Our 7 FEARS of Early Retirement...and how we are doing 6 months in.

[@ruthkirby9277]

You will always be fine as long as you have a home that you can call your own. I am enjoying following your journey as I retired from nursing at 50 for health reasons with no pension but became eligible for it a few years later. We eventually downsized to a smaller home bought a panel van camper and life is good 🙂. All the best, Ruth

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you. That is what keep saying we will always have our lovely home in the Dales and our van to escape in if we want! Life is good and long may that continue. Happy travels x

[@turt0n]

We retired in our early 50’s. Lived in Bolton, kids grown up so decided to move to Embsay just outside Skipton. Hardest part was telling my wife’s mother who still lives in Bolton.Bought a camper van and a small cottage that we’ve had to renovate. Quite stressful but the best move ever. Never looked back. Didn’t know many people but joined the Skipton Walking Football and met some great guys from all backgrounds. Play three times a week, keeps you fit plus meet for a beer and curry once a month. Highly recommend Kettlewell as well for walking and an overnighter there in a quiet farmer’s field for £10. People travel from all over the country to visit the places on our doorstep. Very lucky.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We go through embsay quite regularly on our way up to Barden Moor, it’s lovely. We love kettlewell and have stayed in that field aswell as the campsite which has an amazing toilet block. One of the things we want to do is explore the northern Dales and east, we have been to nidderdale once. Richard joined touch rugby at North Rib club which he is enjoying x

[@jenniferhirst2130]

Thanks for your open and honest assessment on things. We are planning our retirement at 49 & 52 so your journey is very interesting for us both. We have considered many of the things you have talked through in your videos which is great that we are in the right track. We have done a few of the places you have been in our motorhome. Thanks. Take Care x

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Retirement and the freedom of a camper van is a fab combination! our hardest decisions now are where to go next!

[@ronnie9187]

Thanks! I regularly watch contributions on youtube regarding early retirement. Very interesting and fun. And although everyone has their own (financial) situation and lifestyle, the topics are exactly as you discussed. Important points and I like that you realise that a simple life can be very beautiful: it's about the experiences not the stuff you can buy. We ourselves are going to stop working at the end of next year when I turn 58 and (re)migrate to the Netherlands from Switzerland ( my wife is Swiss I am Dutch) after living here for over 23 years. I think the financial component is the most frightening thing for many people including myself. No more income, only expenses, at least until the pension kicks in. And there is usually no way back to the comfortable situation of now. Also how society looks at you when you are a pensioner instead of a working person that is part of society and with that your self-esteem. But intuitively we feel we are ready for a different life, different challenges and more freedom to shape our lives ourselves. And if I have learned anything, it is to follow my intuition and try to avoid irrational fears. This is easier now that I unfortunately already have to miss some family members including my elder sister who passed away at 63. it pushes your nose to the facts: we only have a limited time on earth, and now are the years of often still good quality of life. Greetings, Ronald.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Many thanks for this thoughtful post Ronnie. You speak so many truths. I think that we are so conditioned during our working lives to chase the dollar and save for our retirement that when we do retire, the concept of spending money and not chasing income is so alien to us. I don't think it's our fault, it is just a hard habit to break. We have never felt concerned how other people see us as retirees- in sharp contrast we love showing what we are doing and many of our younger friends are also now aspiring to early retire- seeing that it is a real possibility with the correct planning and mindset. I am planning a Wellbeing Thursday video for next month on the shortness of life and how close bereavement's caused me to change my outlook on life and how I wanted to spend my remaining years. The loss of my dad and brother in quick succession was heartbreaking, but I firmly believe out of trauma can come growth. Many thanks again for reaching out. Take care. 👍 R

[@nikkiboulton9754]

I’m so glad you’re enjoying your new venture, you have a lovely life now and you’ve worked so hard for this. Loving the renovations. 😍

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

thank you. You and James should come and visit when we are all finished with the renovations x

[@nikkiboulton9754]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust definitely. X

[@gerriwalsh9846]

Completely understand how teaching takes so much out of us - it requires so much both mentally and physically

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It does and we gave it our all, but there are now simply things we want to do for ourselves and loving the freedom to do it x

[@richardaddicott5228]

Great video and nice to see others having a similar thought process. I decided to take a step back in life a few years ago and have not looked back. It is always interesting to see the response of young colleagues when you tell them that at some point, time will become more important than money. Great channel, keep up the adventures!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️ that is so true, I think being teachers we had always seen the value of time because we were so busy with very little time with our children and each other in term time. But we were compensated with great chunks of holiday time as a family which we always said was invaluable, particularly in the summer.

[@Bracebarian]

Thx for the video. I am looking to retire in 2024 and share some of your fears.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Some little fears but no regrets. Hope it all goes to plan for you x

[@peterh9238]

Good to hear you are both doing alright 👍 Been a year now for me since i retired early, and I haven't missed work either. Some of the people yes but the actual work, no. Having a routine and keeping busy helps. You are in a new chapter in your life and (health willing) the best part is you have full control over what direction it now takes 😀

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is so good being in full control of what we want to do. Richards mum has a saying 'us retired folks can do what we want when we want' how true that is! having the house to renovate is good at keeping us really busy which has been helpful I think. And yes we miss the people at work both having been at our schools for about 15 years, neither of us miss the work!

[@Sweetie8387]

Really enjoyed this, interesting to hear you say you’ve not missed work. May your happiness long continue 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

What’s more worrying is we seem to be busier than we were working! In a good way!

[@williamludlow1793]

Some wise words! Great to hear things are going well for you both.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is soo different after 30 years teaching! We are loving life in the dales, always a place for you sarah and the kids to come and stay, you would love exploring the hidden places around here x

[@mazee1702]

So glad you both are enjoying retirement I feel we all worry over what the future holds you both have dealt great with the move to a new area home renovation etc once your kitchen is done you will spend less each week on shopping etc as I always make two lots of meals one for the freezer etc I live in the south near Brighton but Yorkshire I must say is stunning good choice guys I agree about buying less that will happen more as you both get older I am having a massive declutter and wondering to myself why I bought so much in the first place ... lol.. keep safe xxxxx

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We are beyond excited that we will have a kitchen a week after we get back from Pheonix. Richard can't wait to have an oven so he can cook pizza! We freeze a lot of our left overs that we can heat up in the van when we are on our travels and we have missed that

[@danspencer4235]

Early retirement was the best thing I ever did!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Us too! There is still seemingly not enough hours to do all we want but so much more fun 😊