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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To give up working at 52?

573 replies

caniquitwork · 16/02/2025 19:53

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.

OP posts:
BettyBardMacDonald · 22/02/2025 17:24

Well said, @Mirabai

Sillysoggysheep · 22/02/2025 17:26

Mirabai · 22/02/2025 17:15

How much do you have to live on now?

I get half of my late husband's pension (minus 20% tax of course) plus my reduced teachers pension as I went early (I gave up a quarter) plus my state pension since being 62. It comes to about £2800 after tax per month, but I have no mortgage and few outgoings.

pinkroses79 · 22/02/2025 17:28

I'm the same age and I am planning to only work part time when my mortgage is paid off. I've worked out that 3 days should be enough. I simply cannot imagine working full time until 67, and don't think I've got it in me. I want to have more fre time to do nice things rather than more money, and I think part time will be the perfect balance.

SholaA · 22/02/2025 18:04

It’s enough money as you have other income sources kicking in later on.

I’d do it. Take some time out and if you get bored, just have a look for something else. I’d also do it as soon as you can to have the spring and summer off.

Mirabai · 23/02/2025 08:39

Sillysoggysheep · 22/02/2025 17:26

I get half of my late husband's pension (minus 20% tax of course) plus my reduced teachers pension as I went early (I gave up a quarter) plus my state pension since being 62. It comes to about £2800 after tax per month, but I have no mortgage and few outgoings.

So, different situation to OP.

SleepyLlamaFace · 23/02/2025 08:55

sometimesmovingforwards · 16/02/2025 20:35

No, there’s no way I could bail early just because I couldn’t be arsed, to then just lead a low income ‘lazy life’.
And with 3 kids who are entering a world where property x10 salaries. Having watched mum burn through a quarter million inheritance because she found working until retirement age a chore… when they’re your age and still renting with no equity to support their own retirement, they’ll think about how utterly privileged and decedent their mum’s life was vs their own.

I have the opposite viewpoint, I watched my Mum work really hard to provide a great childhood with many opportunities and give her everything into raising us. She did not have the opportunities she worked hard to forge for us. As a result we all entered adulthood in a significantly better position than her, because of her. When she inherited a significant figure my advice (echoed by all of us) was and continues to be, spend it living the life you want, and enjoy it. Happily, she is.

Patterncarmen · 23/02/2025 09:14

Mirabai · 23/02/2025 08:39

So, different situation to OP.

Sure, but @mirabai are you in a job that you hate? That is an important factor. And what are your standards for retirement? It also depends a bit on how much the OP’s house is worth and if she can downsize and release equity. That’s why I said upthread a financial advisor was important. On the other hand, my MIL had way more than she needed when she passed at 91..about 600k. We inherited it, which is great, but she could have done more for herself. Her advisor told her so, but she was too afraid to spend it.

OP, there is a youtube channel called early retirement wanderlust, done by two teachers that retired in their early 50s. They sold their family house, bought a cottage in the Yorkshire Dales and do a lot of travel in their campervan. They will get a reduced TSP when 55. Seem to me they have this about right.

OP, I also suggest you read a book called Die with Zero. It gives some good perspective.

caniquitwork · 23/02/2025 13:03

I mean by any standard £2800 with no mortgage and few outgoings is very comfortable surely? There are families of four who get by on this - with mortgages! I appreciate they don't have much money to go around then but you can't imply that this amount is required to live on as a single person in retirement?

OP posts:
Donsyb · 23/02/2025 13:49

caniquitwork · 23/02/2025 13:03

I mean by any standard £2800 with no mortgage and few outgoings is very comfortable surely? There are families of four who get by on this - with mortgages! I appreciate they don't have much money to go around then but you can't imply that this amount is required to live on as a single person in retirement?

I don’t have that much disposable income after my mortgage so I would say more than enough!

Mirabai · 23/02/2025 13:55

caniquitwork · 23/02/2025 13:03

I mean by any standard £2800 with no mortgage and few outgoings is very comfortable surely? There are families of four who get by on this - with mortgages! I appreciate they don't have much money to go around then but you can't imply that this amount is required to live on as a single person in retirement?

Your OP is asking if you should burn through 250k in 8 years with fairly meagre pensions kicking in at 60 and 68.

If you invested the money instead and reinvested the yield, by the time you’re 60 it would be worth 300k minimum.

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 14:46

caniquitwork · 23/02/2025 13:03

I mean by any standard £2800 with no mortgage and few outgoings is very comfortable surely? There are families of four who get by on this - with mortgages! I appreciate they don't have much money to go around then but you can't imply that this amount is required to live on as a single person in retirement?

Do you really want to live on the edge?

I haven't had a mortgage in 18 years, nor a car loan, but my outgoings are more like £4500-5000 per month. I have hobbies, love to travel, give to charities, DIY/repair at the house, etc.

No point retiring only to sit around being afraid to spend.

ViolinsPlayGentlyOn · 23/02/2025 15:43

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 14:46

Do you really want to live on the edge?

I haven't had a mortgage in 18 years, nor a car loan, but my outgoings are more like £4500-5000 per month. I have hobbies, love to travel, give to charities, DIY/repair at the house, etc.

No point retiring only to sit around being afraid to spend.

Your outgoings are more than the vast majority of people earn.

You must realise you’re commenting from a very privileged position? Not being able to spend £5k a month doesn’t mean someone is living on the edge!

Patterncarmen · 23/02/2025 16:34

Mirabai · 23/02/2025 13:55

Your OP is asking if you should burn through 250k in 8 years with fairly meagre pensions kicking in at 60 and 68.

If you invested the money instead and reinvested the yield, by the time you’re 60 it would be worth 300k minimum.

Of course, but is it worth 8 years of OP’s life working in a job she doesn’t like? Average Healthy life expectancy is about 61.

It depends what you want. I’d rather have peace of mind, time with people I love, and fewer material goods than ill health caused by stress, or having given up doing things I wanted for 8 years. Some people like to blow through 5 K a month on extras. To be honest, I can’t see what the heck you can spend that kind of money on if you aren’t servicing debt or have a mortgage. When is enough, enough?

Patterncarmen · 23/02/2025 16:36

caniquitwork · 23/02/2025 13:03

I mean by any standard £2800 with no mortgage and few outgoings is very comfortable surely? There are families of four who get by on this - with mortgages! I appreciate they don't have much money to go around then but you can't imply that this amount is required to live on as a single person in retirement?

I think it is enough, but check with a financial advisor to give you a very precise idea. OP, I would really do this. Don’t stay in a job you don’t like just because of fear. Find out, and then plan accordingly.

caniquitwork · 23/02/2025 17:14

Some of these posts really are peak Mumsnet

OP posts:
ColourByNumbers88 · 23/02/2025 17:19

They sure are. Better get a second job at this rate, keep working and top up that teaching salary to 5k a month!

Mirabai · 23/02/2025 17:34

Patterncarmen · 23/02/2025 16:34

Of course, but is it worth 8 years of OP’s life working in a job she doesn’t like? Average Healthy life expectancy is about 61.

It depends what you want. I’d rather have peace of mind, time with people I love, and fewer material goods than ill health caused by stress, or having given up doing things I wanted for 8 years. Some people like to blow through 5 K a month on extras. To be honest, I can’t see what the heck you can spend that kind of money on if you aren’t servicing debt or have a mortgage. When is enough, enough?

At the age of 52 the obvious thing to do if you don’t like your job is to change it not burn through a legacy you can never replace.

MikeRafone · 23/02/2025 17:46

you can't buy time and its not going to go on forever

I'd rather have the good years

Donsyb · 23/02/2025 19:01

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 14:46

Do you really want to live on the edge?

I haven't had a mortgage in 18 years, nor a car loan, but my outgoings are more like £4500-5000 per month. I have hobbies, love to travel, give to charities, DIY/repair at the house, etc.

No point retiring only to sit around being afraid to spend.

I have nowhere near that amount of disposable income, yet I manage to travel, buy myself nice things, go out, decorate my house and I’d hardly say I was “living on the edge”.

i think you need a reality check…..

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 19:13

Donsyb · 23/02/2025 19:01

I have nowhere near that amount of disposable income, yet I manage to travel, buy myself nice things, go out, decorate my house and I’d hardly say I was “living on the edge”.

i think you need a reality check…..

I don't spend most of it on myself. I drive a 2012 Ford, live in a two-bed cottage with the kitchen not updated since 1947 and buy clothing and nearly everything else secondhand (except upholstered furniture, which my last purchase was in 2001, yes 2001, and mattresses, last purchased 10 years ago).

I help my sister who has advanced cancer, with bills and in taking her traveling and with her very large veterinary bills. Until my last dog died in 2023, I had large bills for him and his late brother. I spend a lot on making my garden a pesticide-free wildlife oasis, including seeds, plants, trees, shrubs and structure. I give a good deal to the local DV shelter, to wildlife rescue and other charities. I also since 2002 take care of all the costs and upkeep for a holiday home in the lakes that my grandfather hand-built in the late 1930s, so that extended family can enjoy it.

I help people in need - this past Christmas I spent more than 1K anonymously providing treats, food, pet food/care and gifts for two families; one a single mom with disabled kids and another brand-new young widow whose kids, 8 and 6, didn't understand why daddy died of cancer in his early 40s and were worried Santa would forget them. Let's just say Santa came through.

Also I still work fulltime at age 61 and run a side business, and do some volunteer work. My outgoings are not due to a life of sitting around eating bonbons and thinking how can I spend more money on myself. But I would not want to have to curtail doing the things that bring relief or happiness to others (and by extension to me, I'm not a selfless saint). I'd rather work a bit longer and bolster my savings. And no, I never had an inheritance and no, I don't like my job. I hate it and dread Mondays from Friday evening onward. But it makes other things possible.

XVGN · 23/02/2025 19:18

^ You're right. Everyone should just do what works for them. There is no wrong or right answer. Unless you're some callous bastard intentionally withholding your taxes from the UK government as you laze about all day watching repeats of Bargain Hunt whilst scoffing your bon-bons (lol).

aodirjjd · 23/02/2025 19:19

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 19:13

I don't spend most of it on myself. I drive a 2012 Ford, live in a two-bed cottage with the kitchen not updated since 1947 and buy clothing and nearly everything else secondhand (except upholstered furniture, which my last purchase was in 2001, yes 2001, and mattresses, last purchased 10 years ago).

I help my sister who has advanced cancer, with bills and in taking her traveling and with her very large veterinary bills. Until my last dog died in 2023, I had large bills for him and his late brother. I spend a lot on making my garden a pesticide-free wildlife oasis, including seeds, plants, trees, shrubs and structure. I give a good deal to the local DV shelter, to wildlife rescue and other charities. I also since 2002 take care of all the costs and upkeep for a holiday home in the lakes that my grandfather hand-built in the late 1930s, so that extended family can enjoy it.

I help people in need - this past Christmas I spent more than 1K anonymously providing treats, food, pet food/care and gifts for two families; one a single mom with disabled kids and another brand-new young widow whose kids, 8 and 6, didn't understand why daddy died of cancer in his early 40s and were worried Santa would forget them. Let's just say Santa came through.

Also I still work fulltime at age 61 and run a side business, and do some volunteer work. My outgoings are not due to a life of sitting around eating bonbons and thinking how can I spend more money on myself. But I would not want to have to curtail doing the things that bring relief or happiness to others (and by extension to me, I'm not a selfless saint). I'd rather work a bit longer and bolster my savings. And no, I never had an inheritance and no, I don't like my job. I hate it and dread Mondays from Friday evening onward. But it makes other things possible.

Can you really not see that your outgoings are atypical though? It’s fair enough if that’s what you want to do but it’s not a typical set of bills that most people would neee to plan for /worry about.

im pretty sure if the op had a holiday home to maintain or a relative to support or a charity she wanted to donate £-k per month to she would have mentioned it .

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 19:32

I am just saying that continuing to work gives me options. If I had retired at 52 before my sister got cancer (she had no known risk factors or family history) I'd be helpless now and her living standard would be far lower and more stressful.

The COL hikes from Brexit and Covid would have hit me harder. My dogs' heart failure treatment would have been crippling.

I guess I prefer to keep the salary coming in, just in case.

Donsyb · 23/02/2025 22:01

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 19:32

I am just saying that continuing to work gives me options. If I had retired at 52 before my sister got cancer (she had no known risk factors or family history) I'd be helpless now and her living standard would be far lower and more stressful.

The COL hikes from Brexit and Covid would have hit me harder. My dogs' heart failure treatment would have been crippling.

I guess I prefer to keep the salary coming in, just in case.

But surely you can understand why the OP would want to reduce her stress levels and retire to live what would still be a comfortable life? It’s not unreasonable for her to put herself first.

BettyBardMacDonald · 23/02/2025 22:05

Donsyb · 23/02/2025 22:01

But surely you can understand why the OP would want to reduce her stress levels and retire to live what would still be a comfortable life? It’s not unreasonable for her to put herself first.

I can certainly understand why she would want to; I'd retire tomorrow morning if it were practical. But in her case it would not be farfetched that she could live another 40 years. I would hate to be caught short in my late 70s or 80s more than I hate getting up and going to work every day in my early 60s. If I die well before then, well, the joke is on me.