I retired in stages....
Step 1. was when we sold out of the business we had set up in 2002, this was on 1 Feb 2011. The income from the sale changed everything.
Step 2. was when I expected to be let go by the new owners some time in 2012, but this didn't happen, they kept me on as a full time employee on a good salary and I was part of a fantastic team, working was fun!
But in 2015 the US Company we had sold to was itself taken over by a German company and with it there was a significant change in company culture and a loss of indvidual management freedom and a loss of much of my job function.
I complained, but my new manager ignored me, HR were useless. So we move to:
Step 3.I went on to 3 days a week in 2016 and depressed and unmotivated I took more and more sick leave, needed antidepressant medication and did as little as possible. I took advice, threatened to go down the Constructive Dismissal route, eventually HR made me a settlement offer which took me to Step 4.
In September 2018 I became a self employed Consultant working actively until Covid, when everything went quiet: after COVID I began to realise my knowledge base was ageing and I wanted to get out ahead
So I chose the end of the financial year ending April 2022, which coincided with my 70th Birthday to jump to Step 5.
Retirement full time... As others have said, you know when it is time. I knew it was time to go....
