Should I stay or should I go?

sccarig

Hi all,

I’m in a bit of a quandary and could do with some impartial comment and advice!

For various reasons I’m really unhappy at work and am considering packing it in.

I’m very lucky in as much as I have savings and will be able to access a pension at 60 (I’m currently 54). As far as I know I have enough contributions to qualify for my State Pension at 66.

My partner is working and is willing to take on the lion’s share of outgoings until I’m 60 – we’ve always shared and looked after each other over the last 28 years.

We have no dependents and no mortgage. I’ll be fine when I get to 60 & we’ll both be fine when we get to State Pension age as my partner’s occupational pension kicks in then too.

So basically I would need to keep my head above water for the next 6 years.

My contribution would be keeping the home and garden tidy, growing our own (which we already do but I’d anticipate it assuming greater importance) and generally running the household. I would use a portion of capital (carefully!) for my own expenses & we would make any other savings we could (for instance I wouldn’t need a car of my own if I wasn’t commuting - we would share).

I’m sure we would cope if I do decide to leave but it would be a very big step & I’d be interested to hear your views.

Anyone else done a similar thing? – How did it go?

xylophone

35 years NI contributions? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/9802093/Flat-rate-pensions-the-changes-explained.html

Find a part time job before you resign?

atush

Well you seem to thave thought things out- but do you have to go now? Or would workign another year, saving 100% of your salary be a good idea first?

It would mean a bit more independance for you (ie you could keep your car) as having two might still be important as one person is commuting and if you live rurally you'd be stranded?

Or the idea of working part time is a good one, wind down slowly?

itch_for_a_glitch

Its impossible to say as you offer no numbers.
Work out what you spend (or want to) and do a spreadsheet.
We spend (currently) £18k pa, we wont achieve that as income for fourteen years, but I've been retired/unemployed/inactive (whatever) for seven years.

sccarig

Sorry for not getting back sooner.

In response -

itch for a glitch - oddly what i'd live on isn't as scary as leaving my job! From my calculations we would come in a little below your estimates & i'm reasonably sure we'd be OK in the interim.

atush - I agree that I need to save like mad as much as I can. I understand what you're saying about the car but a second vehicle is a relatively new thing for us so it wouldn't be a hardship to go back to one.

xylophone - I should just about have 35 years NI in the next year or so. Part-time sounds good & is something i'd definitely explore. Also maybe dropping a day here if it pans out.

So - thank you all for responding, it's good to get an impartial opinion & has helped a lot. Cheers!

MsSupertech

I found myself in a similar position to you a few years ago but I saw it coming so I spent three years saving 50% my take home pay. I then quit and used that to survive a further 3 years. My standard of living is comfortable but not lavish and NOT working can be MUCH cheaper than comuting, work clothes etc.
I'm just about to apply for my deferred pension - exactly on schedule
My point is - could you stick it out a little longer and try a shorter term version of this?

jamesd

Will either of you have £20,000 or more of guaranteed income from occupational and state pension combined?

If the answer is yes, learn about Flexible Drawdown. This lets you take an unlimited amount of money out of a personal pension at once. The first 25% can be taken as a tax free lump sum. The rest is added to your normal income in the years in which you take it. It's a potentially excellent way of getting pension tax relief without the pension restrictions.

It's even more useful for those who can pay into pensions with salary sacrifice or those who will be paying a lower rate of income tax in retirement than when working.