What would you do?

Markyhelp

I am 50 this year. I worked for 30 years and saved over £500,000 before giving up last year, while doing fulltime care for my mum. She
died last October and left an inheritance.
I now am in the situation of having a house, no debts or mortgage and £670,000 in the bank. I should have a pension of around £21,000 coming in five years, or if I have to wait until 60, £29,000.

I would prefer not to go back to the job, which was paying around £55,000 a year, but either work on non-paying hobbies, or perhaps do a low-paid part-time job.

I think that even if I lose enough to drop to £550,000 in five years, but could still get 3% on investment, and a £21,000 pension, that's around £32,000 after tax, with perhaps reguler outgoingings of about £25,000.

My problem is that I'm not sure I am in a good position to not work. I work out finances every day, and look to invest in better paying accounts. It has become a bit of an obession and produces worry and anxiety, perhaps because I worked for so long and it seems strange.

What would you do, if you didn't fancy a stressful job? Am I in a really good position? Should I get on with it and stop worrying?

kelstrel

Retire abroad in the sun, enjoy life, stop worrying about money and rent out your UK's home.

bendix

kelstrel wrote: »

Retire abroad in the sun, enjoy life, stop worrying about money and rent out your UK's home.

Couldn't agree more. I simply can't understand why people think so narrowly about issues like this, when there is a whole world out there to enjoy.

I wouldn't retire in the UK if you paid me.

gmgmgm

Rent out your UK house, then rent a house somewhere abroad for a year to see if you like it. How about the southern French coast. Then move on to the next house...

Arthurian

If you enjoy fussing over your finances, then feel free to do so. There are worse hobbies. If you spend the coming spring tidying up the garden, you might find it unexpectedly deeply pleasant to set up a deckchair on the patio and spend most of the summer in quiet contemplation there, with a few finance books and newspapers. Although perhaps some effort should be made to get out and about from time to time - maybe an MSE meet-up? A singles holiday or two? A wine-tasting course? Cookery weekends?
Going on the occasional holiday now is better than waiting until you are too old to take out travel insurance.

Rather than chasing rates at the moment, perhaps you could cut down on the regular expenditure and achieve more peace of mind. I'm sure you are in a good position and do not need to return to full-time work, but it would be a good idea to look for work for 2 or 3 days a week, to show you are employable should the worst happen with your finances. You'd have an interest, yet still have the luxury of shopping when the town is not crowded, and have time for long weekends away, too. Eventually, when you are more certain of your ability to survive long-term on your savings/investment/pension income, you can fully retire if you want to, and maybe downsize to a smaller house with smaller outgoings.

webwiz

You only get one life and you are probably over half way through yours. Your main aim must be to enjoy the rest of it. You should be able to manage your finances in an hour or two each month. I would caution against the advice given above to retire abroad. If you are seriously thinking about this do not burn any boats. rent a place for a minimum of 6 months to see if it is really what you want to do. Visiting a foreign country on holiday is very different from living there. Think about language and culture.

Newbie2saving

Sorry for your loss. I would say enjoy your hard earned cash whilst you have good health and the motivation to do so. Life can so easily throw you into a situation you can't plan for. You seemed to be in a good position, so don't fret the small stuff. It is all well and good planning for retirement, but after 10-15yrs of it (all being well) you won't have the same outgoings. Plan for the future yes, but don't keep it all for a rainy day...

Loughton_Monkey

Compared to your spending, your assets look more than enough to keep spending the same - inflation proofed - for the rest of your life.

So simply do what us deliberate early retirees did, and that is (a) treat looking after the money as a hobby (it doens' take too much brain power or effort) and (b) enjoy life to the full without any work stress.

If for some reason you are anxious about running out of money, work it all out on a spreadsheet to confirm that it all adds up. Be conservative with your assumptions. Then this will give you 'budgets' of investment income and spending. Simply stick to them.

Markyhelp

Thanks to all so far.
Loughton, you're right and yep, I have spreadsheets coming out of my ears.
Maybe I'm being unreasonable.
You have helped me a lot, by letting me discuss this.

Eco_Miser

Markyhelp wrote: »

I am 50 this year.
I now am in the situation of having a house, no debts or mortgage and £670,000 in the bank. I should have a pension of around £21,000 coming in five years, or if I have to wait until 60, £29,000.

Am I in a really good position? Should I get on with it and stop worrying?

Yes, and Yes.

Could you live on £21,000 a year?
Of course you could, if you had to.

So by all means keep playing around to improve you position if you want, but mainly do whatever you enjoy doing.