With £500,000 could you retire from the rat race ?
Discussion
Errr...No. But maybe yes...
key issue here is where you want to live, and if you need to travel to and from your chosen home to visit family.
You could buy a nice place outside of the Uk and live a decent, simpler life with no worries. But you might need a language, and what money is left will have to work damn hard to keep you ahead...
You could live in a cheaper part of the UK and live the same way I think. £500k would see you sorted out.
But £500k in the SE of England ( and assuming you are relatively young ) just is not enough.
So if you are having a crap week - remember that £500k will pay £25k a year net to live on.
But you'll need somewhere to live.
key issue here is where you want to live, and if you need to travel to and from your chosen home to visit family.
You could buy a nice place outside of the Uk and live a decent, simpler life with no worries. But you might need a language, and what money is left will have to work damn hard to keep you ahead...
You could live in a cheaper part of the UK and live the same way I think. £500k would see you sorted out.
But £500k in the SE of England ( and assuming you are relatively young ) just is not enough.
So if you are having a crap week - remember that £500k will pay £25k a year net to live on.
But you'll need somewhere to live.
tonker,
It depends what sort of lifestyle you want. If the job paid around 15K, say, I would (and might!) buy a smaller place around 230K with a mortgage of about 30K and invest the 300K to yield, say, 12K.
My net income would be about 2K per month which I could probably scrape by on (but then I am a thinly disguised hermit by nature).
Cheers
Jim B
It depends what sort of lifestyle you want. If the job paid around 15K, say, I would (and might!) buy a smaller place around 230K with a mortgage of about 30K and invest the 300K to yield, say, 12K.
My net income would be about 2K per month which I could probably scrape by on (but then I am a thinly disguised hermit by nature).
Cheers
Jim B
Another two zeros on the end to the left of the decimal would do the job for me.
Tonker, I'm sure you know as well as I do it comes as a question of self worth.
With so much of the environment based on each person's relativity, it will be a completely different question (and answer) for each person.
You are effectively asking to know each person's self worth?
Unfortunately the sad truth is that half a million pounds is not that much money nowadays. I certainly was not happy with it when I achieved it.
Tonker, I'm sure you know as well as I do it comes as a question of self worth.
With so much of the environment based on each person's relativity, it will be a completely different question (and answer) for each person.
You are effectively asking to know each person's self worth?
Unfortunately the sad truth is that half a million pounds is not that much money nowadays. I certainly was not happy with it when I achieved it.
Invested in rented out properties maybe you'd get by, but the purchase prices have gone up so much in the UK and France that rental income is no longer a big winner as an investment.
Also have to bear in mind that living on the interest of your 'chunk' devalues the capital at the rate of inflation. Ideally you need enough to live on the interest of the interest, if you see what I mean.
A few years ago I played with an Excel spreadsheet and worked out that with my primary residence already paid off, 3/4 of a million £s to play with in a balanced investment portfolio would see me living comfortably. The problem is achieving that state of affairs before normal retirement age...
Also have to bear in mind that living on the interest of your 'chunk' devalues the capital at the rate of inflation. Ideally you need enough to live on the interest of the interest, if you see what I mean.
A few years ago I played with an Excel spreadsheet and worked out that with my primary residence already paid off, 3/4 of a million £s to play with in a balanced investment portfolio would see me living comfortably. The problem is achieving that state of affairs before normal retirement age...
We should form a support group for disillusioned lawyers, bankers and other people on the treadmill...
Working hard with a short, sharp compressed-time working strategy ( rather than the long slow burn to 65 and a small pension ) is all well and good, but you are meant to be alive to enjoy it at the end...
Working hard with a short, sharp compressed-time working strategy ( rather than the long slow burn to 65 and a small pension ) is all well and good, but you are meant to be alive to enjoy it at the end...
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Write. Learn the harpsichord. Paint. Make rocking horses. Learn languages. Travel. Take up Kendo.
If you need work to tax your brain, then you don't have enough imagination. £500K would buy me a house, a nice car and set me up with a supplementary income that would allow me to pick and choose my employment - perhaps even go into business for myself.
Given the means, I'd give up work tomorrow and never, ever be bored.
£500k?
I don't think I'd try and live on it, I think I'd enhance my life with it so that certain things would take care of themselves once I had retired.
Ie - say, £200k on a waterfront apartment and a nice yacht in San Remo plus insurance for both. That's a lifestyle 'package' that will appreciate and provide either somewhere to escape to or, if times get hard, sell to English people.
£100k in a high-interest account, just tiding me over.
£200k as 'slow burn' disposable income. I'm not the sort to splurge - (I can't justify much more than £20k on a car myself though I know it's different for others) so it would allow me to 'live the high life on the cheap' so to speak.
Other than that I'd probably live my life as normal. I'd try and get a job I could do because I enjoy it, rather than because I needed the money - motoring journalism, perhaps, but I'd need something to occupy my time.
I don't think I'd try and live on it, I think I'd enhance my life with it so that certain things would take care of themselves once I had retired.
Ie - say, £200k on a waterfront apartment and a nice yacht in San Remo plus insurance for both. That's a lifestyle 'package' that will appreciate and provide either somewhere to escape to or, if times get hard, sell to English people.
£100k in a high-interest account, just tiding me over.
£200k as 'slow burn' disposable income. I'm not the sort to splurge - (I can't justify much more than £20k on a car myself though I know it's different for others) so it would allow me to 'live the high life on the cheap' so to speak.
Other than that I'd probably live my life as normal. I'd try and get a job I could do because I enjoy it, rather than because I needed the money - motoring journalism, perhaps, but I'd need something to occupy my time.
Half a mil...hmmm.. doesn't sound THAT much really does it? (Taking into consideration property prices in SE and general cost of living)
It would get me out of the soulless dullness of the day to day and allow me to go and play with cameras properly, whilst having a reasonable house & car to play with. I'd pay off current mortgage on a £240k house, buy a 355 (well, you would wouldn't you) and the remaining £200k or so could be spread around various low - medium risk investments. I'd still work, but chasing the dollar wouldn't be so important....
Or maybe I'd go live elsewhere and spend time racing V6GTO around the hills of Spain
It would get me out of the soulless dullness of the day to day and allow me to go and play with cameras properly, whilst having a reasonable house & car to play with. I'd pay off current mortgage on a £240k house, buy a 355 (well, you would wouldn't you) and the remaining £200k or so could be spread around various low - medium risk investments. I'd still work, but chasing the dollar wouldn't be so important....
Or maybe I'd go live elsewhere and spend time racing V6GTO around the hills of Spain
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The only professions I can think of that involve selling your soul to the devil include but are not limited to lawyers, drug dealers, insolvency practitioners (see lawyers), car dealers (only joking) and network marketing and pyramid schemes organisers!
Since you do not mention your profession in your profile (yes I sneaked a look), given your articulacy, and stated stress situation, I would probably hazard a guess as lawyer (out of all the ones I could think of, I am probably totally wrong!). None of the others (insolvency practitioner included) would have any real stress.
Eitherway, if you are early twenties you may give it up. If you are late twenties to mid thirties, you have given too much time to pull out now, the draw to the inevitable sucess is too strong, if you are late thirties to mid forties you will feel too close to the win to give up now, if you are late forties you will be at the trophy, grabbing the prize, if not, then certainly knocking on the door.
It's difficult, money brings with it so many problems, but yet so many of us are whores to the power of buying power.
Good luck sir, but do not underestimate the value of your health, or your time with others whom you love... those cannot be bought with all the buying power in the world... there ARE things money cannot buy.
70k drop in annual income and I have 'more' now than I've ever had.anonymous said:
[redacted]
Tonker is indeed a lawyer, so good guess. He's taken the Yankee Dollar if I remember correctly so I imagine his stress can be even more intense than mine.
Still, if I had a pound for every time a friend had told me I should quit before I kill myself with overwork, I'd be able to actually do that.
I had a week off just doing nothing and friends couldn't believe how different I looked at the end of the week.
Personally, I could probably quit my current job and live quite comfortably if someone paid off my debts and gave me £50k. However, I quite like the trappings of money, so in reality would probably need nearer £5m.
Nevin,
I know how you feel, I am in the same way. I made the calculation that everything in my life that will happen will happen regardless, therefore I prefer to have money and its trappings than not, as long as the difference was my effort.
But I did decide that I would draw a line, and did it. Maybe I could be better off, but that would be a purely fiscal calculation, and life is not that simple. Further, if I were to become ill/bored/dead earlier rather than later, perhaps I would not make as much after all!
In any case, we all make our beds so must lay in them. If we REALLY didn't want to do it, we wouldn't.
£5M would do it, until you had it, then you'd need £10M, then £20M. It rarely is enough.
Nevin, take care out there, and good luck! I have a few lawyers as friends, litigation and corporate law, and you can certainly see the differing stress levels in their faces from one week to the next. There ARE some good lawyers out there, despite what we hear...
I know how you feel, I am in the same way. I made the calculation that everything in my life that will happen will happen regardless, therefore I prefer to have money and its trappings than not, as long as the difference was my effort.
But I did decide that I would draw a line, and did it. Maybe I could be better off, but that would be a purely fiscal calculation, and life is not that simple. Further, if I were to become ill/bored/dead earlier rather than later, perhaps I would not make as much after all!
In any case, we all make our beds so must lay in them. If we REALLY didn't want to do it, we wouldn't.
£5M would do it, until you had it, then you'd need £10M, then £20M. It rarely is enough.
Nevin, take care out there, and good luck! I have a few lawyers as friends, litigation and corporate law, and you can certainly see the differing stress levels in their faces from one week to the next. There ARE some good lawyers out there, despite what we hear...
Yep, definately.
Buy a couple of pads out in the sticks, rent one and live in the other.
My whole life philosophy is based around making the most out of the least. I view life as selling your time to pay for a lifestyle. I value my time and want maximum for me, hence I need to minimise my need for money, hence I pretty much go without. Apart from a few crazy cars, piano, library and surfboard, I have nothing. Although I envy the lavish bling of my mates, I would rather have my time for me. Someone could offer me £500,000 and I would not sell the life I have. But, it isn't for everyone. Living out in the sticks is a different ballgame and a lot of people can't hack it when it boils down to it, being a part of a community, taking time to talk to people, slowing down and appreciating the whole essence of life and time. I had a fair old conflict with myself for not ticking the boxes my pyramid climbing friends were ticking. One day I was out surfing in the afternoon, the sun was low in the sky, everything was lit up yellow and the sea was like oil, I lay back on my surfboard and thought "This is
brilliant", it was a moment when I experienced the essence of life.
If you're thinking of perhaps jacking it in for a simple life, I reckon it's great. There's going to be a wave on the South Coast tomorrow and I might go and look for fossils in a limestone bed I've found. Having said, the jeep does need new tyres which I can't just flash the cash out.
It's a good job that most people opt for what I consider a crazy lifestyle as otherwise I wouldn't be able to get a quiet surf in.
Give it some serious thought.
Buy a couple of pads out in the sticks, rent one and live in the other.
My whole life philosophy is based around making the most out of the least. I view life as selling your time to pay for a lifestyle. I value my time and want maximum for me, hence I need to minimise my need for money, hence I pretty much go without. Apart from a few crazy cars, piano, library and surfboard, I have nothing. Although I envy the lavish bling of my mates, I would rather have my time for me. Someone could offer me £500,000 and I would not sell the life I have. But, it isn't for everyone. Living out in the sticks is a different ballgame and a lot of people can't hack it when it boils down to it, being a part of a community, taking time to talk to people, slowing down and appreciating the whole essence of life and time. I had a fair old conflict with myself for not ticking the boxes my pyramid climbing friends were ticking. One day I was out surfing in the afternoon, the sun was low in the sky, everything was lit up yellow and the sea was like oil, I lay back on my surfboard and thought "This is
brilliant", it was a moment when I experienced the essence of life. If you're thinking of perhaps jacking it in for a simple life, I reckon it's great. There's going to be a wave on the South Coast tomorrow and I might go and look for fossils in a limestone bed I've found. Having said, the jeep does need new tyres which I can't just flash the cash out.
It's a good job that most people opt for what I consider a crazy lifestyle as otherwise I wouldn't be able to get a quiet surf in.
Give it some serious thought.
maven said:
Nevin,
I know how you feel, I am in the same way. I made the calculation that everything in my life that will happen will happen regardless, therefore I prefer to have money and its trappings than not, as long as the difference was my effort.
But I did decide that I would draw a line, and did it. Maybe I could be better off, but that would be a purely fiscal calculation, and life is not that simple. Further, if I were to become ill/bored/dead earlier rather than later, perhaps I would not make as much after all!
In any case, we all make our beds so must lay in them. If we REALLY didn't want to do it, we wouldn't.
£5M would do it, until you had it, then you'd need £10M, then £20M. It rarely is enough.
Nevin, take care out there, and good luck! I have a few lawyers as friends, litigation and corporate law, and you can certainly see the differing stress levels in their faces from one week to the next. There ARE some good lawyers out there, despite what we hear...
Exactly it. I've made my bed and am happy to lie in it. I'd rather sit by the side of a lake all day with a good book, but as I can't afford to I'm relatively happy doing what I am doing.
As for £5m not being enough once you have it, I could quite believe that. When I was training I was getting by quite happily on £9k a year. I'm now on a considerable multiple of that and it doesn't seem like enough. You just tend to find more expensive things to spend it on.
As for some lawyers actually being decent though, I can't belive that. I am the very devil incarnate
>> Edited by Nevin on Tuesday 10th May 00:12
maven said:
The only professions I can think of that involve selling your soul to the devil include but are not limited to lawyers, drug dealers, insolvency practitioners (see lawyers), car dealers (only joking) and network marketing and pyramid schemes organisers!
You forgot merchant bankers - by god you need a liver to do that job!
Soppy though it may sound, my perspective on all this has changed now that I have 3 sprogs.
It's a bit of a devil's alternative really - on one hand you don't want to slog yourself into the ground and not be around for them and on the other hand you need to earn to be able to provide for them and help them over the earlier hurdles of establishing themselves in life. Given the tendency of each successive generation to hang onto the apron-strings for even longer, I can see them eating into my pleasure funds until their late twenties!
My only regret when I start considering financial issues is not becoming a contractor earlier in life as it has radically changed my earning capacity. Now if only Europe would let "offshore" stay offshore, life would be easy, but they're banging at the doors trying to turn opaque into transparent. If I believed any of them would ever pay me a pension maybe I'd have a different attitude, but innate cynicism tells me that it'll be every man for himself.
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