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.

How far away is 60? Depends if you’re 30 or 55.

that's literally in the title of this thread!

I'd get a two or three days a week part time job I could leave at the door and try and save a bit more, but agree get some decent financial advice.

I retired early but could take an ok pension at 55. I had a year with zero income apart from income from my investments but have a husband to share expenses.

Do a spreadsheet with every single expense. It cost us 28k for everything, no mortgage or housing costs last year. That included food for three adults and 2 UK holidays for 2, running one car and eating out a fair bit, lunches though so cheaper than evening dinner. Our main hobby is hiking so cheap as we have all the gear already, just needing occasional replacement.

How many years NI do you have for full state pension? I am guessing 31 years, so you are 4 short currently. You can pay in extra to cover those years, it was £850 per year to top up, you would need to check the level now.

Now is not the time to become an amateur landlord, there was a time but with new legislation it’s much harder. You get one bad tenant it can totally wipe out any gains.

I'm same age as you Op and gave up teaching and now work in TA role- money is rubbish but far less stressful than teaching, no prep or planning, no marking, no staff meetings, no paperwork etc. literally turn up, do my job and go home at 3.30pm so have lots of free time and the money is enough to live on if you have no mortgage.

You also can’t live your life just so that your kids inherit, I’m about to spend a bloody fortune in next couple of months. I never expected and never inherited anything from my parents.

@OneBadKitty that sounds great.
I have a TLR and am so sick of all the paperwork

Not necessarily short in contributions for state pension. The 35 years only applies to people who started paying NI after 2016. OP could have enough contributions already. For people paying in before 2016 a recalculation was done at that point. The range of years needed is from about 29 to 45 depending on their circumstances. Given that OP only paid into her teachers pension for 15 years it is highly likely she wasn't contacted out for long and has enough contributions now.

You will be in borderline poverty for the next 30 or so years but I guess you could.

You need to get proper financial advice as you could be setting yourself up for a shitty end of life

250k is a huge amount to invest, to start something that will grow your money. Rich people are often rich because they start out with capital. You have capital so there’s no reason for you to ever not have money again. And definitely no reason to slog your guts out doing low paid part time jobs!
Even a basic low risk investment account can get you over 5%. Or, as others have said, invest in property, shares- diversify, you don’t have to go high risk but you should be able to grow that money and get by just fine.

I think of you could find a decent property or 2 to rent out it would be a safer option, as you are getting an income without (hopefully) depleting your capital. This combined with a part time job would hopefully give you a modest income. And would mean you’d hopefully have £300-£350k properties in 10 years time.

I think the problem with solely retiring would possibly be that you would spend more money even just doing the day to day things unless you lived a very frugal lifestyle which might become tiresome very quickly.

also. Just to point out to other posters. Drawing £25k is the equivalent of a £40k salary after tax and Nat insurance in comparable terms

I've done this on much less - I haven't been able to retire fully but I've been able to cut my hours down to one day a week. I don't want to retire fully anyway as I love my job, so it suits me. I would not have had the knowledge or confidence to do this prior to seeing my excellent financial advisor.
The clincher for me was that my best friend and 3 close acquaintances have all now lost their lives to cancer. Age ranges from 46-52. I'm just not prepared to take the gamble of waiting until I'm 67. I also don't want a life of cruising and expensive holidays so or was doable. My time is now spent with my kids (living independently) and my dogs, with an odd weekend thrown in. I also have a motorhome and am planning my first long trip away with a friend.
Two useless and abusive exDP/H behind me and I've never been happier than I am currently.

Borderline poverty seems a bit strong for the position I'm in?

@caniquitwork you could easily fit in with the civil service with your background.

I left teaching 2 years ago. It can happen for you too.

Maybe look for something in receptionist/admin role?

Were you actually considering quitting work before this money appeared? There's no way I could take the money that someone else worked hard for/saved all their life and fritter it away, so I didn't have to work any more. Travelling, a holiday home, a horse, something tangible, useful, inheritable, maybe, but not sitting on my arse. If you are determined to leave teaching, make sure you get another job first, or this money will go to waste.

Your kids may also have inherited enough for a deposit, but that doesn't mean they are set up for life. They won't get a pension like your teacher's pension and they won't get a state pension until they are 70 +, if they are lucky. Infertility expenses, medical bills no longer guaranteed by the NHS. The cost of living crisis will soon become a way of life for them.

I say get another job, put some more of the inheritance in trust for your children, and then spend what's left over on your living expenses while you wait for your pension.

Well you’d be living on far less than minimum wage for the next 30 years. You could do it - but there will be no holidays, no socialising no frivolities. And do you even have the max state pension if you’ve only been paying into a private for 15 years? I have a high earning job (over £80k) and have been paying in a decent amount for 20 years (almost 20 to go before retirement) and am currently projected an annuity that will give me about £30k a year. So not loads.

If you love living extremely frugally go for it. I’d hate it

I would have done at your age if I had been in the position to do so. Life is short, and it’s important to be happy. Your kids are old enough not to be a consideration in the financial sense. If the worst comes to the worst then there would always be something you could do, even if going back to your current role would not be viable.

Good luck, and do come back and tell us when you pull the plug x

I’ve been treading water jobwise for several years, waiting until I can retire (next summer at the earliest, due to my age) but I’ve just landed a job in a different sector which I absolutely love and I’m hoping to keep working past that date now. I looked into it quite carefully, and in your shoes, I’d consider investing in one or two rental properties in a fairly cheap area. With no mortgage payments to make, you could receive a decent income from those, without losing the capital. Obviously there’s a risk that the market crashes, but with no mortgage you wouldn’t be subject to interest rate changes, and house values themselves won’t affect you unless you decide to sell in the future.

I absolutely would, in a heartbeat. But then I’m the least risk-averse person you could meet. What is the point in having available money but being unhappy? You’ll never get the years back.
And an asteroid ☄️ is coming.

I went part time and loved it am actually going full-time in April at 55 as money is running out and I have rent to pay.

Honestly OP, some people are so bloody miserable on here. You'll be fine, take some time out to restock and then find something low stress/ part time to keep you going.
Quite honestly you're in a better position than many people.

Honestly OP, some people are so bloody miserable on here. You'll be fine,

@HornyHornersPinkyWinky i really don’t think op should be making absolutely massive life decisions based on some random saying ‘you’ll be fine.’ You have no proper understanding of her financial situation or what she’s proposing or what that will mean for the last 30 odd years of her life. A wrong move now will fuck it all up

You sound like you need to but before you resign if you are at the point where you can’t face school anymore and where it is making you ill then do remember you can have time off - six months on full pay if it is needed- so if you need to speak to a gp, lose the tlr, ask for part time etc then there are other options.

Practically I would keep the 250 but take the interest annually while you need it and go part time/ tutor or find other work and look to rebuild your confidence and self worth.

That money could then be spent more purposefully which may give you more pleasure.

Speak to an IFA and ask for a cash flow analysis

1. Search here for either a p/t or f/t hybrid or remote working role to give you better work life balance.

https://www.charityjob.co.uk/

1. Seek some financial advice regarding the £250k, I wouldn't spend it on daily living expenses. Can you max out ISA's, premium bonds and pensions with it.

1. Can you turn your inherited house into an air b& b?

I am your age. I would be bored to tears if I gave up work now