I worked my way up in a multi-national corporate, working long hours and did a fair amount of travel in the process. The company expanded rapidly and it was very successful and rewarded its staff very well too. With the rapid expansion came the bullshit management, the annual performance reviews, the 2 year cycle of new directors changing department names, moving people around to keep everyone on their toes. When the competition finally caught up, a lot of the company benefits disappeared for the workers and it got to the stage where they were making yearly cuts to staff levels. In my team they made 3 managers redundant and somehow I got landed with a lot of their project work. It wasn't a surprise that I was next out of the door the following year. To be honest redundancy was the best thing that could have happened. I took some time off then setup my own limited company and went back to doing what I enjoyed & earning more than I did as a manager. So it can be done - start looking for another role. Although the current freelance / contractor market seems to have been totally stuffed by the Tories / HMRC
Anyone who can't stand the heat needs to get out of the kitchen! Not only for their own sanity but for that of their subordinates who normally suffer most.
I did the same as you, I retired just before my 60th birthday. My job was wrecking my health so I took the decision that it was better to retire with what I had than to carry on working making my health worse. I sold my house and live on the proceeds and my savings as my state pension doesn't start till I'm 66 and I've left my private pension untouched for as long as possible. You only need enough money to live, that's the hardest part to get your head round but your health is more important than having more money than you need to live on.
We've never lived above our means. For instance in late 80s I couldn't afford a Car so went without. Never got one on tick. In early 90s couldn't afford to go on holiday and refused to pay for one on credit card. We both enjoy life's simple pleasures without being extravagant
I'm currently considering asking to go part time to be honest. My wife has gone from part time to full time and it's pretty unmanageable as we both have jobs requiring 50+ hours every week and take work home for evenings and weekends. Our three children are only going to be young once (3, 6 and 8) and she earns more than double what I do ( I'm not on a bad salary, she's on a very good one). Just got to make the decision that works for you and your family. My issue is that I'll guarantee I am refused part time working, plus it's never ideal in teaching anyway as all the people who work 60 percent are still in for 4-5 days a week, they just work for less of each day...
My subordinates are not suffering at all thank you, they're actually getting more opportunities than most people of their level in the company as that's the type of manager I always wanted to be.
Please read my reply again - it attacked you in NO way/ You asked for opinions and I. merely, gave you mine!
