Taking Voluntary Early Retirement

There was a time not long ago when voluntary early retirement did not exist. Those "fortunate" enough to have a job hung onto it as long as possible, looking forward to one day retiring from their mundane daily grind and then.....well, not doing very much.

In recent decades, though, things have changed. Corporate and government downsizing, often on the back of efficiency drives fueled by cost cutting, and handsomely aided by new technology, have meant that employers of all types have had to consider redundancies and early retirement plans. For many people, those early retirement, or even voluntary redundancy, schemes were, and are, manna from heaven.

Early retirement can be especially attractive with those who have a positive attitude towards aging, and have big plans for their "retirement" years. Taking a pension early is technically different, but has the same attractions to those of us who have much to do with our lives, want the money now rather than in 10 years time when we are that much older.

In my case, for example, I took voluntary redundancy at 45, but that left me with a 1/2 pension to take at 60. Then the law changed so that the pension could be taken at 50, on reduced terms. I took it, and started a new life at 50 on a 1/4 pension, confident that I could somehow build a better income during those extra 10 years.

Whether or not you take voluntary early retirement will depend very much on:

1. Your overall financial position, especially debt levels, responsibilities and commitments.

2. Whether it is something you want enough to enable you to take the plunge, without fear.

3. Whether you have positive plans to make the most of your new found freedom.

4. How positive your attitude is to aging, and what you think you can achieve.

There are, of course many other factors to take into account, and everybody's situation is different. For me, it was abundantly clear that voluntary redundancy at 45 was the best for me, enabling me to work full time on our little business. Then after divorce at 48, it was equally clear that for my future happiness and fulfilment, taking my pension early, at 50 was the perfect solution, giving me a base for a new future, from which I could build positively.

Your own situation may not be crystal clear, but the above factors will probably have a bearing on your decision too. If you decide to go ahead and take early retirement, then make the most of it with enthusiasm. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, and has brought me a lot of happiness and fulfilment in the 6 years since.