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.

First day back has certainly strengthened my resolve to leave or at least do something different

@caniquitwork good for you.

This has been such an interesting & eye-opening thread that has made me more determined than ever to enjoy life whilst I’m young and healthy. DH & I have a tiny pension pot (sub £100k) so long-since accepted we will have to work well into our 60’s and downsize to release a similar sounding amount of money to you op.

Despite this, at 57 our mortgage will be paid off so we are taking a small amount from that meagre pension and going travelling in our camper van & house sitting across UK & Europe. When we return we may get our old jobs back (but fairly low paid/manual type jobs but high demand) if not we’ll just do something else - work in a shop, call centre, PA - whatever we can find. Just got to decide whether we sell up & downsize first or rent out and enjoy the monthly rental income for our current place.

@PhoebeMcPeePee that sounds exciting. How long are you planning to travel for? Personally I'd rent out the house and take the rental income, then paint it on return and downsize then. I'd expect the rental income would outweigh the valuation growth. I think if you sell now it would be more tempting to fritter the money away.

My dad was also a teacher.
He announced at 50 that he was done with it. Said it was a young persons game - and as a 40yo teacher myself, I think I agree!
Retired about a month before his 51st birthday.

Then had 11 years of very happy retirement with my mum (who never worked), got ill one random September, then died very suddenly almost exactly a year later at 62 - almost 63.

Life is very short, and full of twists and turns. There's no point being unhappy.

I would get an easy part time job to keep the money ticking over. It’s not quite enough, even living frugally. You do have dc to consider too.

I think she should live life, yes, but if she burns through all that money by her early 60's I think she will regret it. 60 is still pretty young.

What does she need to consider about her DC? They’re adults.

What is the point of a legacy if not to spend it and enjoy your life? Shrouds don’t have pockets.
Or is the entire point of life to make money and watch it grow in the bank?

Young enough to enjoy life rather than waiting until retirement age.

Yes. Is 8 years of life doing what you like not worth spending the money on? I find it really odd that people are so wedded to working as long as possible. If you don’t have to, why do it. Isn’t it better to travel, make memories, spend time with people you love? When you get very old, are you going to remember those times, or time at the office?

Good for you @caniquitwork

There's a middle ground. The sum that she has is a great safety net. She has the luxury of taking a fun low paying job, going part time, or teaching abroad. Taking a risk. If she is part time, she can have time to travel. If she has some money coming in, she will still have some money left when she's 60.

She can have her cake and eat it, too.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat
60 is when she would run out of money, and it's way too young to be living on tea and toast. If she completely retires now and burns through it, she is likely to turn around and think "I wish I still had some of that big lump sum".

Yes, some people drop dead at 59, but the odds are that she will be in reasonable health at that age.

And some people unexpectedly live into their 90s and if they have not provided for this financially life can be really really tough. It’s no fun being elderly and poor.

As I said upthread, the average healthy life expectancy in the UK is about 62 for women. THat’s ONS statistics. She’s not running out of money at 60. From what I understand she will have get about £2800 after tax per month in other pensions. Would you trade your statistically last healthy years of your life for money?

Yes, sure. But if you plug in age 52 into the life expectancy calculator, the average life expectancy is 87. The chances of living well into your 90s are smaller.

IF you have assets and have to go into care, these assets will be spent on care. That’s why there are rules about deprivation of assets to avoid this.

As philosopher Martin Hägglund writes: Rather, our economy requires that we treat one another as means (‘ human capital’) for the end of producing profit. What counts in a capitalist economy is that we are producing and consuming commodities, rather than that we are flourishing as human beings. Our well-being, and the well-being of the ecosystem of which we are a part, does not have any economic ‘value’ in itself but only insofar as we can profit from it.

52

I can’t wait to retire and pay no tax or NI!

£12k a year pension and savings ! Not one penny to the government pot! They have had enough.

I thought that the penion figure was from another poster, which may or may not be relevant to OP?

If she's 52 now, it would be very easy to burn completely through the lump sum between now and then if she has no other income. It's implied that was what she was considering doing.

I agree that she needs to live life, which likely means ditching the current job. I just don't think relying entirely on the lump sum is wise.

However, developing a medical condition in your 60s does not automatically mean that you are incapacitated.

And having no emergency fund at that relatively young age could be regrettable.

becoming institutionalised isn’t difficult & people find change hard. Even positive change can be hard. People take great comfort & security from routine & security that they know. Jumping if a high diving board into the unknown is scary for many, it’s not unusual.

Quibbling over late 80s or early 90s is rather missing the point.

OP would still have 27 years of life to fund after 60 if she died at 87.

Deprivation of assets only applies to state not private care, and it’s absolutely worth using your hard earned assets to pay for decent care if you can afford it - care homes are not all made equal.

I'm really not expecting to be immobile and unable to enjoy life from age 62. I do expect that I may have niggly health issues, but from what I have observed of my DPs and other elderly people, most seem able to travel and fully enjoy life age60-70, start having medical issues 70-75, then slowing down a lot at 75 and 80+.

52 seems very early to stop all economic earnings without a very secure financial plan. If I were OP I would focus on working out exactly what she would get at each point.

I wouldn't worry about money for a care home though. At £2000 per week for most private homes ( because you subsidise the state patients) hardly anyone can future proof more than a couple of years in a care home.

No-one worries about care when they’re young, but having many elderly relatives the difference between being able to afford good care or not is stark.

It’s not all about care homes - people can go on for years at home with targeted care from a good agency.

Care homes start around £750 - 1500 pw depending on needs and area, £2000+ is for the really plush ones. Many private homes don’t take local authority-funded patients at all, although private patients will receive state benefits - pension, attendance or nursing care allowance.

What a way to live, working until we drop to pay for carers or a care home. We’re stuffed anyway, limited savings and a flat with a short lease that wouldn’t cover care costs for one of us for very long, let alone both of us, so we’re enjoying ourselves why we can. My Dad always said he wished he’d worked less and there’s no way I want to look back and think that.

I think weighing up living a "quieter" lifestyle is possible for many of us.
It's not all beans on toast.
But the idea of not working is joyful.