A huge leap of faith.

uwerosler28 said:
Not really a huge risk with no mortgage and a pension pot already sorted. Even if he gets bored and wants a job , any minimum wage role can easily sustain him.
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That the thing now. A minimum wage job brings in £400 a week pre tax. If he wants to earn some money for doing next to nothing, he could get a job as a steward at City.
 
Millwallawayveteran1988 said:
Takes guts to make changes of this magnitude. Depends what he can live off. Is that pot going to be funding his wife too?
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The savings are yes but she has her own pension pot although he says its only about half the value of his. To be fair its the first time he has ever really discussed money, it's something we never felt the need to I suppose. He is actually much better off than i thought. One thing he did say is that between savings and his pension he andd his wife get about £3k a month put away.
This would scare me even more, the thought of giving that up with no guarantee of ever getting back to that level seems a huge risk.
In my mind I would be thinking hold off until 60 and be £180k better off, maybe then he could take early retirement rather than just a year out.
 
abu13 said:
I spoke with a close friend of mine today, he is 55 years old and I know he has been stressed with work for a good while.

He told me a few weeks ago that had made the decision that his mental health is more important than anything else, and he wanted to pack in working. He is in a well paid job, mortgage free, no debt and his kids have left home. He told me that he has around £50k in savings and over £250k in his pension pot, he just thought that he isn't prepared to deal with the daily grind anymore. At the time I thought he was just sounding off, jump back to today and he has only gone and done it, given his notice and not looking back.

He is taking 12 months out to chill out and "find himself", going to take a few holidays and go to the gym each day to get himself fit. He is going to see where things take him and enjoy life for a while. I should mention that his wife is doing the same, it seems she is fully on board with it and was just waiting for him to pull the trigger.

But it got me thinking, would I be prepared to do the same? It just seems like a huge risk to take at a time when he is doing so well financially, then again his mental health is more important. I'm not sure that I could.
There would be the worry about getting back into work in 12 months time, would I even want to go back to work? I doubt it. And the fear of eating into the savings each month and the dread of any major unexpected expense.

On the other hand I think he has just become my new hero, he hasn't ever been the impulsive type but seems to have gone all in this time. He got me thinking when he said, at 70 years old is he ever going to regret having a year out to do the things we wanted to do while still healthy enough to do so.

Anyone else have made a leap of faith like this and how did it work out?
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Your idea of a huge leap.of faith or gamble appears to be completely out of whack tbh:-)
 
So many people I know are dying before they even get to retire, I wouldn’t discourage anyone from going for it.

Feels like they’ve been cheated. Paying into a pension pot all those years and never getting to spend a penny of it.

I’ll be off as soon as I think I’ve got enough to live comfortably for 10 years.

And if I hang on any longer than that, it’s a bonus and I’ll worry about the money situation then.
 
abu13 said:
The savings are yes but she has her own pension pot although he says its only about half the value of his. To be fair its the first time he has ever really discussed money, it's something we never felt the need to I suppose. He is actually much better off than i thought. One thing he did say is that between savings and his pension he andd his wife get about £3k a month put away.
This would scare me even more, the thought of giving that up with no guarantee of ever getting back to that level seems a huge risk.
In my mind I would be thinking hold off until 60 and be £180k better off, maybe then he could take early retirement rather than just a year out.
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I think the vast majority of people think like that so you are not alone. Many do over save though and over estimate how much they need to live off. I think it helps if you either have no kids or if you have kids that are very settled and not likely to be draining the pot.
 
hilts said:
Your idea of a huge leap.of faith or gamble appears to be completely out of whack tbh:-)
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I guess its all about attitude, I am the cautious type and don't feel comfortable with risk, I always thought he was very similar. I did say last week before he took the plunge to take his time, it could be the worst decision he ever makes, he just replied "what if it is the best decision i ever made" I couldnt really argue with that.
 
abu13 said:
I guess its all about attitude, I am the cautious type and don't feel comfortable with risk, I always thought he was very similar. I did say last week before he took the plunge to take his time, it could be the worst decision he ever makes, he just replied "what if it is the best decision i ever made" I couldnt really argue with that.
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What's his house worth ?
 
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