A move to make your working life more difficult would not be recommended by me. Make your challenges in your private life, let that define you
I can't remember who said "don't chase money it will never be enough" but I think there's somthing in it. If I had my time again I think I would keep the job that enables me to do other shit, sport, travel, charity . Do the Dakar or the Cliper Round the World Race. And do it now if you think work commitments are going to ramp up. TB
All the money in the world doesn’t buy you happiness the people in your life do especially when life throws you a curved ball
London isn't that bad. I've lived here for 30 years (stayed after University) - when I go up north to visit family I miss being back down here within 24 hours. Like anywhere else it has shit areas but it also has some cracking places too. My only advice would be to NOT sell up - rent your house so it's always there to come back to. I think there's pressure (probably from people who are miserable) for a perfect life (whatever that is) and to be continuously searching for it and for happiness and to have a 5 year plan, and then a 10 year plan and an exit strategy. etc. Mugs game and waste of a life. I think it's better to live a bit more in the present, enjoy the small stuff, do the stuff you enjoy, take advantages of opportunities that arise and worry less about not being your best self. Someone once said "standards down, self-esteem up" which isn't a bad idea sometimes.
Money doesn't make you happy but I'd rather be a rich miserable bollocks than a poor one sorry I'll get me coat !!
A couple of thoughts i grew up really quite poor, poorer than all my friends, and then strove for 20 or so years for financial security. A major event led me to take two years off and go sailing, was awesome but i was bored after the two years Upon return i started my own small business, and experienced ‘work life balance’ for the first time. Now am ‘financially comfortable’ and going to stop work totally this summer. lessons : achieveing ‘financially comfortable’ status has made me a lot more content/happier Taking a total break from work was liberating Dont burn bridges! You never know what you might want to do in the future oh and 31 is YOUNG !, barely started on life’s great adventure steve
"achieving ‘financially comfortable’ status" How much is financially comfortable? Seven zero's or two lots of seven zero's or three or do you keep working until four to be sure? We've seen numbers that say just £400,000 is enough for someone in their 50's living into their 70's We cannot make these numbers stack up and you only get close if you assume that you own your home (no rent or mortgage). With no vehicle or holiday costs ours is a shade over £22K in a suburb of West London. That's just survival, nothing for property maintenance, transport/travel*, entertaining or holidays. *The 60+ London Oyster photocard scheme entitles Londoners to free travel on all TfL services and some national rail services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from their sixtieth birthday. It also allows holders free travel outside of morning peak hours on other national rail services in the capital.
My sums for ‘survival’ came to £24k pa Aircon, so very similar to yours. However ‘survival’ isnt something i’m interested in, so my retirement plan Income level is at a quite bit higher than this. I can afford this until am about 85-90 based on current funds, assuming modest investment returns, without selling the house that i own. Once i’m 85 i figure i won’t need the Ducatis, Cars, Boat etc nor will i need so much of an income.... hell i might be dead! obviously a plan is only a plan, but it comforts me to have one counting the months now ....
My own experience of work in london, people expect to be overly paid for poor quality workmanship. People intrinsically hate each other & avoid knowing one another unless thrown together due to work. I got out from there very quickly & moving to Birmingham. Owning my own home for over a decade I knew a fair few of my neighbours however a large majority of people prefer to be familiar strangers. People that you know the face of but never ever use simple phatic communication'
I want to give you a love heart, but a useful is more appropriate. If it's not a rude question are you retired? At present I spend a tad over double your survival number each each, with cars / bikes and a few nice holidays. But I'm working which limits our spending. I'm worried that if I haven't got the distraction of work I'll spend even more. My dad has made it to 72 and I can see no immediate reason why he won't go on for quite a while. I'll be well out of it by 85 (probably 75 based on heritage), but my wife is a fair bit younger and fitter (calm down Chiz) and might easily make it to 100... My Ducati's are part of my pension plan, so sell them as I need to (probably in my mid 70's). For this reasons I trudge on. Hopefully all this talk of end of life and planning may make a certain 30 year old take stock
I turned 56 last week Aircon, ‘semi retired’ and stopping fully prob end of May. my retirement budget is indeed about twice the £24k, and there’s a ‘slush fund’ for emergencies like visiting a Ducati dealer for earplugs and leaving with something else..... as for selling Ducatis i do have a 959 that i might sell, but opinion on here was that it was worth about 50p so i probably wont bother selling ! steve
Ear plugs with wheels..... A few years back went to Brighton to pick up a bike trailer. Came back with a 749R!
Many years ago i was stuck in a traffic jam and stationary alongside the Porsche dealer on the A4 into London......
If I had stayed in my original employment in an architect's practice instead of taking up the headhunters' offers and then working for myself over the last 25 years, I probably wouldn't have made myself ill and could have retired with a half decent pension instead off having to use all my funds to cover the costs once I got ill.
Mega multi quote... Agree and aware of all of that mate. Both companies in 1 & 2 are 20 employees so reasonable size but not too big. I think my main issue with 3 & 4 is although I do enjoy myself outside of work, I also want to work hard when I'm there, with plenty to do and push me! I used to work at Rolls Royce and jesus did I hate it trying to look busy for 8 hours a day. Deal Very true. To be honest I am feeling like I want to meet a nice girl and start settling down, and that would have a huge bearing about moving away I guess. Just proving quite difficult to find anyone decent, which makes me think moving away might help meet someone as I'll be forced to socialise more! Money doesn't make you happy, but you can be miserable in comfort. About £16k for me to over all bills and regular mortgage overpayment and pension overpayment. But it's cheap up here which helps! Still can't make a decision, planning to go to Aus in Oct / Nov to see my mate for 3 weeks so it will be really good to see if I like it out there and decide it's for me. Problem is by then option 2 is probably gone so that loses that off the pile. I hate making adult decisions outside of work!
“Very true. To be honest I am feeling like I want to meet a nice girl and start settling down, and that would have a huge bearing about moving away I guess. Just proving quite difficult to find anyone decent, which makes me think moving away might help meet someone as I'll be forced to socialise more!” And here we get to the root of it! One thing Maslow’s model doesn’t take into account is that in the absence of something at level 3 - level 4 can become more important to fill the void! “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” It’s this core drive that you really wish to fulfil. So Ladies and Gents - have you got any advice on this one? I think I’m massively under qualified given my track record but here’s my two-penneth! If you want to find love - get out there and do things you enjoy - as many things that bring you into contact with as many people as possible. There are Billions of people in the world and most of us only come into contact with a tiny fraction of them because we spend our lives locked in the same routine, the same places, the same faces. You are still young enough to try to meet the love of your life in the old fashioned way - but if you make it the sole focus of your life it never tends to work out well. Interesting people have interests! Get out there - do things - meet other interesting people!
