How does this sound to you?

[aliceofyork]

Please no haters. I'm aware I'm lucky compared to many.

I'm 62. I work in a very stressful medical job and have worked FT till 4 months ago when I dropped to pt and took my NHS pension. It's just north of£50k a year.

I have three children. I spit with their father who was abusive to them and me more than 10 years ago. He contributes nothing to their upkeep, and does not financially support them either. They are now teens / young adults.

Two are at Uni, on minimum maintainence loans. They work during the Summer to pay for part of their accommodation costs and top up their loans. I still have to pay approx 6k a year between the two for their costs. Which will rise as one is doing medicine and will be FT at Uni after this Summer.

One child has significant disabilities. Is currently unrmployed and living at home. We are making slow progress with their PIP application and transition to supported working.

I have about £70k in savings. I also have a mortgage of £250 k which will be paid off by a maturing investment in the next 12 months. I might inherit a substantial sum in the future, which if I do I will pass on to my children, but of course it may be needed for care home fees. I have never included this in any planning for the future. I live on the outskirts of London - at present I am reluctant to sell my home and downsize as the kids need a home.

I feel horribly anxious about my financial situation and about my future. I can't go on working much longer, certainly not till 67. I can manage fine on my pension, but I don't know how I will continue to support my children.

It sounds OK to me?
You have a great pension and will be clearing your mortgage soon. Surely without a mortgage payment things will become even more comfortable and you could start putting money aside?

One factor that you may not have considered is that once you retire, your outgoings may reduce significantly. No more travel costs, expensive work clothes, lunch from the cafeteria etc. On a £50K pension I would expect that you would still be able to put aside a fair amount to boost your savings, especially with the mortgage paid off.

An alternative might be to not pay off all of the mortgage and keep some of the capital from the maturing investment as reserves?

If you end up needing additional capital in later life, you could always look at equity release if you plan on staying in the same property.

Your situation is indeed fortunate in comparison to many, but you have worked hard and deserve to enjoy your retirement years, rather than working yourself into the ground in a stressful job. Your children would want you to look after yourself as well as them.

Thank you.

I think maybe I'm just becoming anxious in general as I'm living very frugally at the moment and still not able to make much contributions to my savings. I've just had a bill for almost £10k for essential plumbing works (I live in a OLD house) and I'm panicking that a few more of these could leave me very short.

I'm just so exhausted at the thought of 5 more years to work, even part time

Retiring is a time of big transition and big decisions - it's not surprising you feel anxious as you contemplate it. Like getting married, buying a house or starting a family it's a big change. So firstly don't beat yourself up about it making you anxious.

If you aren't physically able to work for 5 more years - and you have a pension that's enough to live on now - that certainly sounds like it's pushing you to retire soon. As to whether you could also "support your children" - it sounds like the main support needed is to your son who lives at home. The other two at university have their own loans and work income.

As others have said, consider perhaps not paying ALL the mortgage off at once (if that's allowed and you can keep it going longer) to give more flexibility until the two at Uni have graduated and got jobs of their own.

Ultimately though only you can decide the right time to retire from the NHS, and whether you can or should do any other less tiring job instead to help boost your income afterwards.

Set a day a whole aside and do a monthly and annual budget and a 5 and 10 year plan. Control your money rather than have it control you.

50k is pretty vague is that or or post tax and does that include salary or not. Did you take full pension. When does state pension kick in and what was the lump sum? How much is that a month? How much savings? J

Then set aside two hours a week manage your.

I speak from experiences

Whatever your current role is you can leave and work in "Tesco on the tills" to supplement your pension

The biggest liability is your old house. So you want to move into more manageable home as old house are hard work and cost money and increasingly hard to manage.

You need to plan for your life now and you children will have whatever's left. Write a will.

My mum felt the same when she retired 10 years ago at 60.

I can explain how I budget if your wish.

You need to understand your pension plan. Is it just workplace, how much is it, do you have a private one, when can you claim, how much etc.
£70k doesn’t take you that far at 62 while still supporting 3 young adult children and the mortgage to fund for another year or more.

Look at downsizing or at least moving to a modern house less likely to need so much expensive upkeep. Adult kids can share a room if they come home after uni as it's likely only relatively short term. You have to put yourself and your disabled kid first. Sounds like you've done incredibly well to have such huge savings and investments while supporting a family! You should be very proud!

Will your DC be eligible for a higher loan amount in future, given the change in your circumstances?

It's great that you have your NHS pension, that's not to be sniffed at at all.

Can I say what a wonderful mother you are? My mother would never have written this, I don't think she ever thought about how I would pay for myself once I left home. She had a fair bit of inherited wealth but I was very much on my own after 18. She even mocked how cheap and small my flat was! But never offered to help buy me a larger one! I was fine by the way and wasn't even aware of her finances until she died and I had to go through them!
I do think you should move though, older properties always need big works doing to them. I had a builder once who said somewhat terrifyingly, " No foundations of course these houses.! " Also a surveyor who was doing a report for my upstairs neighbour said the house I lived would probably not collapse as it was in the habit of standing up. So yeah buy a newer property.

Have a read through this https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/ It shows how much you need annually for different lifestyles in retirement. You are between moderate and comfortable, but when your state pension kicks in, you will go into the comfortable range.

Thank you all so much. I really appreciate your thoughtful advice and kind words.

@fatgirlswims , the pension is pre tax, but excludes my part time income. I will get a state pension (full) at 67. I definitely cannot afford to retire until the mortgage is paid off, but I might be able to if I downsize once it is.
I mean before 67.

Part of my issue about moving is that to release 'enough' equity I would need to move 'somewhere else', because of the costs of moving and the stamp duty due on properties in the SE. I'm reluctant to leave my support network just now, my elderly parents are close and need increasing support, and the processes with adult social care for my eldest child will all be all be stopped / disrupted if I move boroughs.

I also don't know where to go , or what to buy. I only want to move once , and a property suitable for now, will be much too big in 5 years (I hope) ...

I will set aside that day, and look at some options. I agree I could retire from my current stressful job and do something else ( with much less stress) to earn some money ! It is also true that once the mortgage is gone I will be able to save. But I don't think I will be able to just stop at that point, which is what I really wanted to do !!

@Notgoodatpoetrybutgreatatlit , I'm
So sorry your mum didn't share her good fortune. My view is that my children and I are close family. What I have (if I have) I will distribute between us so we are ALL ok, as good as we can be. I could not sit on hundreds of thousands whilst my kids struggled.. IF I inherit money (and of course it's a big IF) I will pass it on at the right time -eg when the children need a deposit for a house or want to do a post grad degree. I will probably put my disabled child's in a trust or, if they are in employment, try to get them a small flat , so they are secure. I will have enough (when I downsize) and that's all I need.

50k pension is around 4200 per month

Plus part time earnings?

That is a very good income

What is the issue?

I'd plan to move at 67 and then factor in the state pension also.

How much is mortgage?

£500 per month on university costs reducing to £250?

House hold bills (food and utilities around £1000)?

Other spending £1000?

I have a horse ... that swallows up quite a lot. But it's my biggest joy and I really don't want to let that go...

I am retired, the mortgage is paid off and I live very comfortably on £22K pa.

You will be fine and still be able to help your children.