Mid forties…what would you do?
Discussion
So in a couple of years I’m thinking of selling my biz and property.
I’m divorced, no dependents and I get very depressed in the winter in the UK.
I want to spend winters abroad and I’m considering my options for a year or so down the line.
I like financial stability or at least a home base that I know I can come back to.
I have grown to hate my business but do have well over 20 years experience in the industry and have plenty of contacts and another biz that can generate some cash but it’s inconsistent.
Say I had £450k in a year or so. What would you do in my position?
I feel like starting over and tailoring my life to my naturally depressive nature to make sure I have sun and warmth as that keeps me steady. My friends are mostly in London and I’m sick of the place and my dream is to spend whatever time I have here out of London where I can drive properly and build up a car collection which I work on myself - I’m handy with a spanner.
It seems my main cause of anxiety is money and work and I’m wondering if there is a way to live a better life with minimal stress before I have a heart attack
I have no qualifications so getting a Visa for somewhere else would be very difficult. The annoying thing is I am good at what I do, I just don’t enjoy it and definitely take it too seriously
Just not sure how to move forward into what I would describe as life 2.0
All thoughts appreciated
I’m divorced, no dependents and I get very depressed in the winter in the UK.
I want to spend winters abroad and I’m considering my options for a year or so down the line.
I like financial stability or at least a home base that I know I can come back to.
I have grown to hate my business but do have well over 20 years experience in the industry and have plenty of contacts and another biz that can generate some cash but it’s inconsistent.
Say I had £450k in a year or so. What would you do in my position?
I feel like starting over and tailoring my life to my naturally depressive nature to make sure I have sun and warmth as that keeps me steady. My friends are mostly in London and I’m sick of the place and my dream is to spend whatever time I have here out of London where I can drive properly and build up a car collection which I work on myself - I’m handy with a spanner.
It seems my main cause of anxiety is money and work and I’m wondering if there is a way to live a better life with minimal stress before I have a heart attack
I have no qualifications so getting a Visa for somewhere else would be very difficult. The annoying thing is I am good at what I do, I just don’t enjoy it and definitely take it too seriously
Just not sure how to move forward into what I would describe as life 2.0
All thoughts appreciated
Edited by freenote on Wednesday 11th January 00:05
Edited by freenote on Wednesday 11th January 00:08
Can your business operate for, say three months, with decreased day-to-day involvement? Such as that you could buy this joint in Italy and camp out there when the mood takes you: https://specialumbria.com/luxury-villa-italy/caste...
Now I've just looked at that listing (I put in in the RE Pron thread) and it might be financially unavailable, and it's also under contract now, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying.
Now I've just looked at that listing (I put in in the RE Pron thread) and it might be financially unavailable, and it's also under contract now, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying.
rodericb said:
Can your business operate for, say three months, with decreased day-to-day involvement? Such as that you could buy this joint in Italy and camp out there when the mood takes you: https://specialumbria.com/luxury-villa-italy/caste...
Now I've just looked at that listing (I put in in the RE Pron thread) and it might be financially unavailable, and it's also under contract now, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying.
Unfortunately the business cannot run without me on a day-to-day basis hence I haven’t had a holiday or more than two days off for the last three yearsNow I've just looked at that listing (I put in in the RE Pron thread) and it might be financially unavailable, and it's also under contract now, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying.
I did something very similar 6 years ago and its scary at the time but ive never looked back.
Packed in my business of 20 years which provided me with a good income and wasnt hard work but I did need to be there. I enjoyed it for many years but then just got bored with it and the constant paperwork which increased every year. Then moved from a big city to the countryside miles from shops and in a very small village.
Started something completely different which I really enjoy and only work when I want which is roughly 20 hours a week but can come and go when ever I want so I could do nothing for 3 weeks and then do an 80 hours week but usually just potter about. I turn lots of work down and refuse to take on any staff as I would then be tied to the business like I used to be with my old one.
I was late 40s when I did this and life is too short, take a chance and as long as you can survive financially dont be hung up on earning big money and constantly buying new things.
I dont have a new phone every year and a new car every few years but dont care about material things I have a nice life and would not swap back for any amount of money.
Packed in my business of 20 years which provided me with a good income and wasnt hard work but I did need to be there. I enjoyed it for many years but then just got bored with it and the constant paperwork which increased every year. Then moved from a big city to the countryside miles from shops and in a very small village.
Started something completely different which I really enjoy and only work when I want which is roughly 20 hours a week but can come and go when ever I want so I could do nothing for 3 weeks and then do an 80 hours week but usually just potter about. I turn lots of work down and refuse to take on any staff as I would then be tied to the business like I used to be with my old one.
I was late 40s when I did this and life is too short, take a chance and as long as you can survive financially dont be hung up on earning big money and constantly buying new things.
I dont have a new phone every year and a new car every few years but dont care about material things I have a nice life and would not swap back for any amount of money.
I would run a competition and put a few gold tickets inside some of the products you sell.
The lucky winners who receive the gold tickets will be invited to your business to have a look around and meet you and then after a day of light activities you select one to run your business.
You bugger off, retire and collect the profits.
The lucky winners who receive the gold tickets will be invited to your business to have a look around and meet you and then after a day of light activities you select one to run your business.
You bugger off, retire and collect the profits.
Marc p said:
Can the business be run remotely or do you need to be physically there?
.
Yeah that. I know of one ph'er who has a business that he runs from his home but occasionally needs to make an appearance and this is a worldwide business, so sometimes he is in the UK, sometimes abroad. Our MD works from home sometimes, okay he is not always intentionally working but he is keeping an eye on things..
Surely the OP could be doing that.
I dont want to be overly critical here, but you have said:
- the business can’t run day to day without you
- you want to sell the business.
Who is going to buy it? (Or do you mean sell all the assets etc.? - I can see that).
I wonder if with the goal of getting the lifestyle you desire (‘lifestyle centric career planning’) it would be worth some time/effort to expand or convert the business into one that can run without your daily involvement. You’d then have the option of keeping it and living (i feel the same as you) somewhere not s
t and miserable in the winter, or selling something with much greater value. Then you could have a holiday home to escape from your holiday home,.
- the business can’t run day to day without you
- you want to sell the business.
Who is going to buy it? (Or do you mean sell all the assets etc.? - I can see that).
I wonder if with the goal of getting the lifestyle you desire (‘lifestyle centric career planning’) it would be worth some time/effort to expand or convert the business into one that can run without your daily involvement. You’d then have the option of keeping it and living (i feel the same as you) somewhere not s
t and miserable in the winter, or selling something with much greater value. Then you could have a holiday home to escape from your holiday home,. I’m also having a mid 40s wobble at the moment and can’t see myself working until I’m 60+.
Plan is to clear off the mortgage and downsize the house within the next few years. This will mean no big outgoing payments, a house i’d own outright with cash in the bank (from equity) and a relatively ok pension from my years of work.
What would I do with my time? I’ve already enrolled at the local uni to start doing adult learning in something unrelated to work, I would make this a full time degree (or similar), invest in myself, learn things, volunteer, I’d travel and maybe a little bit of part time work for beer money. Keep it simple really
Plan is to clear off the mortgage and downsize the house within the next few years. This will mean no big outgoing payments, a house i’d own outright with cash in the bank (from equity) and a relatively ok pension from my years of work.
What would I do with my time? I’ve already enrolled at the local uni to start doing adult learning in something unrelated to work, I would make this a full time degree (or similar), invest in myself, learn things, volunteer, I’d travel and maybe a little bit of part time work for beer money. Keep it simple really
I jacked it in last year in my early 40s.
Currently sat in the south of France.
The demands of running a business can only be understood by people who have been there and done it.
Sadly if your business cant easily run without you then its even worse. It takes its toll thats for sure.
So far in the last 6 months we have enjoyed every day. Its very liberating to be able to go where you want when you want.
We have also found that the UK is pretty cheap if you want it to be. We are spending less than we thought we would on day to day living costs.
Right now I am sure we have made the right call, but if that changes then I will just go and get a PT job when required.
If you dont mind me asking is the 450k your total from everything or would you still have a property?
Also do you have a pension?
Currently sat in the south of France.
The demands of running a business can only be understood by people who have been there and done it.
Sadly if your business cant easily run without you then its even worse. It takes its toll thats for sure.
So far in the last 6 months we have enjoyed every day. Its very liberating to be able to go where you want when you want.
We have also found that the UK is pretty cheap if you want it to be. We are spending less than we thought we would on day to day living costs.
Right now I am sure we have made the right call, but if that changes then I will just go and get a PT job when required.
If you dont mind me asking is the 450k your total from everything or would you still have a property?
Also do you have a pension?
Once ensconced in your accommodation, don't drop the soap.AndyAudi said:
Still a pipe dream of the Spanish government unfortunately. It's been mentioned for some time but years on appears to still be under discussion. The Spanish Consulate couldn't help out with timescales and informally told me I couldn't work at all under a non-lucrative visa or without a visa, and I had no hope in getting a working visa whilst working at a UK firm based in the UK.What info I was able to find suggested that you would declare what income you received during that period of work and pay a fixed %age to the Spanish authorities, a double tax for the privilege of being allowed to work.
One upshot is I can comfortably refuse to be available for any work, including calls or emails, as it breaches work policy and Spanish law.
freenote said:
Unfortunately the business cannot run without me on a day-to-day basis hence I haven’t had a holiday or more than two days off for the last three years
This may be the source of your hate of the business.I would focus on finding someone who can share the burden, either as an employee or a partner before selling it all up in your forties.
boombang said:
AndyAudi said:
Still a pipe dream of the Spanish government unfortunately. It's been mentioned for some time but years on appears to still be under discussion. The Spanish Consulate couldn't help out with timescales and informally told me I couldn't work at all under a non-lucrative visa or without a visa, and I had no hope in getting a working visa whilst working at a UK firm based in the UK.What info I was able to find suggested that you would declare what income you received during that period of work and pay a fixed %age to the Spanish authorities, a double tax for the privilege of being allowed to work.
One upshot is I can comfortably refuse to be available for any work, including calls or emails, as it breaches work policy and Spanish law.
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