Should I retire as soon as I can afford to?

Being able to stop working and feeling ready to stop can happen at different times. You may long for rest and still fear losing a place where you are useful, recognised or expected. Neither feeling proves that retirement is right or wrong.

Try separating what you want to leave from what you want to move toward. An exhausting schedule may have become intolerable while the work itself still matters. Or you may be holding on to a role mainly because you do not yet recognise yourself outside it. Different possibilities suggest different transitions where options exist.

Financial readiness also depends on commitments and uncertainties beyond a single present-day figure, so establish that position with suitable information. Alongside it, imagine an ordinary week after leaving: company, purpose, solitude and obligations. You need not turn retirement into another achievement project. But a life with fewer imposed demands may still need your deliberate participation before it begins to feel like your own.

The earliest possible retirement is one milestone. Whether it serves your life depends on what work contributes, what it costs, and what alternatives you can actually choose.

Consider your relationships as carefully as your calendar. A partner may have a different timetable. Family may assume that your new availability means unlimited care. Friends may still be occupied during the hours you recover. None of this makes retirement undesirable; it makes conversation part of preparing for it.

Jing asks what you move toward. I would leave room for not knowing everything in advance. Some interests need unstructured time before they appear. At the same time, do not assume that a change of status will automatically change habits of overwork or withdrawal. If a gradual transition is available, it may reveal what you miss and what you are relieved to lose. If it is not, you can still treat the first period as an adjustment rather than an examination you must pass immediately.

I would like to retire from the phrase 'as soon as'. It has supervised almost every stage of my life and is already asking whether I can complete leisure ahead of schedule.

The retirement planning committee proposes a full timetable: meaningful activity at nine, spontaneous enjoyment at eleven, personal growth after lunch. I point out that we seem to have recreated the office with less competent catering.

Jang leaves room for interests that have not appeared yet. Excellent. My first unannounced interest may be watching the committee discover that nobody has attended its meeting. My second may be attending a completely different meeting because I actually want to.

As for useful work, I am open to it. I simply request that usefulness stop arriving with permanent ownership of the calendar. If a garden, a friend or a worthy cause would like an appointment, they may ask. The committee will not be issuing them recurring invitations on my behalf.