Advice and opinions sought re early leaver plan

eddyj

hi everyone ,

im just looking for some advice / comments on my circumstances and some future plans re leaving work .

i would welcome opinions as to whether i have everything covered or whether i am missing anything important that may disadvantage me and my family

i have saved up an amount of money over my working life and am in a very stressful and unfulfilling job which i would like to leave to preserve whats left of my sanity.

my current 'plan' is based around leaving asap from a local authority post and using savings to live on until age 60 when i hopefully can apply to have occupational pension paid out albeit at a reduced rate due to being 5 years early. then hopefully get by on that and any residual savings till state pension kicks in at age 66.

[all hypothetical of course depending on if im even still here and no major disasters etc!]

some background

i will be 49 years in december 2013.

i have 31 years paid into local govt pension thus far , just under 12 years NHS then local authority from 1994 to date

i have approx 420k saved and spread around various providers , some is tied up in ISA's etc but i could access the majority of it now with some interest penalties etc

mortgage paid off.[ thanks dad ]

hopefully no monstrous outlays expected other than possibility of heating system / rewiring or W.H.Y. at some point to maintain home to decent standard

9k put by in addition for a new car which will be needed relatively soon

3 year old daughter

partner working in admin earning approx 20k PA

nursery/child care fees for next 2 years around 750 pcm , no grandparental support so likely to have ongoing child care expenses

i have chronic back problems and am in regular pain but almost never take time off sick [ god knows why, some throwback to my dear old dads work ethic no doubt ]

i have to take voltarol x3 daily or i just cant function anywhere near to the level i need to to deal with every day living

also on anti-depressants for last 5 years which will probably need to be ongoing

i have just e mailed HR to ask if i can be considered for voluntary severance but there are no trawls for this going on at present.... , but , the council is getting heavily squeezed on its budget so perhaps letting me go may be attractive to them?

so if i leave even without a severance package i had in mind dividing the lump sum into 11 yearly chunks and living off that as a ' wage' until age 60 when hopefully i may have some of it left as savings as we are not overly extravagant.

not sure whether i can try anything along the lines of occupational health / GP support to get out early with pension brought forward to 55 due to health reasons?

i discussed some of this with my line manager who is quite a decent guy and he said because i have next to no sick record then help from occ health is probably not an option.

if you have read this far then thanks!

any advice on any aspect of this greatly appreciated

best regards

bob

Shimrod

Can I suggest you start off by reading this thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2146737
Once you have some idea of how much you need to get by between now and 60, then others on here will give some guidance on how best to make your money work for you and help you achieve your aim.

xylophone

nursery/child care fees for next 2 years around 750 pcm , no grandparental support so likely to have ongoing child care expenses

If you are leaving employment, can you care for your daughter?

Is it worth transferring the Child Benefit into your name for the NI credits to protect your state pension?

As she is three, is she not entitled to some free nursery education?
https://www.gov.uk/free-early-education

You will become a deferred pensioner - is it worth considering an additional payment into your scheme before you
leave?

eddyj

good points xylophone will look into that....
im going to try and make an appt with our pension people at work to discuss some of these points amongst others and hopefully their experience will have something offer too
cheers, b

atush

If your back pain is related to your job, have you considered early medical retirement?

Can you work elsewhere, even part time in a less stressful job? It seems to be the job yo hate, not actually work. And 49 is very young to retire. PT work could help you make the savings last longer.