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.

Could you retire from full time teaching, but sign up for ad hoc supply teaching?

From my perspective your finances look doable/good so my view is go for it and enjoy a simpler life and your time x

Go for it! My mother is retirement age and I'd love for her to enjoy what time she has left rather than think about us. After all, you'll likely have your house as inheritance so see it that way!

You could always pick up supply as a back up if needed down the line to tide you over too.

Id probably separate the money out

put £160k away earning interest for the long term 8 years and hope to get £533 per month from that

Then take the £90,000 and have that to last me 8 years, drawing £937 a month from that to live on

making a total of £1470.5 a month to live on mortgage free

The advantage is that the £90k will still be earning interest over the 8 years at a decreasing amount so you'd still have £18,070 left of that money at the end of the 8 years

giving you a total of £178,000

In 8 years time you'll still have the £160k and still be earning interest on that money

You'd be earning the equivalent of £20,000 without a mortgage or rent and considering some people are paying £1000 a month rent, Im not sure what the issue is? £32000 is an average wage

I haven't subtracted tax - but that will be minimal as you already have some cash in ISA, you'll get a £12.500 tax allowance and each year place more money in ISA for tax free savings

Like many others have said, you need to plan this very carefully. Set up some spreadsheets that cover the next 30 years or speak to a financial advisor. Look up reddit posts on the FIRE movement. (Financial Independence Retire Early)

First of all: have you worked enough years to qualify for full state pension? If not, you will still need to earn at least £6400/y to qualify. Personally I would still go for earning at least the Personal Allowance of £12,570. This would also help your borrowing capacity if you need it.

DO NOT buy a BTL. With forthcoming legislation that is anti-landlord, it will be far more stress than it's worth. Investing in funds will give a better return for less work.

You sound burnt out and I understand you'd want to throw it all in. I don't think it's about the work, it's about finding a change of direction that is in more in line with who you are. Personally I think you can afford to take a step back from full time work but not give up working entirely. It is not good for mental health to be doing "nothing".

Look up CareerShifters who have some low cost webinars and workshops, so you can start researching what you could do next. Good luck.

It sounds like you would prefer a bit more security, so how about looking for roles/options now, getting your CV in order, and planning to start something new in September?

One of my friends has just left teaching and is tutoring children who can’t be in school. She mostly teaches English and maths, but that’s not her specialism. I think searching EOTAS vacancies would probably pull up those opportunities.

Otherwise, something totally different? Either something you’d enjoy, or something ‘easy’?

No, I wouldn't do it. Why? Because IMO you don't have enough savings to do that. I understand that you feel fed up, but retiring at 52 would be madness after so few years working FT. You're in the prime of your life and you're in prime earning years. It would be crazy to risk living in poverty in your old age, in order to say 'Fuck it' and jack it all in now. Do you really want to have to scrimp and save and live frugally for the rest of your life? You have another 15 years until state pension age and you can save a huge amount in that time, now your kids are grown up and no longer making demands on your time.

So if I were you I'd find a new job, switch to a new career, do online tutoring - there is loads of demand for that. But that lovely £250k nest egg will soon be gone if you use it for day-to-day living. That is your security for your old age, for those big expenses that you seem to not be considering - a new boiler, a new roof, a new car, making improvements to your house - you will almost certainly need that money as time goes by. And if you don't, you can pass it on to your DC, who are going to get bugger all from your ex.

You can tutor in another subject, just drop down a few years. Or do a TA role part time.

Don't compare other people's experiences in getting/not getting a job after to teaching to yours, they're worlds apart.

But I agree with seeing what you want to do and taking some time for that first.

Absolutely don't retire, that's a terrifyingly small amount of money.

I know landlords are the devil on here. Could you buy a BTL for a monthly income?
I have one , it's my pension.

It's not a case of landlords being the devil - its a case of will it give the best and easiest return?

It's in the thread title

This is turning into such a rollercoaster! I know I definitely need to make a change. At the moment I feel so overwhelmed that even the bit about doing research and/or meeting an IFA feels overwhelming. But I do want security and I don't want to have to scrimp and save all the time.

I think what you have to look at OP is making the middle ground work.

Leave your current post and look for something lower stress and part time. Even at NMW, it will bring in around £1k pm so well on the way to covering your basic living costs.

Then talk to a financial planner about making the £250k work as hard as possible to cover the loss of income until your pensions kick in.

This is really good advice. Don't just go from working to nothing. I've seen too many people fall into a downward spiral doing that.

Spend time and money working on why your confidence is so low and do things to build it up. Even of that is therapy - 52 is the classic emote nest/loss of purpose time of life, especially for women. Having interests and activities outside of work will help you cope in the meantime with whatever is making you unhappy with teaching as well.

Find a job to go to before giving up teaching. Often going full time first then dropping to part time is easier. There are a lot of transferable skills from teaching; some career counselling will help work out what might interest you which use these.

I always think it's better to think things through logically when you aren't feeling super stressed as it can lead to bad decisions.

The most sensible thing would be to look for the middle ground as suggested. Remove the burden of stress that you feel now and you will feel completely different to how you currently feel. This will then open your eyes to other possibilities that still pay you an income. You could then use the interest on your inheritance capital to supplement your monthly income without actually using the capital.

How self sufficient are your older teen/young adult DC ?
If you only have to be financially responsible for yourself then do it's a much simpler decision than if you are still supporting them.
But I think as a teacher you are in a very good position to supplement your pension/inheritance income if needed.

250k would have to cover 8 years, there are pensions coming in then.

£1k a month! You can’t live off that. Well you possibly can but it would be miserable.

I’m a millennial. I’m reading this thread because I’m considering my retirement. I lost my own parents decades ago and I have adult DC of a similar age to the OP. My mortgage is paid off and I’m trying to boost up my pension enough to retire within the next ten years.

As much as I’d like us to be, millennials aren’t the younger people any more.

More like £1500 as TP would start then as well, but I take your point

This thread has been such an eye opener, I've gone from feeling incredibly lucky and privileged and dare I say well
off to feeling very financially insecure 🙈

I second the David Fountain fb group and also if you’re with the NEU (and possibly other unions) you can get a free financial advice online meeting from the Wesleyan.

I know that you can take your TP at 55, but there is a scaled percentage loss of the TP for every year before 60. I retired at 59 1/2 and barely lost any of my TP, but I had been teaching for 37 years (some part-time) and only a few months “penalty”

I retired and then went part-time in the same job - as long as you don’t exceed what you were previously earning full-time, you can draw TP and work part-time - could this work for you?

making a total of £1470.5 a month to live on mortgage free

but what happens when the boiler needs replacing and costs £5k - that’s nearly 4 months ‘salary’ - where does that money come from?

or money because the roof needs repairing, if she needs new glasses, or the car breaks down, or she just wants to go on holiday! @MikeRafone its insane to not think of these things and confidently assert living off of £1470 is fine.

Remember people have very varying lifestyles. I would recommend looking at some financial education for yourself (not an IFA) to help you feel more confident in the financial decisions. I like Jeremy Schnieder on Insta (US based but great infographics), Rebel Finance School or meaningful money.
Work on emergency fund, what you need to live on, what would be sensible spending money, remember you are hoping to still earn money too. I yhink you are in s good position but it depends if you live a lavish or simple lifestyle and whereabouts you live too.

I would be worried at 52 you would run out of money or not have money if you urgently needed medical help and nhs waitlist too long. Then your kids might offer to step in but you wouldn't want them to feel that way.
How about exam invigilator or something like that part time? Just something you reduce your impact on your capital