Help me not to quit yet

[tiredofthisshit21]

Hope this doesn't come across as a brag about my pension pot because it's not meant to be. I just turned 56 and set myself a goal of working until the end of next year before I retire. I started a new job earlier this year after leaving a very toxic one where I was made to feel a bit worthless. I nearly quit work at that point but didn't want to finish my career on a low. New job is mainly good if a little challenging starting again with a new organisation in my 50s, but team around me and manager are very supportive. I WFH most of the time. My issue is that I just can't bring myself to care about any of it and I just can't be bothered most days. I do my work to a good standard but I don't put in any extra effort.

Financials: couple of years left on mortgage but DH could cover it if I quit as he intends to work for another 2-3 years before retiring. He earns £70k ish.
£400k DC pension pot, with £5k pa DB kicking in at 60 (mine, not DH's. He will have a modest pension too when he retires).
£100k in ISAs (again, just mine)
No dependent kids

I know that if I kept going for another year or so I would be better off financially as I'd be able to save around another £20k into ISAs, as well as continuing to add to my pension pot and having another year of growth.

Help me to see that it's only another year and I should just stick it out?

I would crunch the numbers, work out what your income will be and if it’s where you are happy quit. I’d love to give up work, I’m 59 and just don’t have quite enough savings/pension yet. I changed careers in my 50s and am struggling to care that much. I need the money not the challenge. I run my own business on the side and have a second job, I could maximise these next year when some pensions mature. It’s so very tempting.

What income do you need when you retire? Do you feel comfortable you have enough knowledge/comfort about finances?

It can be difficult to decide when to retire because work often becomes part of our identity. I'm still working at 59, but hope to retire in 2 years as Istill support my youngest. I do enjoy my job however and feel I have projects to complete before I finally stop working. I also want to build up a side hustle.I wouldn't been keen for a minimum wage job as I did that when children were young and realised it was more restricting around time off for holidays etc.

I think you need clear objectives/targets for retirement. I will retire when I have xyz, which can be a fixed monetary figure.

@UnijourneyI probably need about £2k per month net.

I wish I could help, but I have a mostly formed plan in my head to retire next year at 56 and i am really struggling to keep going until then... I seem to have mentally switched off plus feel entirely burnt out. If you have a plan of how you will spend the days and have done the finances then i would say go for it! The main thing keeping me at work is having 2 kids at uni until next year.

Do you need to care?

If it’s a career move and you’re looking to step up the ladder you do.

If it’s a means to an end, to make the first 5 years of retirement a lot more financially comfortable then Im not sure you need to care. You need to not hate it. You need to get some quality of life gain from it. That could be the nice coffee shop round the corner that you pop to mid morning. Or the swanky gym membership you use your salary income that’s higher than pension income to pay for. Or the holidays you’ve got booked that it’s funding.

Mildly dull work that funds excitement and satisfaction in the rest of life sounds an ideal final pre retirement role.

@ScaryM0nster you're completely right and that's what I'm bearing in mind. It's just paid for my David Lloyd membership and will pay for my upcoming ikos holiday. Get your tiny violins out eh 😂. But I spent today being barely civil to clients asking stupid questions because I've had no sleep for two nights. Must not get myself sacked...

F it, I’m taking a long lunch / late start / early finish as exhausted. Will make up the time / take as sick is also a very valid option when shattered and not looking for a promotion.

I bit the bullet the day after my 57th birthday. I never looked back on my great career and didn't care if I left with a high or a low. It was time, and there was an early retirement/redundancy package available and that made it easier to just get out of dodge. I didn't take up any other work after I left. That was it, my working life of nearly 40 years was done since my first full time job at 18 and moving up through the promotions bit by bit.

I've never regretted it, not for a single minute. I love my life now and TBH I don't do all that much apart from keeping active with walks and trips to places around me, and travelling three or four times a year. I don't need constant stimulation, I'm happy to do as little as possible since I did as much as possible for many years!

I am single no kids, so I just rely on myself. No debts, mortgage paid off, good pension + State Pension now, and I'm one of the lucky ones to enjoy decent health (knock on wood). I'm 68 now and still flying it and I didn't even get a cat lol. 😊

@wuminty I'm aiming to continue until just after my 57th birthday. Lovely to hear your happy retirement story.

What is the DB on your calculations? Is it disability allowance? If there is an element of ill health then that would persuade me to retire sooner.
I'm looking to retire at 57 next March.

35 years in the NHS and it gets harder every year. I spend my days telling patients that I'm sorry but since we are short staffed they won't be seen when they were expecting. Then I get abuse. Even though I'm the one that's still there trying to help when most of my colleagues have quit.

@LancashireButterPie not sure what you mean. The DB pension kicks in at 60, and I'm not ill anyway? Unless you count menopausal knackerdness.

DB stands for Defined Benefit @LancashireButterPieits a guaranteed pension that teachers, medical etc staff get. Nothing to do with disability

I know what DB is. Just didn't understand the question re disability allowance.

Sounds like you had enough OP. I will consider retiring before you burnout. It looks like you are well setup financially.

No point on keep on dragging yourself; go and enjoy life. It doesn’t sound like you are enjoying this job and if you are not sleeping well that says a lot.

Is it the job or the menopause? I suggest magnesium chelated from Solgar, also evening primrose oil; maybe do blood test to ensure everything is ok?

It doesn’t worry me finishing my career on a high or a low either. If you finish it healthy, with money and with friends, family to enjoy retirement you have done well.

Nah I honestly think it's being fed up of the corporate bullshit and having to work with idiots. I'm all drugged and supplemented up from a meno perspective.

You haven't. No way would I retire at your age with those financials.

Is the 400k enough to live on for the rest of your lives? Using the 4% rule that’s only 16k per year.

I know you have other pots but also a mortgage. I’d want a bit more in the bank personally.

I’m not 40 yet and also feel the same about work 😂

If you’re having an easy life then carry on, Ikos is getting more expensive each year - what about going part time?

I’m not sure I’m doing the maths right….so at age 60 you will have a 5k a year pension? Nothing else apart from 100k savings? Then state pension in your late 60s? Doesn’t sound enough to get 2k a month out of.

Is the 400k dc pot yours or your husbands? If it’s yours is that extra to the 5k a year and if so how much extra? When can you cash this 400k pot in and how much would you get a year?

@YanTanTetheraPetheraBumfitt the 400k pot is mine and is on top of the 5k DB pension I get at 60. Husband has around 700k pot but can't retire for at least another couple of years as he's younger than me.

(And in the meantime he would be earning 70k + until retirement)

You are in a really good position; go and enjoy life while you can.

plus your state pension at 67

I totally get you OP. I just quit my corporate job due to burnout and I wish I was in your financial position. I need to find another job for around 7 more years.

@oldclock thinks I'm poor 😂

If you can retire then do it! . I'm 57 and just found out the knee pain I've been told for 2 years is "just a tear which will definitely improve with physio and the x-rays definitely show isn't arthritis" is actually upon a second set of recent x-rays "definitely arthritis in my knee and both hips and is degenerating quickly and needs replacement surgeries which I can have when I'm no longer mobile". I'm finding walking difficult, using a stick already and my plans to do some extended travel are possibly no longer feasible. Certainly not in the way I thought I could.