Quit everything , and start again over 50?

lessonlearned

Sell flat, quit job, rent.

Start living!!!!

Get fit, get healthy, lose weight, get out and about, have fun.:D

Have a sabbatical. Do stuff or not.

Jobs......I'm not going into detail right now But i have loads of ideas......

BUt in short, you can carry on doing the same old same old or you can try something new, something exciting, something that really floats your boat. You can retrain, do courses, go back to school, acquire new skills........

AC. This will be YOUR time, your "Golden Years". You can do whatever you like.........

Debt and Mortgage free at 55 And with a nice dollop of cash to invest in a nice property and still have a healthy cushion.

WOW!!!!

What an opportunity ........cue song. :rotfl:

" A Whole New World...,,,,,,,, "

TAlk about magic carpet ride.

another_casualty

Thanks again LL/ harz
That property looks good actually . Well within my budget too .
The service charges average around £125 a month .
I may ask my friends what that part of town is like . Will look into it over weekend . That place doesn't have an older feel to it . Can't explain it
Although it's by a cricket ground . Now cricket is boring ( not so much with a beer on the green):)

another_casualty

LL 'a whole new world'.. Katy price 'sung dat ' checkout the raw version:)

copperjar

Long term lurker on this thread. Just wanted to say you're doing great, very inspiring watching someone decide and act on making big changes to their life. It is of course scary at the same time (I'm a ditherer myself and despite accepting an offer on my house, we haven't managed to find anything we want to buy yet!) and you will have wobbles along the way.

What I would say as someone on the "outside" is that you are obviously getting strong but opposite advice from your friends and people on here. Both parties have your best interests at heart and all want you to be happy and well. Ultimately though, it needs to be about what you want to do. Lists are great. Pros and cons lists are even better. Although it won't be 100% one way or another, they can really focus the mind and when you start worrying again, they are a good reminder of why you have made the decisions you have and the sacrifices/compromises that you have.

On that note, I'm off to make a list!

lessonlearned

Here's food for thought on a wet and drizzly Friday morning.......a reminder about how a new world can open up when you least expect it.

Let me tell you about my dear old dad.

At the age of 55 he had two heart attacks. He was offered early retirement. His doctor told him to seize the opportunity because ," if you don't, you might not make it to retirement age".

My dad took the advice but felt that he was being sidelined, that his life was over - "on the scrap heap" was how he put it.

Anyhoo he had a year or so, just pottering, resting but he did take Up exercise and got seriously Into gardening. Couldn't give up smoking though. After a year or so he decided he was fit and well and decided to renovate their house. He bought a couple of building books and set to. He went through that house like a dose of salts, knocking down walls, building a porch and a conservatory, new kitchen, the lot.

When he'd finsihed all that he decided it was time to go back to work.

He decided he fancied somethjng completely different from his previous desk bound highly steessful admin job so when he saw a vacancy for selling car breakdown membership he went for it. No previous experience, no qualifications just a willingness to roll up his sleeves and try something new.

He became their top selling salesperson and was quickly promoted to sales manager. He could have gone on to become area manager but decided it involved too much travelling (mum was getting a bit frail by then).

He worked at this until hewas in his mid seventies when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He had half a lung removed in 2003. I gave him a couple of years (the prognosis for lung cancer is not usually that great). He's now 90 and still going strong.

He spent several years as mums full time Carer which did affect his health but since her death 18 months ago his health has steadily improved. He still exercises every day and has just started lifting weights.

As you know he went to Belguim this year and he is already talking about his next trip. He fancies visiting his buddy in Australia.:rotfl: he did New Zealand a few years ago before mum got really poorly.

AC - I tell you this as food for thought. Yes you might be unfit now but it's never to late to start a new life.

Like my dad and Muffins Uncle John you can start again. And your new life will be so much better then the old one.

another_casualty

Wow! These posts. are getting more fascinating every time I look
Great stuff:)

another_casualty

Sitting in a furnace called caffe Nero . I was gonna mention it ( the staff have changed), but they probably wouldn't understand if I explained .
The staff should realise it's not for them but got the customers who pay their wages . I got the best seat , sitting by an open door . It is not cold! What foreign land do they come from?!?
Enough of that rant .

Thinking of my next move ..

dreaming

In contrast to LL's post about her dad, I have the opposite tale to tell about my dad. He was widowed when he was 39 with 3 children aged 13, 11, and 7 (me!) to bring up. He worked in a factory so if he felt ill he struggled in to work as he wouldn't get paid for a couple of days off work. If one of us kids were ill we either got sent to school anyway or were left alone at home alone (dad was very proud and wouldn't ask neighbours for help). When the factory closed when he was in his fifties he wouldn't sign on the dole (as it was then) but took a job cleaning in another factory about 4 miles away from home. As he had never learned to drive and his hours were unsociable he walked to work in all weathers. When he was 65 he retired and we kids were really happy that he would have time to do his garden, play a bit of bowls and relax. 4 months later he died of an aortic aneurysm. He had just redecorated his living room and had been telling us that "life was on the up" for him. So whilst I agree with LL's observation that it's never too late to start a new life I would also add a warning that if you are able to - don't leave it too long. With that in mind, when I was made redundant at 58 (3 years ago now eek!) I took my pension, paid off my mortgage and retired. People kept asking me "what are you going to do?" to which I replied "I am not going to do anything, I am just going to be". I live on less than £10k a year but all the bills get paid, I run a small car and manage to enjoy my family, my hobbies and garden. I don't play bass guitar as you do but I have made huge efforts to join 2 book groups (as I love reading) and the local Townswomens' Guild (possibly not any option for you) and make every effort to join in with things that interest me in my price range (free to very cheap, although I will splash out for something really interesting).
To those friends who think you haven't thought this through - point them in the direction of this thread. I have seen you go from very positive to very negative, from very brave to petrified - all normal things to feel when "thinking things through" (or maybe that's just me). I see this thread as you "thinking out loud but silently" (if you see what I mean). I did post once before and I will repeat something from that - learn to trust (and believe in) yourself. Good luck - I am reading along and rooting for you. Go AC! Go AC! Go AC! (sung in my best Jerry Springer audience voice).

Karonher

Job I do, is Postroom / facilities.

AC is this your choice of job or just what you are doing at the moment? If it is, I don't know what the opportunities will be for that area. If you want a change there are lots of opportunities.

I finished my last job in May 2011 when I was 49 and it was not a job that you can just choose to go back into - I was a councillor and was not re-elected - so decide to retrain. It took a couple of months to decide what I wanted to do and I applied in August to train as a teaching assistant. I started in November and by the following May had an NVQ Level 2 meaning I could start work while I went to train to the next level.

I know that may not be the job you want but I am telling you about it just to let you see the timescale. Retraining does not have to take years and in many cases is part-time - very few hours a week. Part was funded for me - a mistake by the council but they agreed to accept the loss rather than claim it back - and I have just over £1000 as a student loan, and at my age it is likely that will not be repaid.

another_casualty

Thanks dreaming . Glad that you have turned things around and made , in my view a success of things