Exit Stage Left: Rush, Retirement and the Songs That Got Me Here
A team dinner conversation led to a longer thought about Rush, retirement, and what their songs have been telling me all along.
My Personal Journey to Early Retirement
I'm not a financial guru. I'm a 58-year-old who's just handed in his notice.
Follow along as I figure out what early retirement in the UK actually looks like from the inside.
About me
My name is Tony. I'm 58 years old - 59 later this year. I've recently resigned from a management role running a small team after a long career and a good salary. My wife and I are mortgage free. I have a reasonable pension behind me. I've done the research, run the scenarios, and made the decision to step back from full-time work before the traditional retirement age.
I'm still figuring a lot of it out
That last sentence is the most important one on this page. Because if you're looking for someone who has all the answers, who can hand you a neat five-step plan and guarantee it works, well, I'm not that person. What I can offer is something different. Honest, carefully researched thinking from someone who is actually living this transition in real time. Not looking back on it from a position of perfect hindsight. Not presenting a highlight reel. Just what it's actually like, as it's happening.
Read more on my early retirement journey
Early Retirement - The Hardest Part of Leaving Isn't the Leap. It's the Goodbye
On stepping away from work, the people you're leaving behind, and the strange grief of ending something you chose to end.
21 Working Days Until I Hand Back the Company Laptop - The Final Countdown
The final countdown is no longer abstract. It's a bank holiday, two trips to the office, a long weekend away, and then the date.
Be Seeing You: The Prisoner, Portmeirion and Why I Finally Understand Number 6
A 1960s TV series, a Welsh fantasy village I honeymooned in, and a question that still echoes through every workplace: why did you resign?
The Two-Phase Problem: Why Planning Retirement Isn't the Same as Living It
Eighteen months of planning answered the financial questions. The final weeks are asking different ones, in a register the spreadsheet can't answer.
Permission Slips: What You're Allowed to Feel in the Final Weeks Before Retirement
Nobody hands you a guide to the emotional reality of the final stretch. So here's mine, a set of honest permissions for anyone counting down to the end of a long career
I Still Can't Quite Say the Word - My Complicated Relationship With "Retirement"
Stopping work at 58 felt different from retiring. For a while, saying it out loud felt like putting on someone else's clothes. I'm still not entirely sure they fit.
Half In and Half Out: The Social Weeks Between Resigning and Leaving
Already half gone and still officially here: the colleagues asking for input on projects you won't see through, and the ones already reorganising around your absence.
The 12-Week Limbo: What Happens After You Resign But Before You Retire?
I’ve checked the spreadsheets. I’ve run my numbers through the AI tools. I’ve mapped out my bridge to the State Pension, and I finally did the scariest thing of all: I pushed "send" on my resignation email.
Have I Made the Right Decision to Retire Early? Living With Doubt When the Numbers Say Yes
The spreadsheet works. The retirement plan is solid. The research is thorough. And the question still arrives at 3am. Here's what that's actually like - and what I've learned from sitting with it.
"What Are You Going to Do When You Retire?" - The Uncomfortable Honest Answer
The question everyone asks when you retire early. And the answer most people are too embarrassed to give.
Deciding to Retire Early - I've Done Everything Right. So Why Am I Still Scared?
The gap between knowing your early retirement plan works and actually feeling ready to live it.
Retiring Before Your Partner - What Happens When There's an Age Gap and Only One of You Has Stopped
On the particular dynamic of stopping work when your partner hasn't. And won't. For a while.
The Best UK Early Retirement YouTube Channels and Blogs - And Where FreeBefore65 Fits In
I want to acknowledge something. I’m not the first person to make videos about early retirement.
My Early Retirement Story - The Decision, the Doubt and What Comes Next
The decision to leave didn't arrive in a single moment. It built over about eighteen months, fed by a confluence of things.