Trapped in job but bored to tears

getmore4less

You should have proper budgets with goals so you know when you will be financial secure and can take the option to retire/downsize income.

Financial security is more about what you spend than what you earn,

Perhaps a personal(family) project retire early could motivate the mind, by doing the projections and full analysis of what you are spending.

I Prefer the 4 pot retire in 20 years method.
1/4 Spend
1/4 buy a house(over 20years)
1/4 bring up kids
1/4 save.

With your income levels you want to skew the save part into pensions to get the tax relief.

if you say worked on everything over £100k into pensions you could do 1/3rd for that £100k(net £66k a year)

(You are maxing out your pension with the money over £100k some of it being taxed at 50% because you lose the personal allowance)

£22k(before mortgage) £1,800pm enough for living
same £22kpy to fund the kids(some saved for uni fees)

£1,800pm mortgage over 20years around a £350k mortgage

If seeing kids through uni 25year plan will be an option but you should be mortgage free have the money saves and a massive pension pot by 20years anyway


most people will take a bit of time to get to steady income so will be starting say around 30 but that is still retire by 50-55 if you wanted.
OK you are a bit older but should have started already so be well on the way to retiring early.

......................................
I though there was something familiar

How have things changed since you looked buying the house back in 2017
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5678112

still blowing all your cash on £200 jeans or have you built up decent savings, overpaid the mortgage etc.

have you ever done a SOA?

prosaver

If i was earning 2.5 k a week , i would be having a great after work life, is your wife sucking all your money up.?

MEM62

mp80 wrote: »

Has anyone else been in this predicament, and how did you deal with it? Even in the short term??

Yes. After a 40-year career in freight forwarding and 11 good years with my current employer the last 12 months have been particularly toxic. My age and the current climate make securing another position at this level unlikely. I have some transferable skills but there would be an inevitable salary reduction. We have made an exit plan whereby I could walk away in three years and it would not particularly matter what I earn. The truth is I'll probably leave sometime next year as life quality is more important than the money - and one way or another we'll be OK financially.

Although we are far from in the same salary bracket we are in a similar boat. Your choices are therefore the same as mine - suck it up and get on with it or make a decision. I am choosing the latter but I'll do it my way in my own time. The mere fact that we have the plan makes dealing with the current situation easier. Light at the end of the tunnel and all that.......

At the end of the day what's important to you? We can't tell you.

mp80

getmore4less wrote: »

I though there was something familiar

How have things changed since you looked buying the house back in 2017
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5678112

still blowing all your cash on £200 jeans or have you built up decent savings, overpaid the mortgage etc.

have you ever done a SOA?

How have things changed - Still in same job but I earn more than I did then, wife not working now so net is down, I salary sacrifice most above 100k into pension pot to avoid the taper tax as suggested. Rebuilt bigger savings pot. Have 2 kids now! Bought the house. Spent quite a bit of money redoing the kitchen etc, bought a new car and stopped buying expensive clothes

What's an SOA?

ACG

Done working from home with a 2 year old and with a child in and out of hospital - I think working is far easier than staying at home looking after kids.

You spend about a quarter of your life in work.
You are obviously going to take a hit on income but you are not going to be on the breadline.
You only get one go at life.

I think if you are that miserable in your job, you need to move. I am not sure I would quit but I would be pro-active in looking for a new job.

Is there a possibility of taking a demotion or going for a promotion in your current place for a job that may be more appealing? I once worked somewhere where a lad was promoted to a manager, he hated the job so went back to his previous job, that was about 10 years ago, he still does the same job now. He will never be earning more than the equivalent of maybe £18-20k in todays money, but he is happy.

getmore4less

A Statement Of Affairs s a simplified form for a budget to see where all your money is going so you can set priorities.

Without the comprehensive budget you can't realy plan any downsizing of incomes with a change.

There is strategic dicotomy in your previous posts with the adversity to things like a very affordable mortgage but no problem with expensive car and other spending.


The real issue is getting to the bottom of why you are not happy with your lot and being sure its a job change that will sort that.

What was driving you before to take the path you did, seems you were happier and good at what you did to get so far.
Can you leverage that experience or would a new challenge be something to look for.

Your home life will have changed a lot too over the couple of years any drive within that do you want more time at home or for hobbies.

jonnygee2

It's soul destroying. I suffer from mild bi-polar (cyclothymia) so aware mood has an effect but the "happy gap" is getting shorter and shorter every time. I've lost interest in the company which will no doubt be affecting them as well as the teams of employees which I've spent a long time building up and have a lot of respect for.

If you are 'bored to tears' it clearly indicates that you are not driving for growth and change, something every business needs its senior team to do if it's going to survive. This could significantly damage the prospects of the company - something you seem to be aware of - but not something that you would put above a 20% pay cut to your own salary.

I think you need to examine yourself carefully. If your 'lack of motivation' is putting the business at risk, it would be hugely unethical to continue in such a senior role and potentially put others' jobs and futures at risk.

getmore4less

Something else that struck me was in one post you said you get bored if you take even 2 days off.

Wondering if as you were climbing to your higher position there was always someone above directing your efforts?


I was going to suggest if you are bored and don't have enough to do could you go part time(each day less 20% cut) freeing up time for your own stuff but if you don't have anything to replace being bored at work you will just be bored at home.

I would get checked out it might not be the job.

gettingtheresometime

A bit of a curve ball but how much exercise do you get?

I'm just asking as I know I've found in the past that if I don't exercise regularly I get really down.

As an example since the death of our dog we've gone from walking about 3 miles a day to practically zero and, apart from the ovbvious grief, I lost interest in everything.

Since I've forced myself to exercise I've felt much better.

I appreciate this may not be appropriate to your situation but is it worth looking into

mp80

Thanks for the replies all.
I do feel a tad better today, but some of the points above are very valid and I'll take them on board.