45 years relentless work

[FireflyJar]

I've worked for the last 45 years all through 3 children - never stopping once. Woke up today and just thought, I've had enough. I have 1 year of small mortgage left, I hate my job and want to leave and never work again. AIBU to resign and live off my savings of £15k for a few years till my mortgage kicks in?
Can I survive on this wage? I jußt can't do another 5 years - I'm burnt out.
How much do I even need to live on? Am I mad to even think it?

Please please, try to make an appointment with a financial adviser. Tell them what you want and a time scale and let them do the hard work. They can come up with ideas / suggestions that may not have occurred to you, to make the most of your finances and get out of work quickly.

My friend did this and she had a really clear plan to work towards to, it made her feel really confident in her decision and made her happier knowing she was working towards a goal.

Good luck!

So just use your job as a means to do what you love? For me, I like to travel. Visits to a new city in this country, European short breaks, planning a big long haul holiday. My job is just a means to an end for that. Those types of things are costly, especially post COVID, and if I gave up my job now I could manage to live on what I have saved but it would mean no interesting holidays. So I look upon my job as a way to pay for these things really. And I don’t feel guilty about it spending on those things NOW because I could wait until retirement age and then drop dead, or have developed mobility or other health issues.

So go in to work, do your job, come home and sit out what nice things you will do with the money you’ve just earned that day. Unfortunately lots of interesting things in life cost money. I love just “pottering round the house” but 30 years of that day in day out without being able to afford a trip away or even to spend on what I want in the garden centre sounds a bit of a miserable existence to me.

It's not a lot of money even if you live a very frugal existence. I'd rather work and be able to enjoy life outside of work without scrimping every penny. The stuff I like to do usually costs money.

Can you look for a part time job OP? That would probably cover your half of the bills and you’d have your savings for emergencies. Will you be able to live comfortably on your private pension and state pension when you get to that stage, and what about your DH?

15k isn’t a lot though, certainly not enough to live on for several years, and although work is obviously miserable, having to watch every single penny sounds pretty miserable too!

Thank you everyone 🙂 I have chilled out a little now! I am going to go part time or temporary slots all over. More variety is what I need. My house is mine, so dp doesn't get a say really, and yes I will get 100k on a bad day.

Could you ask for unpaid leave/ sabbatical at work or get a new job and have a break between. Or if it’s stress/burnout related be signed off for that it you think you could face going back in a while. Or ask to reduce hours.