To retire at 42?

[milkandcrisps]

Obviously not actually retire. Here is my situation. I have no family at all and no partner and few friends.

I am considering having a child. Because of my age I would have to do this with fertility treatment.

I have thought and thought about how I might be able to work with a child and I’m not sure it’s possible. Nursery costs are too high. Plus sometimes I have to do anti social hours.

So - I am considering retiring aged 42. If I took even five years out it’s unlikely I’d get back into my line of work. I don’t think I care as I hate it but am I mad??

You are 39, don’t wait any longer.

Madness to rely on such a income from rental. What about when it’s vacant or needs general maintenance?

How will you pay for unexpected costs?

With the freelance work you can do, is your final sum around 1k a month.

EVERYONE is moving to UC in 2019

I thought the move began in 2019 for people with no changes, with everyone moving to UC by 2022.

It’s a ridiculous idea. Go part time or get a different job. You can’t live on peanuts for the next 40 years. It’s much less than you’d even get on benefits with a child.

60 years of life ahead of you possibly

It's not doable. You just can't afford it.

Well it hasn’t been vacant yet. I suppose if it ever was that’s where I’d have some savings but it’s unlikely it would be vacant long.

little highly unlikely. More like 25-35.

Getting a different job would be fine IF I then didn’t have to pay for nursery fees out of it which I couldn’t afford to do. This is the problem; it is largely a cyclical problem and keeps leading me back to where I start.

@milkandcrisps

Yes, you are talking about the logistics of being a single parent existing on £15 a day - that's assuming your rental income remains steady. In other words, you are actively choosing to bring a child into an extremely precarious financial situation

If you were a millionaire I don't think many people would have an issue with you choosing to become a single parent. But since you made a point of mentioning your financial situation, of course people are going to comment on it.

How secure is your £450/month income? Are the tenants likely to move on / need you to fund repairs out of that income?

Yeh actually, i think you are being unreasonable. You have no idea what demands will be made of you when you have a child. Children can be very expensive. What if you have twins?

milk I think you already know that you want to do it. it will be hard at times, being a parent is not always fulfilling or fun but I don't have any regrets.

I wish you all the best with it.

Are you assuming you have 25 to 35 years left to live?

So how do you plan on paying for repairs/maintanence to both your rental property and your own place on such little money?

Hi OP,
I think you should relax a bit to be honest. Don’t decide the course of the rest of your life right now. Things change! You want to have a baby and not work at the moment? If you can afford it fine.

However you might change your mind and that is ok too. All I would say is just don’t totally assume you will want this forever. Even if, when your child is eligible for the free nursery hours, you then did volunteer work in a local charity shop or something just to keep your hand in with skills etc. Then you won’t make yourself unemployable. You might never go back to work and be perfectly happy and that’s fine too.

Don’t limit your options in life, you’re still young

Also I wouldn’t plan for any benefits long term because if the government cut them you would be in the shit.
Good luck!

They haven’t yet. The house went on the rental market twice and both times tenants were in within days.

iced yes you can express an opinion of course but also I can ignore it as it wasn’t what I was asking.

I would only be eligible for CB.

I'm not trying to be pessimistic OP, but your chances of conception being successful through fertility treatment at 42 is pretty slim.

www.babycentre.co.uk/a6155/your-age-and-fertility

You'd be daft. This is from 2015 but I doubt the figures have changed that much:

Average cost of raising a child in UK £230,000

I have two teenagers, one of whom just started uni. Raising children is an endless exercise in spending money. Mobile phones, sports fees and uniforms, class trip fees, tutoring so they don't fail maths, clothing and shoes, back to school kit, etc.

And as this article points out:

Suze Orman Blasts the Retire Early Movement

you'll be giving up your prime earning years, when the money you put aside earns money, and that money earns money, etc. It's the magic of compound investment returns that gives you a stable old age and some money to help the child in early adulthood.

I understand the temptation, but what you're considering is financial madness.

It’s not enough money but I think you should still have a child. Just get a different job. You’re skilled so you can always get a “take a step back” type job (you can- don’t pretend you can’t )

But £550 a month isn’t anything like enough, it would be irresponsible and cruel and your baby wouldn’t have a good life

Could you rent out a room in the property you're in now for a few years until the child is at school and then try and find a job with more sociable hours? People get by with dropping kids at childminders, after school/breakfast clubs. I don't think you should be thinking you won't be going back to work at all.

I'm guessing where you living now is far away from the property you live in now. Could you live there with the aim of finding work in that area in a few years' time?

I'm still confused though. You say an income of £450 a month which is what you get from renting the property you own out but do you own the place you live in now or rent it? Would housing benefit cover all the rent? It doesn't always. I don't know what maternity benefits are now but after that you'd go on job seekers or income support? I don't know what it is now.

Could you sell the place you're living in now if you own it and get a three bed to rent out a room?

So many questions. You haven't explained well at all.

And the alternative miss is carrying on in a job I can’t stand, retire with a good pension but with nobody.

See?

I’m not going to get into a daft argument about what kids need. I do know that babies in themselves are not expensive. When the child is not a baby and is at nursery and school I can rethink but I probably won’t earn much anyway. So be it.

She doesn’t have a mortgage. She owns 2 properties outright and lives in one of them.

Still, it’s not enough money. I do agree with a pap- sadly your chances of getting pregnant are pretty low so get on with it and don’t take any drastic action until you’re enjoying your (paid for) maternity leave!

Well indeed yes.

You haven’t answere how anticipate paying for repairs etc with this plan?

It’s not that babies are expensive, you can cut costs but they don’t come free!