s which is great. My phone service was simplicity itself to change and 4 months in can say the service quality is excellent. Music subscription saved? £10.99 per month. Phone service contract saved? £19 .00 per month. Total £29.99 per month. Nearly £360 per year. Moral of the story. Saving money can be painless. It is easier to save money one small chunk at a time.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@paulaspinall919 yes we did something very similar when we first retired and moved house cancelling many subscriptions or downgrading them eg, Netflix from £17.99 to £6.99 - funnily enough the music subscription is the one we kept as we love music and listen to that more than any TV and we have the family version so the kids get great value🤣🤣 it’s amazing how much you can shave off your outgoings with out feeling any real hardship!

[@julian-1955]

Thanks for sharing this part of your lives Richard and Jackie. Very interesting. We also retired a few years earlier than originally planned, mainly because nothing else cropped up! 🤭😉 Not as early as you. It's helpful to have a rough idea of how you manage things. Who knows how long we need to provide for? The age old question, how much retirement pot is enough? 😬That's rhetorical. 😅 And we've finally bought our first motorhome this month before it's too late to travel and to make the most of life.

[@ashleymears8072]

Yes the Spring lambs are joyous to see but the joy is short lived knowing that most will be in the abertoire by 4 months of age. Not much of a life considering their natural life span is 12-14 years.