Should I stay or should I go?
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:28 am
Hi there,
Hope you're all doing ok.
We wanted some advice / thoughts (validation?).. I'm 50 in Sept and my wife is 45 in Dec and we're based in the UK. We've been working towards FIRE but the pandemic is making us wonder if i could stop working now though we've not reached our "number". I read about the difference between ERE and E-ER yesterday on another post here which helped a lot in terms of reframing how we could approach this.
I'm a part time bank nurse currently on furlough though not willing to go back to work (the unit isn't currently open but its likely to open after August/Sept) till we feel comfortable, (if at all) due to the possible risks as my wife has asthma.. and as a bank nurse I could just not take anymore shifts. I've been hoping to leave for a while anyway (various reasons.. I've had enough of nursing after 25 years in healthcare and also the pressure alongside having IBS though I do work in a nice unit) and the pandemic has highlighted this further alongside my approaching fiftieth birthday. My nursing re-validation is next due in Feb 2021 so if I don't return / do this that will close the door on nursing anyway.
We live in the South East and are child free and have a mortgage free 2 bed house in which should be worth at least £220k. We currently have £62k in a Vanguard Life Strategy 60. I can draw an NHS pension from 50 of £2k per year plus a £6k lump sum. I also have a v small Nest pension with my employer currently worth £350 approx. We have about £11k in cash accounts with some interest, which we're keeping there due to the current circumstances.
My wife plans to work for at least five more years. She's been working part time at a university on a zero hours contract for ten years providing student support. She usually gets the hours she needs, but we're aware this may change this academic year with the impact of the pandemic. She gets paid £32 per hour and works about 20 hours a week term time and usually sees some students in the breaks too and her gross salary is approx £16k a year. This amount of hours suits her best as it can be very draining work mentally. She has been paying into her work pension since September 2016 (she pays 11%, the uni 21%) and till March 2019 the pension forecast amt for her to get in ten years when she's 55, is £750 a year plus £1.5k lump sum plus £1k in a different part of the pension.
We usually live on £12k a year. Till March this year I was earning about £8k and my wife £16k so we lived on half of £24k and saved half. Now we've dropped expenditure even more, like most people right now and imagine we'd be spending more like £10k this year or less...
I have 3 years NI contributions still to make for the full state pension (2 partial years recently I could top up) and my wife has 5 to go which all being well with her work, she'll get.
There are also £150k houses in areas we like nearby that makes us think we could downsize too, to release some capital from our £220k house after fees.. Maybe releasing £50k+ as a conservative estimate. There's also ok looking flats around here from around £100k though not sure if the ongoing additional expenditure of ground rent and negotiations of freehold repairs etc would be the best way forward financially and otherwise. We're in a fairly rural area now so moving could mean we get rid of the car taking annual costs down further too.
Our current £62k, plus £50k from a move could generate approx £4480k per year plus the £2k NHS pension a year totals £6480 a year at 4% SWR (not taking into account my wife's hopeful future earnings/ pension). I think with the additional push we could get our costs down further to get close to this. We're both introverted homebodies now and enjoy lots of 'free to do' things in our spare time, especially as we're living near the sea which is great in the summer. We're both on the same page in terms of our thinking on money/freedom/ERE.
So, we're realising no one can tell us 'yes' you can do this though the 'pulling the trigger' thread here helped a lot. We're both willing to pick up other things as needed to fill the gap to state pensions but I'm particularly not really wanting a proper job anymore (most other jobs around here would be minimum wage which is why I've stayed in nursing so far).. We've had a lot of useful help from MMM but being at the lower end of living costs ERE feels more in line with our thinking...
Look forward to any constructive feedback / suggestions...
Thank you!
Hope you're all doing ok.
We wanted some advice / thoughts (validation?).. I'm 50 in Sept and my wife is 45 in Dec and we're based in the UK. We've been working towards FIRE but the pandemic is making us wonder if i could stop working now though we've not reached our "number". I read about the difference between ERE and E-ER yesterday on another post here which helped a lot in terms of reframing how we could approach this.
I'm a part time bank nurse currently on furlough though not willing to go back to work (the unit isn't currently open but its likely to open after August/Sept) till we feel comfortable, (if at all) due to the possible risks as my wife has asthma.. and as a bank nurse I could just not take anymore shifts. I've been hoping to leave for a while anyway (various reasons.. I've had enough of nursing after 25 years in healthcare and also the pressure alongside having IBS though I do work in a nice unit) and the pandemic has highlighted this further alongside my approaching fiftieth birthday. My nursing re-validation is next due in Feb 2021 so if I don't return / do this that will close the door on nursing anyway.
We live in the South East and are child free and have a mortgage free 2 bed house in which should be worth at least £220k. We currently have £62k in a Vanguard Life Strategy 60. I can draw an NHS pension from 50 of £2k per year plus a £6k lump sum. I also have a v small Nest pension with my employer currently worth £350 approx. We have about £11k in cash accounts with some interest, which we're keeping there due to the current circumstances.
My wife plans to work for at least five more years. She's been working part time at a university on a zero hours contract for ten years providing student support. She usually gets the hours she needs, but we're aware this may change this academic year with the impact of the pandemic. She gets paid £32 per hour and works about 20 hours a week term time and usually sees some students in the breaks too and her gross salary is approx £16k a year. This amount of hours suits her best as it can be very draining work mentally. She has been paying into her work pension since September 2016 (she pays 11%, the uni 21%) and till March 2019 the pension forecast amt for her to get in ten years when she's 55, is £750 a year plus £1.5k lump sum plus £1k in a different part of the pension.
We usually live on £12k a year. Till March this year I was earning about £8k and my wife £16k so we lived on half of £24k and saved half. Now we've dropped expenditure even more, like most people right now and imagine we'd be spending more like £10k this year or less...
I have 3 years NI contributions still to make for the full state pension (2 partial years recently I could top up) and my wife has 5 to go which all being well with her work, she'll get.
There are also £150k houses in areas we like nearby that makes us think we could downsize too, to release some capital from our £220k house after fees.. Maybe releasing £50k+ as a conservative estimate. There's also ok looking flats around here from around £100k though not sure if the ongoing additional expenditure of ground rent and negotiations of freehold repairs etc would be the best way forward financially and otherwise. We're in a fairly rural area now so moving could mean we get rid of the car taking annual costs down further too.
Our current £62k, plus £50k from a move could generate approx £4480k per year plus the £2k NHS pension a year totals £6480 a year at 4% SWR (not taking into account my wife's hopeful future earnings/ pension). I think with the additional push we could get our costs down further to get close to this. We're both introverted homebodies now and enjoy lots of 'free to do' things in our spare time, especially as we're living near the sea which is great in the summer. We're both on the same page in terms of our thinking on money/freedom/ERE.
So, we're realising no one can tell us 'yes' you can do this though the 'pulling the trigger' thread here helped a lot. We're both willing to pick up other things as needed to fill the gap to state pensions but I'm particularly not really wanting a proper job anymore (most other jobs around here would be minimum wage which is why I've stayed in nursing so far).. We've had a lot of useful help from MMM but being at the lower end of living costs ERE feels more in line with our thinking...
Look forward to any constructive feedback / suggestions...
Thank you!