Well been in that happy situation for 6 weeks now, after 48 years thought i would miss it, do i hell as. No stress/worries, no traffic queues, if its rainy/cold i stay indoors and do jobs around the house, dry and warm i go for longish walks (6K is me best). even walking around our estate is good cos its hilly.
can have a pint or glass of wine cos not driving early,can even plan stuff for visits etc (docs/dentist etc) and not have to cancel.
Love it ,should have done it when i was 60. happy days.
Happy days
At 58 I’m semi-retired in that I only work six months a year and if I could pack truck driving in completely, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I did enjoy the job back in the day when there were interesting long-distance continental jobs to be had but nowadays it’s just like being a glorified horizontal lift operator.
I just need to find a rich, short-sighted widow. 
I have a year to go, like Harry I loved the job in its day. Now it’s an effort to stay focused!
Congratulations on your forthcoming retirement, personally I can’t wait for next September when I also throw the towel in, I started in transport for Swifts of Duston, Northampton in 1975, apart from the onset of this cancer I have now developed I hardly ever took at sick time off. My family here don’t seem to understand that I don’t want to work until I die, “How will we cope ?” they ask, I don’t really care actually, I have done enough and if my boy who still lives with us wants to eat and have a roof over his head he can contribute. Do I sound mean ? Next September I will have my UK pension, my US social security (if that ■■■■■■■ Trump doesn’t steal it). I should have enough in the 401K to pay off the mortgage and just get by enjoying the rest.
gezt:
Well been in that happy situation for 6 weeks now, after 48 years thought i would miss it, do i hell as. No stress/worries, no traffic queues, if its rainy/cold i stay indoors and do jobs around the house, dry and warm i go for longish walks (6K is me best). even walking around our estate is good cos its hilly.
can have a pint or glass of wine cos not driving early,can even plan stuff for visits etc (docs/dentist etc) and not have to cancel.
Love it ,should have done it when i was 60. happy days.
Made me wonder how I had anytime for work… 
Retired coming 7 years in July,after 50 years, in one way or another in transport.
My main concern at first, was would we have enough cash, without doing a few days here and there on Agency to make ends meet.
After 12 months money was not a problem,licence renewal came up I never bothered.
Thought about getting a part time job somewhere but never did,did`nt want to be committed to someone now I was a free agent to do what I want when I want( with Her indoors permission) 
Spur of the moment “cheapy holidays” Spain for January /February,fishing when its not raining or to cold
The only connection to transport these days is on TNUK HAPPY DAYS
Like many others i also am just enjoying having a ‘‘Life after work’’.I work a few weeks in the summer holiday time in the mines just for a few ‘‘extra’s’’.Being on theses forums i have noticed how many old friends have left us and it makes one realise that none of us know when our ‘‘sell by date’’ is due so use what time we have wisely.
I will Always be grateful for trucking for having given me the possibility to travel throughout Europé[West&East],all over the USSR,North Africa and the Middle East.Places that a tourist or someone of average income would never have the possiblity to visit.It has increased my knowledge of the world,peoples,culture and history.For this i will be always grateful,and to have those memories.
Also the vast amount of diverse people i met whilst travelling was beyond price.
I’m only 38 and I want to retire from lorries. After several ■■■■■■ jobs and redundancy from the best one I’m doing a well paid job where you’re expected to accept verbal abuse from a boss as part of your day.
There’ll be another P45 to add to my collection as soon as something better comes along.
A plus point is that my 7 year old son doesn’t show an interest in lorries as I did at his age.
I’m 4 year younger than Harry & I’m comfortable working an average of 2-3 days a week. Even with my Lidl carrier bag and limp, this gives me more than enough income to live comfortably.
Muckaway:
I’m only 38 and I want to retire from lorries. After several [zb] jobs and redundancy from the best one I’m doing a well paid job where you’re expected to accept verbal abuse from a boss as part of your day.
There’ll be another P45 to add to my collection as soon as something better comes along.
A plus point is that my 7 year old son doesn’t show an interest in lorries as I did at his age.
I have found truck driving to be a money trap, it involves long hours and day’s, sometimes weeks away from home but the pay you get is far higher than most other unskilled work, as driving is considered ‘unskilled’. I swore that I would not be driving trucks when I reached 40 but here I am, 64 years old and raking the money in, more money than I could dream of back in the UK, yet in this overpriced and over taxed country, still just enough to live on.
i’m unfortunate in that I will be working until I drop,got nothing in place pension wise,did try but then they kept asking for more money I ended up paying £100 a month then realised with other debts I couldn’t afford it anymore and still can’t but hey ho that’s life,there are people out there a lot worse off than me,at least I have a roof over my head,a job,and money coming in,able to pay my debts and still have money in my pocket.
Retiring in 5 months to Canada after 48 years on the road in one form or another.
In 3 weeks I will have been retired 1 year, and I don’t miss it either!!
I’ve got years to go (about 30 ) but it wierues because I know next to nothing about pensions so I’ve no idea if I’ll have enough or even what I’m on track for. The statements I get don’t really explain much.
I have however paid into whichever workplace pension I’ve been able to and also have the last remnants of the good Royal Mail pension in place but it’s just knowing how it all works and I guess with it being so far away the impetus hasn’t been there to get on it and plan
toonsy:
I’ve got years to go (about 30 [emoji38]) but it wierues because I know next to nothing about pensions so I’ve no idea if I’ll have enough or even what I’m on track for. The statements I get don’t really explain much.I have however paid into whichever workplace pension I’ve been able to and also have the last remnants of the good Royal Mail pension in place but it’s just knowing how it all works and I guess with it being so far away the impetus hasn’t been there to get on it and plan
It is difficult to plan for decades ahead. And you can be sure the goalposts will be moving all the time. As you say that’s all demotivating.
Just put in all you can afford and do a check every few years.
Optimisation of personal finance is a full time job, and few if any of us have the skills or time to get the best. So seems to me best to try to do some money management but accept it’ll never be perfect.
Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk
Franglais:
toonsy:
I’ve got years to go (about 30 [emoji38]) but it wierues because I know next to nothing about pensions so I’ve no idea if I’ll have enough or even what I’m on track for. The statements I get don’t really explain much.I have however paid into whichever workplace pension I’ve been able to and also have the last remnants of the good Royal Mail pension in place but it’s just knowing how it all works and I guess with it being so far away the impetus hasn’t been there to get on it and plan
It is difficult to plan for decades ahead. And you can be sure the goalposts will be moving all the time. As you say that’s all demotivating.
Just put in all you can afford and do a check every few years.
Optimisation of personal finance is a full time job, and few if any of us have the skills or time to get the best. So seems to me best to try to do some money management but accept it’ll never be perfect.Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk
Don’t get me wrong there’s some things I’ve done… like I spoke about transerring all my pots into one but was told not to touch the Royal Mail one because if I transfer it I lose out. But again it wasn’t really explained why so I’m only getting the gist of it.
My big question is that I’ve got eight years of a pot built up at one place but I’ve moved on now so that’s frozen but dies it still grow over time through interest? Am I better to transfer into my current one. This kind of info is hard to get for free
toonsy:
Don’t get me wrong there’s some things I’ve done… like I spoke about transerring all my pots into one but was told not to touch the Royal Mail one because if I transfer it I lose out. But again it wasn’t really explained why so I’m only getting the gist of it.My big question is that I’ve got eight years of a pot built up at one place but I’ve moved on now so that’s frozen but dies it still grow over time through interest? Am I better to transfer into my current one. This kind of info is hard to get for free
Might be worth asking over on the pensions board on the Money Saving Expert forum, there are some full time pension people that give out some excellent advice and usually explain things like why you should leave the RM pension where it is.
Franglais:
toonsy:
I’ve got years to go (about 30 [emoji38]) but it wierues because I know next to nothing about pensions so I’ve no idea if I’ll have enough or even what I’m on track for. The statements I get don’t really explain much.I have however paid into whichever workplace pension I’ve been able to and also have the last remnants of the good Royal Mail pension in place but it’s just knowing how it all works and I guess with it being so far away the impetus hasn’t been there to get on it and plan
It is difficult to plan for decades ahead. And you can be sure the goalposts will be moving all the time. As you say that’s all demotivating.
Just put in all you can afford and do a check every few years.
Optimisation of personal finance is a full time job, and few if any of us have the skills or time to get the best. So seems to me best to try to do some money management but accept it’ll never be perfect.Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk
Like toonsy, I’ve got nearly 30 years before I reach current state retirement age. An age that is only ever going to go up in the next thirty years. People of our generation aren’t going to receive a state pension, because either we won’t live long enough or it won’t exist.
The question with private pensions is: at what age can I get my hands on it? If it’s the same as state pension age, it’s a waste of time, I won’t live long enough. I know I can draw it early, but there’s a financial penalty. Therefore, that’s a waste of time too. I could draw the lot out at 55 as a lump sum, but that’s got a heavy tax penalty. Basically, paying into a pension is a waste of time. I’m better off sticking the money under a mattress
I envy you guys who’ve done your shift and are now laying back, reaping the rewards of your work. I’m a little sad to know that I’ll never be able to.
Captain Caveman 76:
Like toonsy, I’ve got nearly 30 years before I reach current state retirement age. An age that is only ever going to go up in the next thirty years. People of our generation aren’t going to receive a state pension, because either we won’t live long enough or it won’t exist.The question with private pensions is: at what age can I get my hands on it? If it’s the same as state pension age, it’s a waste of time, I won’t live long enough. I know I can draw it early, but there’s a financial penalty. Therefore, that’s a waste of time too. I could draw the lot out at 55 as a lump sum, but that’s got a heavy tax penalty. Basically, paying into a pension is a waste of time. I’m better off sticking the money under a mattress
I envy you guys who’ve done your shift and are now laying back, reaping the rewards of your work. I’m a little sad to know that I’ll never be able to.
Cavey, have you ever really sat down and looked at budgets and what it would take to get where you want to be. Do you know where you want to be financially? I have built up a decent-ish retirement pot, but I haven’t had a proper holiday since 1991 and apart from one flash car have generally driven old bangers. I’ve been following a lot of the FIRE blogs for any number of years, including the bonkers ones where they try to spend virtually nothing over a year bar essentials.
I do think when it comes to finances,a nd this is a general comment, people don’t think about it enough and get their financial A-Z out to plan their future out.
I have 14 years before state pension and I certainly don’t trust any government not to turn round before then and say, well you have saved, so you aren’t getting a pension from us.