Has anyone retrained after working up pay scales - impact of life

[Bayum]

As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be in a clinical role or in education. I’m 7 years into primary education and, for the moment, I’m enjoying it, continuing to enjoy the challenge and supporting my cohorts snd colleagues.
There will come a time, however, when I will retrain as a nurse or even medicine if they ever drop the requirement for crazy high grades.
Retraining would impact me financially. I’m on MPS5 at the moment, so I’d be losing out on a good chunk of wage for 3 years (even if I trained on the job) and have to work to reach where I’m currently at for pay. Has anyone else done something similar - worked up pay scales and retrained? How was it for you coping with or without? Any hidden costs that you wouldn’t have foreseen but could have considered retrospectively?

 

[Dai Corner]

Not quite the same but I reduced my hours by 40% and subsequently retired ten years early for health reasons. Fortunately I'd been paying off debts and saving for several years and could afford to do this instead of risking my health further to pay the bills.

In your position I'd work out what my income would be during the training period and only spend that much from now on. Save the rest and start the retraining once I'd built up a comfortable financial buffer

 

[C J Snarzell]

I was in the police for 15 years, the first 10 of those were spent working my way through the Constable's pay scales. If I recall, I started off on 19k way back in 2003 and I was on around 40k when I finished.

Everyone's circumstances are different - I have the luxury of not having children or debts, so for me I chose to jump ship into the unknown three years ago because my job was making me extremely unhappy.

I'm now doing a role which isn't quite as well paid as my police salary but I'm content and have a far better quality of life in comparison to when I was working 24/7 doing a draining job.

Sadly, I've worked with a few coppers who cannot afford to leave the job. One chap went through a messy divorce and was paying CSA for his kids, while another younger lad had student fees he was paying back and couldn't afford the dip in salary.

Like I said, everyone has different circumstances. I recently spoke to someone who turned 50 last year and he is retraining to be a sports therapist after spending twenty odd years working as a coach driver.

It just goes to show that age is no barrier to retraining either and in years to come it will be common place to see more and more people working professionally into their 70s.

CJ