Curious question, but perhaps someone is in the know. Borrowing against a pension

QrizB

Grumpy_chap said:

The OP and partner have income around £100k per year so the pension provision of around £400k seems inadequate to fund the retirement lifestyle that the OP may well aspire to.

From previous threads, OP's wife is a relativey well-paid nurse and (hopefully) is in the NHS pension scheme. OP's pension pot is close to ten years gross salary, so IMO is perfectly reasonable for someone who isn't yet 50.

saajan_12

Workerdrone said:

 I need a new challenge, but I do love to cook. Ive seen a local cafe for sale.
..
Absolutely no idea on running a business in 2025, but I am (as are many on here) very focussed on costs and expenditure (I think thats a good thing
.

two glaring things here: finances and enjoyment. 

Finances: if this is to replace your income, how does the expected income vs expected costs stack up? 

Enjoyment: The daily tasks are often much more about the business side than cooking - ordering supplies, payroll, tax, insurance, building maintenance etc than cooking and if you grow, the cooking is the first thing you'd usually farm out. 
Maybe get a job as a cook instead? 

eskbanker

saajan_12 said:

Workerdrone said:

 I need a new challenge, but I do love to cook. Ive seen a local cafe for sale.
..
Absolutely no idea on running a business in 2025, but I am (as are many on here) very focussed on costs and expenditure (I think thats a good thing
.

two glaring things here: finances and enjoyment. 

Finances: if this is to replace your income, how does the expected income vs expected costs stack up? 

Enjoyment: The daily tasks are often much more about the business side than cooking - ordering supplies, payroll, tax, insurance, building maintenance etc than cooking and if you grow, the cooking is the first thing you'd usually farm out. 
Maybe get a job as a cook instead? 

At the risk of joining the pile-on here, the single most glaring thing to me is the bolded wording, hence most of the previous posts!

Marcon

eskbanker said:

saajan_12 said:

Workerdrone said:

 I need a new challenge, but I do love to cook. Ive seen a local cafe for sale.
..
Absolutely no idea on running a business in 2025, but I am (as are many on here) very focussed on costs and expenditure (I think thats a good thing
.

two glaring things here: finances and enjoyment. 

Finances: if this is to replace your income, how does the expected income vs expected costs stack up? 

Enjoyment: The daily tasks are often much more about the business side than cooking - ordering supplies, payroll, tax, insurance, building maintenance etc than cooking and if you grow, the cooking is the first thing you'd usually farm out. 
Maybe get a job as a cook instead? 

At the risk of joining the pile-on here, the single most glaring thing to me is the bolded wording, hence most of the previous posts!

Indeed - and the cheery comment about 'just getting a business loan ' tells you all you need to know about the future of this pie in the sky idea. But...why not develop some sort of modest business which enables you to pursue your love of cooking without jeopardising your finances?

DRS1

Marcon said:

eskbanker said:

saajan_12 said:

Workerdrone said:

 I need a new challenge, but I do love to cook. Ive seen a local cafe for sale.
..
Absolutely no idea on running a business in 2025, but I am (as are many on here) very focussed on costs and expenditure (I think thats a good thing
.

two glaring things here: finances and enjoyment. 

Finances: if this is to replace your income, how does the expected income vs expected costs stack up? 

Enjoyment: The daily tasks are often much more about the business side than cooking - ordering supplies, payroll, tax, insurance, building maintenance etc than cooking and if you grow, the cooking is the first thing you'd usually farm out. 
Maybe get a job as a cook instead? 

At the risk of joining the pile-on here, the single most glaring thing to me is the bolded wording, hence most of the previous posts!

Indeed - and the cheery comment about 'just getting a business loan ' tells you all you need to know about the future of this pie in the sky idea. But...why not develop some sort of modest business which enables you to pursue your love of cooking without jeopardising your finances?

Oh very good.  Pie in the Sky.  Really enjoyed that programme.

Albermarle

SVaz said:

I imagine you would need a turnover in the realms of vat registration and all the aggro that goes with it, to make any kind of go of it.   What does the cafe make now?
How many staff do they employ?   Could you handle the responsibilities of being an employer - like payroll and *having* to offer a pension?

I’m a self employed sole trader,  I took the plunge, leaving a well paid but stressful career as an engineering manager at 56.
I only employ my Wife, as admin,  luckily she knows what she’s doing regarding tax / payroll and all that jazz.
Don’t underestimate running costs of a business, mine were £13k last year and I don’t have premises, only a van.
You would need at least £5million+ Public Liability insurance for starters. 

Then there’s property insurance and rates, don’t forget gas safety checks every year and pat testing of electricals.   Commercial anything always costs more.   

Finally there’s the oncoming spectre of Making Tax digital ( already exists for Vat registered businesses)  which means Quarterly returns plus the main one. 

If all of that doesn’t faze you then great, good luck. 

Plus as a cafe, you will get visits from the local authority hygiene inspectors. If you do not get a 5 * rating, then could be curtains. Local facebook/whatsapp groups tend to circulate these type of issues.

Plus nobody has mentioned you have to be happy dealing with the customers/public.

QrizB

Marcon said:

Indeed - and the cheery comment about 'just getting a business loan ' tells you all you need to know about the future of this pie in the sky idea. But...why not develop some sort of modest business which enables you to pursue your love of cooking without jeopardising your finances?

A friend of mine's parents retired early. His mother set up a sall commerial bakery at home (in the garage or utility room, I think), took a stall at the town market and baked & sold cakes there for several years.

Another friend of mine has a coffee van and sells coffee & cakes at minor visitor attractions hat don't have their own tearoom.

One of these might be a less challenging entry to the catering trade than trying to take over a cafe?