To give up working at 52?

[caniquitwork]

I am a teacher, but I've had enough.
I have a small teacher's pension- small because only paid in 15 years and even then mostly only part time. Have some other private pensions which will eventually pay out about £1000 a month, but not till I'm 60. Would not touch teacher's pension until then either.
So here's the aibu part - I have a house I own outright so no mortgage, but to live on until 60 I have about £250000 I inherited. Would obviously invest but don't think interest would be enough to live on, so would also just withdraw from the pot iyswim.
Would that work? Would it be selfish- should I keep this money safe for my children?
No dh in the picture. Keep
going round in circles. Wouldn't mind working in another job to supplement but worried if I could even find anything.

Your health and mental wellbeing is so much more important. Don’t worry about leaving money to your kids. Use it now as you could end up losing all the money on care home fees. Your house is paid off. You could downsize it and that you free up some cash. I taught for 20 years and got out. I work in civil service now and also tutor as I was UPS3 so tutoring makes up salary difference. You could supply in primary schools as it’s more general knowledge as you have the teaching skills. I was a primary teacher. I would stick to KS2.

Dont stay miserable in teaching. You might be able to get a lump sum from pension at 55 depending on scheme you are in. Get proper financial advice

My dm worked in the sorting office for the big po depot in her city after retiring at 60.
It’s hard work but good pay and she did very early starts so was home by lunch.
She loved it.

The annual ISA allowance is £20K and rumoured to be reduced by the Chancellor! Maybe by half.

It's not clear where her money is now - the £250K.

She can't just stash £250K into an ISA if that is what you're suggesting.
She can put in £20K each year - so that would take 10 years to invest £200K.

You sound very harsh with your comments about financial illiteracy!

How wonderful it would be if we could all just dump £250K in an ISA and get 5%!😂

It's so interesting how these threads go, last night I was feeling very confident now not so much!
I think now I'm leaning towards keep working, but undecided between dropping TLR/going part time and getting out completely and doing something different.

I wouldn’t plan to leave any for your children. Support them whilst you are alive with deposits for houses etc. My Mum is a single Mum with me as an only child. She has worked all her life to leave as much as possible to me. She has dementia and will need nursing care. There won’t be a penny left. Life is for living. I’m a teacher. Leave now whilst you can enjoy life

80k are already in an ISA, can still put in 20 k before April

Have you looked into share ISAs?

These often give a much better return.

If you seriously want to live off the interest, you should get yourself an FA. But not one on commission as they will try to sell you all sorts for their benefit!

They will also advise you on your longer term planning.

Another vote for buying a buy to let as it should generate a higher yield. I would also look to do some work part time or supply to keep some income until your pension kicks in.

You could possibly do Duolingo or similar teaching English to German speakers though I realise that there are a lot fewer Germans needing this than some other languages. But it might be a bit extra income. I wouldn't buy to let - it involves a lot of work and there are a lot of rules coming in that will make it harder.

Buy to let.

We've been though this with our FA.

The OP only has £250K to invest- does she want to tie up all her savings in a house which may fall in value?

The return from a BTL isnt great by the time you've taken off agent's fees, ongoing repairs, insurances, tax (she'd be paying tax on the income) and the hassle of finding tradesmen to do work on whatever goes wrong.

I have friends with BTL and one house is worth around £400K - 3 beds.
They get just over £1K a month rental income. But out of that comes 10% for the agents and they've also had to stump out for a new boiler, other repairs etc etc.

I'm not saying she shouldn't do it but it comes with a lot of hassle.

As well as the money aspect you also need a plan for your time. You potentially have 30 years or more left - what are you going to do with it?

You mention your confidence in your skills and abilities are low at the moment, I think retiring early in that mindset would be a catastrophe. Being out of the workplace with no other plans (ie volunteering, board positions etc..) can lead to people aging very quickly. If nothing else your tech skills can rapidly diminish.

I would get some career coaching and think about other things you could do, either paid or unpaid.

I wouldn’t but I love my job. 52 feels very young to retire from work altogether. So much opportunity for tutoring if you’re flexible on hours. We pay £50 an hour for primary age and the lady we use (retired primary head) has a waiting list.

MIL retired the second she turned 60. She couldn’t really afford it. She’s now mid-70s and has such a small circle and is really quite boring. We only ever hear what’s going on with her neighbours 🙈🤦🏼‍♀️

It is a bit of a streach! I'm assuming at least one of your kids are financially dependent on you? Your retirement income, when you reach 60, would be very low, if you are spending your capital.

I suppose you also have the option of equity release which I think you can initiate after age 55 (do your own research/ not financial advice). If you can't or don't want to do that, you would have to do some paid work.

250k sounds a lot but in reality that would disappear pretty quick, especially if you have to replace car, appliances, house repair and any holidays, trips or hobbies you go on or do. I would use it as a cushion. Find a part time job that you actually enjoy that gives you a much better work/life balance and can stop you eating into the pot to much too quick. I also think at 52 i would start to twiddle my thumbs and get bored not working at all.

I am also a teacher but left classroom teaching 2 years ago because I couldn’t bear the stress and workload any longer.

I am a similar age and in a similar position with a slightly larger pot of savings. I have got a financial adviser who is helping me split the savings into a portfolio of investments and build up pensions, in order to eke it out for as long as possible.

I’d advise you to find a reputable financial adviser (only use one that is personally recommended to you by someone you trust). Using retail savings products will never give you the interest returns that properly managed investments will.

Meanwhile I limit myself to a budget of £2000 a month but often don’t use all of that. (Mortgage has been paid off). I do some tutoring and am looking for other PT work so that I’m not just depleting savings. But mainly because I get a bit bored doing nothing all week and find that I need a bit of structure in my life.

I would look at what other part time roles are available. As an ex teacher you would be a sure thing for invigilation and exam board marking. These aren't well paid and are seasonal, but would boost your income and apparently the invigilation can be quite sociable once you've done it a few times - with regulars meeting up for lunch.

52 does seem young - I am 54 and DH is continually harassing me to retire so he can, but I don't feel ready yet. I think a change to a less stressful job/jobs could be the way to go.

I’d build up a tutoring business (before I left school, do translation work and also do the teaching English online thing? You can merge into semi-retired life from that?
Dont get hung up on those who don’t get interviews after teaching. That’s not your story

My friend left a stressful job at 50 and became a dog boarder. Needed a licence from the council and insurance. She is licensed for up to 4 dogs, but generally takes only 2.
She likes to travel, dictates when she works, she has a private pension, and the dog boarding tops this up.
She charges £30 per 24hrs per dog, less tax. There is plenty of demand for a good dog boarder, and even if you only took one dog it's still a relatively stress free way to control how & when you work, whilst topping up your income - obviously you'd need to be a dog lover :)
I took a voluntary redundancy package from a government job 5yrs ago, took my pension early, and now work part time in an NHS admin job. I now have a bank contract with them so pick and choose when I work - I had to work a part time contract for 12mths before I went on to bank, but it works for me -
I'd do the dog boarding myself, but my dog doesn't always like other dogs 🙄

As a single woman of 52 how would you like to spend your days if you're not working?

Are you children still at home?

Although you hate work I think you'd find the change from being in a full-on job to doing nothing, somewhat challenging.

Do you have lots of hobbies and friends?

That doesn't sound right if you've worked mainly part time.

Use some of it to buy an apartment, small house and let it out as another income source to you.

@VivaVictoria no I agree, definitely sounds too good to be true

If it works for you financially and you're happy then other people's opinions are none of your business!

Are your kids still at home?

I've stayed in a lovely Air B&B a couple of times over the last 18 months. The woman who runs it (it's a large attic room with en-suite in her home), gave up teaching and uses the income from that plus supply teaching to live.

She keeps her hand in teaching, but doesn't have to worry about the red tape and all the other faff and has the flexibility to say no if she wants to do other things eg take a holiday in term time.

Maybe this could be an option for you?

A lot of people on here will suggest just giving up work altogether, or jobs related to teaching, like TA, tutoring, but I left teaching at the age of 50, and got a full-time job in tech. You can completely change career at your age. I also love driving, so did consider delivery driver/lorry driver type jobs. I knew I absolutely, categorically did not want to do anything remotely related to teaching. I love working, it gives me a purpose, so health permitting, I can see myself working into my 70s, but everyone is different.

I would quit teaching, give yourself 6 months - 1 year of not working, and see where life takes you. You may love it, in which case downsize, cut back whatever, so you never need to work again, or you may get really bored, in which case start volunteering or looking at jobs available in your area (any jobs - be completely open-minded), and see what takes your fancy - doesn't matter if it's minimum wage. If you're good, it'll soon go up anyway, if that's what you want.

Also...do not go into school first aid/student welfare is you want a stress free job 😉😁