u/CareeringOff

Hi everyone

I am 33 and live in northwest England. I work in a role that is a mix of IT, data, and problem solving.

Income:

• £72k + 10% bonus
• The best pension deal is 11% employee + 16% employer (salary sacrifice)
• By my maths that gives me a total package of around £91k before tax
• I'm currently contributing 29% + 16% = 45% = £32k, which keeps me around £50k taxable income

Outgoings:

• I don't live alone, so £1500/month covers housing, food, and most of my subscriptions/discretionary expenses
• £20k S&S ISA has been maxed for the last three years (FTSE Global All Cap)

Current state:

• Pension: £248k
• S&S ISA: £103k (FTSE Global All Cap, £10k used of this year's allowance)
• GIA: £6.5k (HSBC All World) - anything surplus goes into this, and I plan to bed & ISA
• Emergency fund/savings: £8k
• Total: £~365k
• Not a first-time buyer (just for info)

Notes:

• Financial independence - probably achieved?
• I had once thought about retiring around 40. Now I'm less sure, but I feel like I want to enjoy life some more, travel, and live somewhere nicer. Perhaps I'd put a wide range of 40-55 now.
• I'd like to move somewhere with more job opportunities and increase earning potential roles
• If I move, I'll then be living alone, so cost of living would increase (plus a mortgage/rent). I don't have a feel for how much that could be; maybe £2-3k/month?
• I don't see my job existing anywhere else, so I need to consider whether I can move sideways or upwards into a leadership role, which could take time

Question:
It might be six months to two years before I can move. I'd be looking to move south or towards London, where property prices are generally higher. I feel that I should consider reducing pension contributions to 11% and take the 40% tax hit. That way I could take home an additional £29k x 60% = £17.4k per year. Useful for a bridge, to travel more, and to save for a deposit on a house if I move. My pension will continue to grow, and money now will give me more options and allow me to holiday a bit more (at the expense of more tax).

Thoughts welcome. Thank you!

Hey everyone

I am 33 years old, and I am currently employed in the UK a highly regulated industry as a Systems Specialist (5+ years in this role, 10+ at the company). It's a technical role but I don't work in IT, if that makes sense.

I am providing technical assurance to a large ERP (SAP) programme, identifying problems to the design (mainly focused on warehouse management). I understand the business and user's pain points very well. I translate between business and technical teams, and between management and the business teams.

I am also about to start some work in Fabric to process ERP data. We'll then use this for KPIs and maybe dashboards (hope not).

Finally, I've been coding up a proof of concept on automating warehouse processes. Seeing how we can better manage our warehouse to save time (stack is mostly Python). That could interface with the Fabric stack too.

I can see how some of these elements loosely fit together. I am wondering how I can market myself as some kind of technical programme manager. I'm not a software engineer (in the traditional sense at least) so I don't see myself competing for a senior software engineer job, for example. I don't see myself being a business analyst, not sure why.

I can see myself leading a team to implement/maintain larger scale projects/programmes in ERP, data, cloud, or AI. Where I'm a bit stuck is:

• Do you agree with my assessment that I can make this kind of leap?
• What am I missing?
  • Ways of harnessing my existing projects to get that experience?
  • Bridging projects/roles that I can use to acquire the right skills?
  • PRINCE2, ITIL, cloud, AI, SAP certifications?
  • Leadership experience/qualifications?

Thanks in advance, and I'm happy to respond to any questions! Really appreciate your insight.

Hey everyone

I am 33 years old, and I am currently employed in the UK a highly regulated industry as a Systems Specialist (5+ years in this role, 10+ at the company). It's a technical role but I don't work in IT, if that makes sense.

I am providing technical assurance to a large ERP (SAP) programme, identifying problems to the design (mainly focused on warehouse management). I understand the business and user's pain points very well. I translate between business and technical teams, and between management and the business teams.

I am also about to start some work in Fabric to process ERP data. We'll then use this for KPIs and maybe dashboards (hope not).

Finally, I've been coding up a proof of concept on automating warehouse processes. Seeing how we can better manage our warehouse to save time (stack is mostly Python). That could interface with the Fabric stack too.

I can see how some of these elements loosely fit together. I am wondering how I can market myself as some kind of technical programme manager. I'm not a software engineer (in the traditional sense at least) so I don't see myself competing for a senior software engineer job, for example. I don't see myself being a business analyst, not sure why.

I can see myself leading a team to implement/maintain larger scale projects/programmes in ERP, data, cloud, or AI. Where I'm a bit stuck is:

• Do you agree with my assessment that I can make this kind of leap?
• What am I missing?
  • Ways of harnessing my existing projects to get that experience?
  • Bridging projects/roles that I can use to acquire the right skills?
  • PRINCE2, ITIL, cloud, AI, SAP certifications?
  • Leadership experience/qualifications?

Thanks in advance, and I'm happy to respond to any questions! Really appreciate your insight.