Keeping busy… leaving the ‘rat race’

[Trikster]

Ok, mid 50s and want to get out of the rat race… been in IT/Finance/Hr transformation for the past 30 years from PM to owning the whole strategy for large multinationals, and whilst I ‘drive a desk’ all day I enjoy being practical in any down time eg DIY/tinkering with the cars etc

If I do stop though I still want to be doing something, perhaps that covers the day to day coffees etc so the pension/savings can be used for the fun stuff (no mortgage and no kids) at least until Mrs T stops working too.

But no idea what to do and how easy it will be to find a role - just wondering if others have taken on? I’m not looking for a hobby as I still need some structure, and having tried stopping about 10 years ago I want to avoid just sitting around or having no direction….

[Badda]

To paraphrase:

Help me have a life.

If you’ve not found something that floats your boat and can fill your days in 50+ years, I can’t see how a bunch of strangers can tell you what it is.

[Trikster]

Badda said:

To paraphrase:

Help me have a life.

If you’ve not found something that floats your boat and can fill your days in 50+ years, I can’t see how a bunch of strangers can tell you what it is.

I’m not asking them to tell me what it is, just wondering what’s out there that I might not have considered

[MesoForm]

School technicians (science, DT) are often people semi-retiring, I was one for a couple of years when I couldn't find a 'career job' after graduating, met quite a few others on courses and they were often people like yourself just wanting to get out of the rat race but not sit on their backsides all day and keep a bit of income coming in. Often they're term-time + 2 weeks so you get long holidays, kids can be fun to work with (or at least were 20 years ago) as you're not in a position where you have to stand up in front of a class and tell them to be quiet!

[Panamax]

Anything education related sounds a workable plan.

Something to watch out for is that if, say, your corporate salary was £100k and your new salary is £25k you risk being just as "tied down" to the work routine but for only a quarter of the pay! In contrast, one of the joys of being truly "stopped" is waking up on a sunny Tuesday morning in June and being able to just go out somewhere without a class of kids expecting you at 9.00 a.m....

[Countdown]

Trikster said:

Ok, mid 50s and want to get out of the rat race… been in IT/Finance/Hr transformation for the past 30 years from PM to owning the whole strategy for large multinationals, and whilst I ‘drive a desk’ all day I enjoy being practical in any down time eg DIY/tinkering with the cars etc

If I do stop though I still want to be doing something, perhaps that covers the day to day coffees etc so the pension/savings can be used for the fun stuff (no mortgage and no kids) at least until Mrs T stops working too.

But no idea what to do and how easy it will be to find a role - just wondering if others have taken on? I’m not looking for a hobby as I still need some structure, and having tried stopping about 10 years ago I want to avoid just sitting around or having no direction….

if it's not a "hobby then it's "work". And if it's "work" you might find yourself suffering from the same issues except for being on a lot less money.

[E63eeeeee...]

Have you looked at something like being an NVQ or apprenticeship assessor? (Or whatever the equivalent is called now). I've had junior team members on apprenticeships or work-based qualification programmes where there's an assessor who comes to meet them periodically and goes through learning plans etc. I don't know how much of a commitment it is or how competitive but the ones I met did seem to fall into that semi-retired pattern I think you're looking for. Should be lots of apprenticeships going on in your specialisms.

[alangla]

Panamax said:

Something to watch out for is that if, say, your corporate salary was £100k and your new salary is £25k you risk being just as "tied down" to the work routine but for only a quarter of the pay!.

Probably goes without saying, but it won’t be a quarter of the pay. Significantly less, certainly, but thanks to the tax system, not as extreme as that, especially if you happen to live in Scotland. In saying all that, it’s worth figuring out if the take-home for the job in question makes it worth doing versus not working.

Edit: ran the government tax calculator out of curiosity. Ignoring any other income, £25k = £21,521 take home, £100k = £68,561.

In Scotland £25k = £21,544, £100k = £65,215

Edited by alangla on Thursday 31st October 17:55

[Truckosaurus]

alangla said:

Probably goes without saying, but it won’t be a quarter of the pay. Significantly less, certainly, but thanks to the tax system....

Indeed. Especially as the Minimum Wage keeps going up. A part time (16-20hrs a week) MW job to earn some 'pin money' isn't so bad on the take-home front.

(But that's looking from it as someone not especially powerfully built, someone more successful might not agree and perhaps might just want to do some voluntary work to keep their hand in for even less stress).

[Eric Mc]

What is the OP interested in?

If you want to escape the rat race - which my definition is being under pressure doing things you don't like - then do something you DO like.

[markymarkthree]

Get into motorbikes. A classic and a modern is a great combination.
Caravan/motorhome, sun pops out and off you go, chuck in a couple of lecy bikes.

[Hugo Stiglitz v2]

Do something completely left field- a new hobby. I've met a Chief Inspector in the Police who became a Teachers Assistant in a primary school in a bad area. For me that's kinda linked but brilliant.

Don't retire with no hobby/obsessions. Cars aren't obsessions - unless you use them to drive across continents.

Kayak, climb, cycle, build etc etc

[lizardbrain]

Hugo Stiglitz v2 said:

Do something completely left field- a new hobby. I've met a Chief Inspector in the Police who became a Teachers Assistant in a primary school in a bad area. For me that's kinda linked but brilliant.

Don't retire with no hobby/obsessions. Cars aren't obsessions - unless you use them to drive across continents.

Kayak, climb, cycle, build etc etc

I used to be a teaching assistent 30 years ago, and emjoyed it, but these days it's 100% female and basically a waiting list to get in.

Not impossible, but i've struggled to find the venn circle overlap of stress free hobby jobs that also fit my demo

[Antony Moxey]

When I sold my business I thought I'd carry on in the same field, but permanent jobs were hard to find. Then out of the blue a temporary job came up at a local school looking for short term caretaker cover. I applied and eight years later I'm still there. Pretty much my own boss left to do as I please for the majority of the time, some of it's dull, some a bit more fun but the entire job is a piece of cake with very little that's time dependent to the extent that it's critical what you do and when.

This week, being half term, has been great with no kids or teachers in. I've repaired a couple of doors that were vandalised (you get a lot of this, repairing vandalism), made up a device to stop the kids twisting the taps round and flooding the toilets, stuck down some loose carpet, emptied the recycling bins, sorted out a couple of contractors, sorted out some external kids' clubs using the sports hall and outside pitches, brushed our 3G pitch with our tractor and drag mat, done a site wide litter pick, removed some rotten fencing, restocked classrooms that had run out of PPE and sent a bunch of scrotes packing that thought they'd hang around the school because they had nothing better to do and painted a classroom.

There's always something to do, and as long as you're not the site manager absolutely no stress or real responsibility whatsover. Do your compliance work, drive the minibus, repair stuff, build stuff, restock stuff and occasionally clean stuff then go home and forget about it until your shift starts the next morning. Can't see me doing anything else now until retirement, which, unless I'm physically unable to do the work or do something that falls under gross misconduct, that'll be when I choose too. It's an easy life.

[surveyor]

We have a local charity which ferries cancer patients to and from Sheffield for Radiology. They rely on volunteer drivers. Most areas have similar charity's. Perhaps look for something like that.

[Sheepshanks]

Panamax said:

Anything education related sounds a workable plan.

Something to watch out for is that if, say, your corporate salary was £100k and your new salary is £25k you risk being just as "tied down" to the work routine but for only a quarter of the pay! In contrast, one of the joys of being truly "stopped" is waking up on a sunny Tuesday morning in June and being able to just go out somewhere without a class of kids expecting you at 9.00 a.m....

I’d suggest a big snag with anything education related is being tied to school holidays.

[plenty]

Can your skills transfer to something you can earn money from while working part-time for yourself? Consulting, professional training, etc.

You'll need not only the skills but also a network, or be good at self-promotion.

[VeeReihenmotor6]

If I decided to semi retire I'd go and contact one of the specialist car garages and see what's about. For example there is a place local to me that does high end car sales, storage, workshop, paint protection film etc. I'd happily do anything just to be around the cars, the people. I'm sure a ex-professional like yourself would fit in perfectly in that sort of establishment.

Otherwise it boils down to what makes you tick, for example if you like old properties and gardens you could try the National Trust.

However, if you can't stomach minimum wage it's probably best to just carry on with the current day job for a few more years and pack it in completely until you're truly free and could just volunteer for example (or take a minimum wage job somewhere you want to be).

[Juan B]

I know a couple of guys that do yodel/ dhl or Amazon deliveries part time, not sure if thats exactly what you're looking for but it seems fairly relaxed , going about in your van with music on etc, maybe depends on the area though. I probably wouldn't want to do it in cities.

I always thought grass cutting for councils I wouldn't mind doing either, not really sure on the details of it though.

Also jobs at B&Q/ Travis Perkins/ Timber yards etc maybe. Or garden centres.

These may fall a bit below what you'd still want to be bringing in however.

[TGCOTF-dewey]

What about some NED roles with some start ups. A lot of start ups struggle with the wider Business elements. A couple of days a month to give you enough money to find something more interesting that doesn't pay at all.

What about...mountain rescue / lowland SAR. First responder...sports youth coaching...business coaching charities helping kids get into the workplace... restoration charity (planes, trains,mil vehicles)...museum volunteer... historical garden volunteer... historical building volunteer.