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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

If you had £2 million, would you still work full time?

264 replies

Summerlovin99 · 07/05/2021 15:39

You obtained the money through early inheritance. You are married, have two very young children and your house is already mortgage free. And if you wouldn't work full time, what would you do with your time?

OP posts:
Medianoche · 08/05/2021 13:39

I wouldn’t quit my job, but I’m fortunate/unfortunate enough to be in a position where I do my (part-time) job just for the love of it. If they’d asked me to take it on as a volunteer, I’d have seriously considered it.
It’s lucky I don’t do it for the money, because the money is laughably bad.

maddiemookins16mum · 08/05/2021 13:46

No. Part time to keep me sane.

mdh2020 · 08/05/2021 14:26

I’d get a divorce.

MakeMYDay5279 · 08/05/2021 14:33

Definitely would give up work
Have plenty of hobbies & would travel extensively
Not at same stage in life as Op
I've worked plenty already

newnortherner111 · 08/05/2021 14:35

I'd serve my notice with dignity, and leave. Spend time helping older family members, travel and plenty of other things.

temporaryusername1975 · 08/05/2021 14:57

I still work, but I'm not in the same position as the OP. My DC are in their mid/late teens. I'm also a widow, so I only have myself and my DC to consider. But thought it would be worth sharing a real-life situation anyway...

I received a seven figure amount in compensation for negligence relating to my husband's avoidable death (I have told no-one about this in real life, and fortunately the last-minute out-of-court settlement kept it out of the papers), and a high six-figure sum from his life insurance payout, as well as just over a million pounds from his pension.

My house is in a nice area of South West London. It is worth around £3 million, which is normal for the area, and we had paid off our mortgage a couple of years before DH's death (the house was bought a long time ago before London property prices went crazy, so it wasn't a huge mortgage and DH's job was well paid).

I have invested just over £1 million from DH's pension in stocks and shares (a medium risk managed fund), that has so far yielded around £120,000 per year without me touching the capital. I have a lovely holiday home in a very desirable location which is worth around £700,000. And I have bought both of my DC a house for £500,000 each (small, new-build, neighbouring houses of identical design that are currently rented to tenants at £1,750 per month for each house). I will transfer the houses into their names when they are 25 and they can then sell/let/move into them, as they choose). This is so that they will benefit directly from the negligence compensation money, as they deserve to be compensated for unnecessarily losing their lovely dad in their early teenage years. They don't know yet that his death could have been prevented and that compensation was paid - I will tell them when they are adults. They don't know about the houses yet either.

I keep around £300,000 in total in normal bank accounts, for quick access (two in the UK and one in the country where my second home is). I use this money for living expenses, home improvements and maintenance for all four properties, and for holidays. This amount stays around the same level as it is topped up every month by the rental income and my salary.

I drive a six year old small car and work 4 days a week in an admin role with a salary of £35,000, which I have done for the last 10 years. I had a highly paid career before the DC came along, but my current, low pressure, job is much more family-friendly, and it's a fun sociable place to work.

I think it's important for my DC to see me working and 'providing' for them, even though I don't actually have to work. They both attend the same non-selective state school, and I love the fact that there is such a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds within in their friendship groups, so that they don't grow up in a privileged, entitled 'bubble'.

I will carry on working until I'm 50, by which time my youngest DC will be at university, and then my long term plan is to spend more time in my second home (where I also have a lot of friends). I like writing songs as a hobby, and would love to have more time to do this when I stop working. I would also quite like to write a book.

Having money has given me the freedom to live my life however I want to, which I appreciate every day, although I would much rather not have the money and still have my DH.

I had a very happy marriage, which I am grateful for, but I will never get married again. I value my independence too much. I also need to ensure that all my assets go to my DC without the risk of anyone else having a claim on them.

mogsrus · 08/05/2021 15:11

12 till 1 & an hour for lunch.perfect!!!

Puttingouthefirewithgasoline · 08/05/2021 15:20

Like pp I'd keep working but part time and probably look to expand into other areas.

Like pp I would try not to touch the capital and live off the yield.

Puttingouthefirewithgasoline · 08/05/2021 15:21

temporary

Where does the 120000 go from the investments? Does that get reinvested?

Disfordarkchocolate · 08/05/2021 15:22

I don't even work full-time now!

No I wouldn't. I'd continue largely with what I do now and see if my husband could cut a day a week in a few years. We'd be able to plan for him to retire earlier than now. I'm older and don't plan to stop my work at all.

temporaryusername1975 · 08/05/2021 15:28

@Puttingouthefirewithgasoline it gets reinvested unless I choose to withdraw it (which I can do without penalty at any time). I have ISAs for myself and the two DC and use the profits from the pension investments to add the maximum permitted amounts to them each year.

3scape · 08/05/2021 15:30

If I could get a job I'd be happy.

RightOnTheEdge · 08/05/2021 15:38

No way!
I work in a pub though so not exactly my dream career.
No way on earth I'd still be clearing tables after people who act like pigs and let their kids chuck food everywhere and having people talk to me like shit because the Abbots has ran out if I had two million quid in the bank 😂

Oyvayizmir · 09/05/2021 11:39

I lost both my parents relatively young - just at or before retirement age. So with their properties (they were divorced) I inherited a similar sum.

Absolutely intend to keep on working. At most, I'd consider (if needed) moving to a lower paid job that was fulfiling if I ever felt miserable or stuck in my current one which is quite well-paid for my field.

I intend to use the money to put my kids through uni without debt and to eventually help them each buy a house with as small a mortgage as possible plus make sure DH and I have enough to retire comfortably plus enough if either of us got sick and needed care.

2 million doesn't stretch very far if you want to put three kids through uni, buy three houses and have enough to retire. Currently we're not touching the money and living off our salaries and any yield is put straight back into the pot so it's growing. When oldest DC goes off to uni in a couple of years, then we'll start to draw it down.

I also know that this is exactly what both my parents would have wanted me to spend their hard-earned money on. I would feel bad if I spent it any other way, certainly if I gave up work to live a life of leisure based on what they had given me.

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