u/Horror_Purpose1634

I’m 41 years old, unmarried, no kids, and trying to work out whether I’m ready to FIRE?

My situation:

• I own my flat outright in Edinburgh, worth around £650k
• Pension currently has about £325k in it, but I can’t access it for another 19 years. Based on current projections it should grow to roughly £1.2m by then.
• I ran my own manufacturing business for the last 15 years but it went under in January
• Since then I haven’t been able to find a job (the economy feels absolutely brutal at the moment)
• I’ve got around £20k left in savings and no debt

Right now I survive by renting out two spare rooms in my flat, which brings in about £1,750/month. My fixed costs are roughly £1,200/month including council tax, utilities, phone, gym membership, car costs (excluding fuel) etc leaving me around £550 per month for everything else.

One option I keep thinking about is moving abroad somewhere with a significantly lower cost of living. If I did that, I’d rent the whole flat out through a letting agency and should net around £2000/month after fees.

Am I kidding myself thinking I could effectively retire early abroad on this setup? Or semi-retire and just do occasional low-stress work online / part time while still living in Edinburgh?

Interested to hear from anyone who has done something similar in their 40s.

I’m 41 and wondering whether it makes financial sense to move abroad for a lower cost of living, or whether I’m being unrealistic.

Current situation:

• I own my flat outright in Edinburgh, worth around £650k
• Pension currently has £325k in it, but I can’t access it for another 19 years. Based on current projections it should be around £1.2m by then after interest if I stop topping it up.
• I ran my own manufacturing business for years but it went under in January, since then I haven’t been able to find a job (the whole economy feels terrible right now, but the manufacturing sector is dead, and its the only sector I have experience in.)
• I’ve got roughly £20k left in savings no debt.
• Unmarried, no kids

At the moment I survive by renting out two spare rooms in my flat, which brings in about £1,750/month. My fixed costs are roughly £1,200/month including council tax, utilities, phone, gym membership, car costs (excluding fuel) etc leaving me around £550 per month for everything else.

The problem is that although I love living in Edinburgh, I increasingly feel like I can’t actually afford a good quality of life here anymore. I also don’t really want to live anywhere else in the UK.

If I moved abroad, I’d rent the whole flat out through a letting agency, which should net me around £2k/month after letting agency fees (but monthly costs would hopefully be far lower).

I'm feeling burnt out and demoralized, honestly at this point I just want to bide my time till my pension starts paying out.

Has anyone here done something similar — moving abroad mainly because the UK no longer felt financially viable? Did it actually improve your quality of life, or did it create more problems than it solved?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who made the move in their 40s without a remote job already lined up. I'm thinking somewhere within a few hours flight so I can remain close to family (brother, nephew, elderly mother), but haven't nailed down a destination yet.

EDIT : Forgot to mention I have an EU passport as well as my UK one.