How to get the best start in retirement: retirees share their tips

When planning your retirement, you might be thinking of the exotic trips you'll take, or simply getting up later in the morning.

But the first few months after calling time on your career can be challenging, as you find a new rhythm for your days and get to grips with retirement finances.

To help you prepare, we asked retirees what they’ve learned about the transition

In this article, we explore five things to bear in mind as you prepare for life after work.

1. Understand your retirement finances

More than six in 10 of the retired UK adults we surveyed in May 2026 said they wish they’d known more about at least one financial aspect of retirement planning before they stopped work. 

The most common areas that retirees wish they’d known more about were how much to save for retirement (22%), how much state pension you’ll get (21%) and how retirement income is taxed (20%).

Pensions UK estimates that a moderate standard of living in retirement currently costs £32,7000 if you live alone. You can use our guide to find out how much you need to save in your pension each month to achieve that, depending on the age at which you start saving. 

Your state pension forecast will give you an idea of how much you’ll get and whether there are any gaps in your National Insurance record.

As you approach retirement, you’ll need to decide how and when you’ll access money in your private pensions. Anyone over the age of 50 can get free and impartial guidance on pension options from the government-backed service Pension Wise. Our pension tax calculator can help you understand how your retirement income will be taxed.

• Find out more: How to plan for retirement at different ages

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2. Anticipate a period of adjustment

‘Retirement was entirely not what I expected’. Which? member Stuart Anderson, who retired from a busy job as a service engineer in September 2025, said he’d imagined springing out of bed each morning, ready to take on the world.

But in the early days he was exhausted: ‘I fell into a vacuum. I didn’t expect to feel like that, and the reality disturbed me.’

Leaving work brings a sense of freedom and relief for many, but retirees in our survey were split on the impact on their sense of identity and purpose more broadly. While around one in five said the impact was better than expected, a similar proportion said it was worse. 

Stuart says that how he felt in the early days was driven in part by anxiety around ageing and mortality, along with a loss of identity around work: ‘Suddenly the next life stage arrives, and you don’t really know what you’re heading in to,’ he said. 

Eight months on, he’s feeling happier in retirement (volunteering with his local mountain rescue team and the changing seasons have both helped), but says it’s important not to put too much pressure on yourself to adapt straight away: ‘Give yourself time to decompress and know it’s OK to do that.’

• Find out more: 3 surprises that could reshape your retirement

‘It is wonderful to wake up each morning and decide what I want to do’

Nicky Campbell, who retired in 2007 after 30 years as a geography teacher, said the adjustment to not working is the first of many shifts and transitions that retirement brings.

Nicky and her husband loved the freedom they had in the early days of retirement. They travelled the world together – trips to Japan and Vietnam were their favourites – and helped set up a local refugee charity in 2015. 

But Nicky’s husband died nearly eight years ago, and she said being on her own has been a huge adjustment: ‘I miss him every day… you’re nobody’s number one.’

Since her husband died, Nicky fills her days connecting with people – she does a lot of work with the refugee charity and leads a German conversation group with her local U3A group.  And she’s still travelling. When we spoke, Nicky was preparing for a trip to Ireland – the 70th country she’s visited. ‘My son’s challenged me to visit 80 countries before my 81st birthday!’ she told us. 

Nicky’s aware that more change is on the horizon. After 52 years in Macclesfield, Nicky plans to move to be closer to her three sons: ‘It will be a wrench but it’s going to have to happen.’ Luckily, her granddaughter has found out about the local U3A and reassures Nicky there will be plenty to do. 

3. Consider the season

Nearly two thirds of those who retired or semi-retired in spring, and more than half who did so in summer, said they would recommend it, according to our June 2026 survey of 1,165 Which? members. But only a third of those who retired in autumn or winter would. 

Stuart said he regretted retiring late in the year: ‘That first winter in retirement was the longest I’ve ever experienced.’ 

Several people told us that retiring in the colder months made it harder to appreciate their new-found freedom: ‘The weather was awful and the daylight was short. There’s no incentive to go out and do things!’

When’s best will depend on your circumstances – financial, health, work-related – and preferences. But many retirees said that better weather eased the transition: ‘It’s easier to keep upbeat and happy going into the season of long days and lots of daylight,’ one member said.

• Find out more: Five ways over-60s can save this summer 

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4. Get support from others

Some workplaces run pre-retirement courses to help you prepare financially and emotionally, so it's worth checking with your employer about the support it can offer.

If you're apprehensive about the transition, you may want to consider a phased retirement. 

Multiple Which? members said they would have liked to stop working gradually: 'winding down quietly might be easier emotionally... going the "sudden death" route can leave you pretty flat after the initial buzz wears off', one told us.

And it's important to anticipate how retirement will affect your relationships: ‘I really missed work at first and had to work at getting a social network going,' one Which? member said.

5.  Explore new interests

Four in 10 retirees in our May 2026 survey said that they have more free time than they expected.

Spend some time in advance thinking about how your routine will change in retirement: ‘I’d have investigated more local community groups and hobbies before retiring, so my weeks had more structure from the get-go’, one Which? member said.

Which? member Margaret Griffin said it can take a while to find the things that speak to you and stretch you. She said that taking up pottery has been a revelation – ‘you can get as mucky as you like’ – while volunteering for an adult literacy charity helps her feel like a positive force: ‘It’s a real buzz when someone realises they can do more than they thought’, she said.

Look out for courses and classes run by local colleges, community groups and sports organisations: Kath Hellier said taking up ballet through Silver Swans, a course offered by the Royal Academy of Dance for people over 50, has been a surprising highlight of retirement: ‘I always wanted to do it but never had the opportunity as a child.’

The University of the Third Age (U3A) is a peer-led learning organisation for people who aren’t in full-time work, and has more than 1,000 local organisations running groups on everything from philosophy to pickleball.

Our research: In May 2026, we conducted an online survey of 263 retired UK adults. Separately, we surveyed 1,114 retired Which? Connect panel members who told us in their own words what they’d do differently to prepare for retirement. In June 2026, we asked 1,165 Which? members about the best time of year to retire.