Giving up Work at 30

[otolith]

Find something you love doing, without having to worry what it pays.

[MrBarry123]

Charlie1986 said:

Or you could lose your job tomorrow or the next day. No matter what i have a pension that will grow each year for life. If you had that option what would you do?

Correct. And we could both die tomorrow in which case both of our opinions are irrelevant.

I've already said what I'd do - I'd continue to work however it looks as if our employment scenarios are different and therefore not comparable.

[Steve vRS]

NeMiSiS said:

One down side to doing the school runs is that you will probably be one of only two or three men in a group of forty odd yummie mummy's, very dangerous situation indeed.

I don't know, one of the benefits of collecting my daughter from school every now and then is a good look at the local MILF

[Kneetrembler]

Charlie1986 said:

So at the age of 30 i have a choice of giving up work.

I get a Military pension for life after being injured in service this and the additional Armed Forces PIP is worth £32,000 a year but I've chosen to take the choice of Motability so this takes it down to £29,000 a year. My other half works full time and we have a 4 year old who starts school in September.

All bills and our Mortgage is paid using my pension and still providing enough for me to live on and the OH wage can be saved.

The thing is i work and enjoy working but my condition recently has been playing up putting me in pain and being a dick but I'm very driven by pride.

If you had the choice what would you do? My mind is set for telling my work to get stuffed and becoming retired but at the age of 30!

I would retire, I did so at 42 and have never looked back, you have to remember that your pension/salary will always dimish from the time that you retire, and that you will have to pay cash for a lot of things from them on.
BUT, please ensure that you have something that will fill your life, i.e. As another business, making and selling Art,helping other charities etc.
All the very best for your future.

[Hoofy]

Bare in mind that work doesn't have to mean manual labour. There are plenty of jobs you can do from the comfort of a home office or even a sofa thanks to modern technology.

If I were in your position with your exact work ethic, I'd still be doing something rather than just being retired. Given your financial position, there's no rush and plenty of time to explore options.

[Roo]

I retired last year aged 48.

Certainly not in your circumstances. I just happened to be lucky after working long hours for 25 years.

I potter about doing things I enjoy. My wife went to part time working at the same time. We've both become National Trust and English Heritage members. Great way of finally spending some time together.

[Wocka]

Screw the 9-5. Find your passion, monetise it if possible and enjoy your time as much as possible.

[Impasse]

NeMiSiS said:

One down side to doing the school runs is that you will probably be one of only two or three men in a group of forty odd yummie mummy's, very dangerous situation indeed.

He could always wear ear defenders.



Is there any requirement to make this decision by a certain deadline?

[Steve H]

Try it.

There's nothing to say you can't change your mind in a month or a year or a decade.

It sounds like you have difficulties to deal with and a family to keep you busy, if you find hours left over there's a load of hobbies out there to try before having to go back to work just to fill your time.

I love both my jobs but I could still find better things to do if I didn't need the income.

[UpTheIron]

Do it. It will give you time with your family you can't get back later, and also give you time to get yourself in the best physical shape you can without having to worry about work or bringing a wage in.

At the same time, think about what you might do to give you a reason to get out of bed each day. You may find that family, school runs and jobs round the house are enough. Or you may not.. Think about what you will do for a social life... what would you do to keep the brain active. It might be a part time job. Or maybe volunteering. But it's good to have a plan b in case you find yourself getting bored.

[jan8p]

Do it. But do something part-time or voluntary to keep you busy or you'll go mad.

Be a magistrate. Or a scout/cadet civilian volunteer type person. Or a school governor. Or a dog walker. I'm sure it's easy to find something fun to do if you don't need the money.

[TartanPaint]

I met an ex-forces lad in the same position. Seriously injured in Afghanistan, still young and pensioned out. He was throwing himself into a life as a volunteer running outdoors/activity/adventure things for kids. It was active, rewarding and he didn't see it as a job, but more as a full-time hobby with a purpose. Sounded absolutely ideal.

Very inspiring chap. I've never had much contact with military folks, but H4H is my regular charity now.

Good luck to you, and hope you find something to do.

[Vocal Minority]

If your pain is getting in the way, and its working exacerbating it. The pension is a no brainer.

However, as others have said, the way to stop this giving way to a different kind of unhappiness is find something that you want to dedicate yourself to. We all need something to work on/dedicate ourselves to. Else you are just wiling away time.

It doesn't have to be a job or business (it can be if that's what you want), but something is always good.

[Lewi25]

OP, thank you for your service. My brother serves in the RAF and I'm so grateful for what you guys do.

Enjoy your life a bit more now, start a small ecommerce business or something but most of all enjoy spending more time with the wife and son.

[Fleckers]

retire at 30 sounds great, ignoring your pain

but I think if you become a stay at home dad you will become bored very quickly, even though you have the little man to look after, once he is in full time school you will be on your own and very bored, as someone said you need a reason to get out of bed

my suggestion would be try it but keep an ear to the ground for part time work especially when the little man is at school, even if its just a few hours a week at a supermarket or DIY place, you need to get out and talk to people even if its mundane cos school mums will drive you mad

[King Herald]

I just retired at 55, obviously a lot farther along than you, but you are as old as you feel, right?

Well, I thought I would be a busy bee every day as I have so many projects and plans and stuff. And I was, going crazy with the freedom.....

But after that three months I was burned out on being busy and spent more time couch potatoeing (SP?) on the PS4.

Time slowed, I slowed, I relaxed more, never felt the pressure to use every spare minute lest it go to waste. I don't feel guilty about just doing nothing some days.

In other words, it is an entirely personal situation you are in, nobody can really tell you what you should do, or what you will enjoy. Given the chance I would not have missed so many years of my daughter growing up, while I was offshore for two months at a time. I really wish I could go back and re-do those years again.

[DonkeyApple]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Take the money and run. Running a home (as your wife works full time) and looking after a 4 yr old is a job in itself. Many women do this and no one bats an eyelid or questions their pride.

What's more important than raising a child and running a home so your spouse can further her career. So long as you're prepared to do the cooking and the cleaning, which seems fair as you're at home and she's working full time, I don't see any issue with it at all.

The problem is that it isn't difficult or challenging and it's certainly not work that comes remotely close to filling a day. That's fine for one type of person but not for most.

I ran the house for two years. It was never tidier or cleaner. If you're not into all the fannying about with so called 'multitasking' to waste time but just focus on each task and do it properly and efficiently then there is not enough work to come close to filling a day or to be able to refer to it as a 'job'.

It's fine for settlers, plodders, cuckolds or out of necessity etc but if you have any ambition or are just a mentally active or social individual then nothing beats the right paying job.

[King Herald]

DonkeyApple said:

......If you're not into all the fannying about with so called 'multitasking' to waste time but just focus on each task and do it properly and efficiently then there is not enough work to come close to filling a day or to be able to refer to it as a 'job'..

^^^^^This^^^^^^

Watching my wife perform doing housework is an exercise in frustration. She works from dawn to dusk most, days, has ten different jobs on the go, runs back and forth between them, sighing and puffing and panting in frustration much of the time.

Just three of is live in the house....

I've carefully pointed out a hundred times to her to just focus on one job, finish it, move on, but I just get earache in return. My mother ran a house of six all on her own, with a part time job on top.

I retired at 55, six months ago, and I'm not as busy or industrious as I thought I'd be, but I'm never going to be so bored I'd want to go back offshore again. I grew to hate that job, buried in QHSE paperwork, reporting, lists, check-lists, check-lists of those check-lists, and the assholes who gloried in that sort of shyte.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

King Herald said:

Watching my wife perform doing housework is an exercise in frustration. She works from dawn to dusk most, days, has ten different jobs on the go, runs back and forth between them, sighing and puffing and panting in frustration much of the time.

Just three of is live in the house....

I've carefully pointed out a hundred times to her to just focus on one job, finish it, move on, but I just get earache in return.

I've done my share of running a home so how does your theory work. You put the dinner on to cook, do you just stare at the oven until it's done. Same with running the washing machine or dish washer.

Many jobs around the home require you to start a process, and then crack on with something else, and then come back to it later.

[DonkeyApple]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

King Herald said:

Watching my wife perform doing housework is an exercise in frustration. She works from dawn to dusk most, days, has ten different jobs on the go, runs back and forth between them, sighing and puffing and panting in frustration much of the time.

Just three of is live in the house....

I've carefully pointed out a hundred times to her to just focus on one job, finish it, move on, but I just get earache in return.

I've done my share of running a home so how does your theory work. You put the dinner on to cook, do you just stare at the oven until it's done. Same with running the washing machine or dish washer.

Many jobs around the home require you to start a process, and then crack on with something else, and then come back to it later.

Indeed. And approach those repeating processes as you would in a real work environment and there is not enough work to fill a morning, let alone a day. To fill out the whole day you have to ditch the efficiency and inject a bucket load of fannying about. Which is usually referred to as 'multitasking' ie the inability to focus and do a job properly.