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Redundant at 52 ?

Including Financial Independence and Retiring Early (FIRE)
Itsallaguess
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Re: Redundant at 52 ?

#267779

Postby Itsallaguess » November 27th, 2019, 7:18 pm

Alaric wrote:
Fenix wrote:
Am I missing anything obvious ?


I don't think so. If you are only expecting the redundancy lump sum to last a couple of years, you presumably invest it with caution.


On the specific point about potentially 'investing' the redundancy lump sum, if it's 'expected to last a couple of years', until access to an employee pension is available, then it sounds like it might actually *have* to last that couple of years, and so on that basis I'm wondering if any form of 'active investment' with that capital would be the best approach?

Given the clear sequence of returns risk over such a short period of time, then maybe a relatively 'known enemy' of low inflation might be a price worth paying for removing any potential market-risk that might severely affect the ability of the capital to last it's required two-year lifetime, and perhaps something like Premium Bonds or a similar low-risk home might be more appropriate on a two-year time-scale than exposing the lump sum money to the vagaries of the market...

Best wishes Fenix.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

airbus330
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Re: Redundant at 52 ?

#267830

Postby airbus330 » November 27th, 2019, 11:48 pm

Having been put in this situation myself 8 weeks ago I sympathise with you greatly. Its a genuinely shocking experience to marched off the premises by leather jacketed guards (there to protect the Insolvency Special Managers) after 20 years of service. I literally did nothing for 48 hours due to the shock, and I was very far from being the only victim.
On a practical note get your New Job Seekers Allowance application in online ASAP. I assume that as a long service PAYE employee you will qualify for the non-means tested JSA. Doing this will protect your National Insurance record for this year. You may even get the piddling £73 a week for 6 months which pays a bill or two. Do not be suckered into claiming Universal Credit, which the government website tries to do, it is as bad a nightmare as you hear in the press.
In my case, there were many colleagues in a similar position. If you are a group, organise an online group to share your experiences, WhatsApp is ideal. This has been incredibly helpful in both a practical and emotional sense.
If you are contemplating going for a new job in your field. Get advice on the current selection and interview processes used in your field. I last went through selection in 1999, after doing a 1 day brush up course on this subject, I was staggered by how the process had changed. I was lucky that our Union organised and paid for our courses, but they are available via the Careers Service or direct payment.
If you are contemplating a career change, there is money from the state to retrain. The process is a bit opaque and varies by UK country Rapid Reaction Fund in England, React in Wales.
As said below, budget tightly. Cut out all those little Direct Debits you don't need. We managed to reduce our outgoings by £1200 a month with little effort.
I admit to feeling fortunate in being 60, so can consider completely retiring, but I still have not quite got my head round the finality of that. You will have different choices to make, but I have not yet once felt sad about not having to go to my old job and that makes me think perhaps the world has something else to offer that is new and exciting.
All the best.

Fenix
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Re: Redundant at 52 ?

#267884

Postby Fenix » November 28th, 2019, 10:09 am

Thanks everyone - all great points to think over.

Cheers again.

ayshfm1
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Re: Redundant at 52 ?

#267916

Postby ayshfm1 » November 28th, 2019, 11:51 am

Any option to stage the pay out over a few years?
30K tax free now
8-12K (ni cuts in at 8Kish, tax over 12K) next year
8-12K in the year after
Rest into pension.

Also consider contract positons, IR35 is a bit of a mess but it does mean there is much less disadvantage to using an umbrella company. Often contractors get converted to permanent employee's.

fca2019
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Re: Redundant at 52 ?

#267960

Postby fca2019 » November 28th, 2019, 2:45 pm

Good luck and best wishes.

Sounds like you have a plan and good advice already.

Worth check your personal tax account and ni contributions.

Nb. termination over 30k, pilon, holiday pay and part month are taxable.

I'm late 40s but would like to retire early 50s, my plan is to try and last as long as before drawing pensions, so plan some part time work and dividend income and other bits and pieces to fill the gap. May well pay voluntary ni if needed.

Kantwebefriends
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Re: Redundant at 52 ?

#267977

Postby Kantwebefriends » November 28th, 2019, 4:02 pm

If you plan to spend your £30k tax-free redundancy money before you are 55 there's a case for aiming to earn up to £12,500 per year income. On that you'd pay no income tax and little or nothing in NICs.

If you counted as self-employed you'd be paying (if needs be by choice) the corresponding class of NICS which are (or were until recently) absurdly cheap.

Do you have a degree? If not, consider doing a degree financed by student loans. At your age you'll probably never have to pay them back. Fit in a bit of income earning in the vacations.

uryjm
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Re: Redundant at 52 ?

#270694

Postby uryjm » December 12th, 2019, 10:24 pm

Hi Fenix
A similar thing happened to me when I was 51 although financially I was kind of covered and thought "Yes! Financially Independent and Retiring Early! Living the FIRE dream."
Unfortunately I wasn't ready to retire, as it turned out, and I decided I wanted to get back to work. If you do similar I wish you luck and I'm sure you'll get there. I did, but I wouldn't say it was as easy as I was telling myself it would be. One bit of good advice I read is that getting a job is a full time job in itself. You might be lucky, but you might have to apply yourself to it over a period of time. If that's the case, don't be too hard on yourself if you find it tough going because it can be tough going. And, let's be honest, you're in your fifites. Yes, you're that young! If only everyone else felt the same it might be easier, but it's best to be realistic instead of wishing you were fifteen or twenty years younger. (I think I worried a bit too much about this aspect of job hunting if I'm honest and, in the end, I found an employer who it didn't worry at all. They are out there.)
When I wasn't working, I found it was really important to have a structure to your days. I eventually found quite a good one for workdays, where I'd go to the gym in the morning, then read the papers with a coffee, do some household stuff (ironing, gardening etc) and then have lunch. In the afternoons, I'd apply for jobs, try to network, contributed to websites, blogs and tried to keep mentally stimulated until I cooked dinner. In the evenings I'd read, listen to music or watch some telly with a large glass of red.
Bloody hell, it was a nice life, what did I go back to work for?!
Anyway, all the best, I'm sure it will work out of you.
Jim


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