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.

You have a wealth of experience and transferable skills 🙏

I haven't done the sums properly yet I must admit! Too busy with work and life in general 🙈

Go for it.
If you are interested in care work the NHS hospitals have a "bank staff" department. Internal locum and it works great for thise who want flexibility and your night find a new career once your work in a few areas.
That's what I did for 3 years and I gaibed so much experience that's I was a hot commodity when I left. Very employable. I worked with IT, Infornation Governance, GMC Manager, HR, Security (admin roles) pay was band 3 / 4 in some positions. As it is Bank work 0 hour contract no sick or holiday pay.

Why does it have to be a choice between quitting working completely and getting a different job? Even a part time job outside of your skillset in a different field? Bit of admin?

It’s 2K per month for 10 years (give or take), if that works for you ..go for it. It will probably add years to your life with the removal of work stress.

24, 22 and 19.

Set up in good careers/jobs? Finished education?

There's a piece for me about spending a 250K inheritance, on retiring young, when you have three kids just starting out. Considering cost of living, housing market, they may not have the luxury of getting a house, never mind retiring early.

Looking at your children's ages, the youngest is likely to be still in education. I'd hang on just a few more years until they are all working and not financially dependent on you.

You'll still be retiring nice and early and it sounds as if you're happy to live fairly frugally until the teaching and state pensions kick in.

OP, teachers are eminently employable in lots of other areas - you have great skills and a lot to give. This profession does such a number on some people... I'm sure you could get a job in a related area of education, perhaps in the local council. I've known disillusioned and exhausted teachers to do this. And there may well be part-time jobs.

You’d probably struggle a bit giving up work entirely but getting a part time job with less responsibility to top it up could be the ideal compromise. A job a couple of days a week in a supermarket, cafe or somewhere where you won’t have the huge responsibility. Or register as a childminder, there’s responsibility with that obviously but the money can be good and can be enjoyable if you like children.

What are your outgoings like eg are you having to support them at uni.
Work wise you could look at being an after school nanny - pick up/supervise homework. Local authorities often have roles related to education, often wfh.

It's quite young to retire completely. Why not do something else for a bit to see if you like it? You don't have pressure to take anything and can be choosy. You may choose to use different criteria to select a job, good location, good hours, or just to try something new. Work is quite social and often good for mental health (obviously not horrible jobs!)

A lot depends on how much your youngest needs financial support. Are you helping with uni or similar for any of your children?
You can afford to do it just but I wouldn't want to watch my spending so carefully. Inflation will erode the spending power of your inheritance. I would leave the job you hate and do something else for a bit.

I retired at 50. £250k will buy you a house or possibly two apartments you could rent out. Doesn’t have to be in the area where you live as you could use a management company, though you need to research these thoroughly. Look for a gross return of at least 7%. I’ve seen a few recently that would give a gross return of 10%.

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.

Go part time and look at other options - gives you some breathing space to decide.

you have loads of skills that people want. Lots of management jobs, if you can look after 30 kids you can look after 10 adults

I would.Several close and old friends have died in the past few years.Life is too short.

Maybe OP's children would be happy to see their Mum enjoying her life rather than expecting them to fund theirs. I inherited from my Mum but never expected to, I'd rather she spent her money enjoying life and being comfortable.

I think in your shoes I would look
for an alternative job instead…

I would!

I would leave your job and look for something else that you don’t hate that will help you tick along until your pension kicks in.

Do your children have their dad in their lives or is it just you they would go to if they needed help? It would be nice if you could help them out with a portion of the £250k - I’m sure they would likely need the help for a deposit somewhere down the link. I think it would be a bit selfish to use it for living for the next 8 years. Also risky as you never know what’s down the road.

Can you invest it so have 10k a year to live off and go part time teaching? 2 days a week? For a year to see how it goes.That means you can keep adding to your TP, and consider what else you might want to do as a Pt job and not touch the capital of your investment.

What would your dream job be @caniquitwork if you didn't have to earn a certain amount for bills etc?
Can you do something that interests you or that you'd find enjoyable? I would love to work in a bookshop or library. I currently work in the NHS and if i was in your financial position, i would be looking at a simpler, more enjoyable job to take me up to age 60. We never know how many years of retirement are ahead of us, so i would take the chance to step back from a hectic, draining & challenging job.
Good luck.

I don't think you have enough money to do it...you have to factor in things like your boiler has a life expectancy of 10 years, the washing machine and fridge freezer may go. You can't predict what inflation is going to be in 5 years...remember no more boom and bust. Interest rates are currently falling and so any savings will diminish in returns.

can you stick it out for a few more years when you can access your pension, swop to a job that covers your bills but gives satisfaction?

I retired in my 40s … and no regrets

However I will say YABU as you need to have a robust plan before doing this, as
I think once you get used to living life on your own terms, it is impossible to go back.

Step 1 is to work out how much you need to live on

Step 2 is to work out to fund this e.g. interest on deposits, capital withdrawals, dividends on investments, rents etc …

Step 3 is to test your assumptions against some real world scenarios e..g

• what if the safe withdrawal rate is 3% rather than 4% mentioned by PP
• what extra funds do you expect your property will need (when was roof last replaced ? Etc … )
• what contingency do you put on the amount in step 1

Some PP have jumped to Step 2 but I would say it is pointless without a good grasp of Step 1

I am afraid none of this is very exciting, but IMO necessary

Also stop this nonsense about not feeling confident to try different part time jobs. You were a teacher which mean you have bags of transferable skills and are equipped to handle just about anything

I think that once you leave teaching and have a bit of headspace, you will feel more confident to look at other options.
Whether a part time basic admin role, something related to your subject (part time in a museum or gallery), work part time on a local shop or the library. Or as pp have suggested look at buying a rental property. You could get something a bit 'unloved' rather than a total building project, spend a year redecorating etc and then rent it out/sell it for profit...
You could do a bit of volunteering when you finish to get your confidence back, see what suits you etc.
I do think that the constant negativity in teaching can make you feel like you are less capable than you are ( I am a former teacher).

They have a Dad but he has no money.
They do already have some money from the same inheritance that will pay for a deposit