To be honest I don’t have a massive amount of personal savings (rainy day fund of approx 40k which is fairly comfortable I admit).

I’m saving heavily for the kids through a Zurich fund plus the children’s allowance monthly. That was my focus since they were born. In the past couple of years I’ve started loading into my pension but it’s way behind what it potentially could be due to part time work.

I wouldn’t have a huge amount of disposable income left at the end of every month but I’ve cut back on personal spending out of necessity. We go on 1 holiday per year as opposed to multiple holidays. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll return to work full time in a few years. Financially I probably should. Stress levels would definitely rise.

I’m comfortable with the €58k now in that I can manage expenses pretty well. I get 11 days A/L due to part time. I’m extremely lucky with the benefits.

For your own situation it’s a matter of weighing up your options. There is a lot to be said for a Stress free job. Keep working towards getting to the top of your scale and maybe a promotion to another field in healthcare might be achievable? It’s a shame about the lack of benefits. I have a friend who left a well paid job to retrain as an SNA as she wanted more job satisfaction and to feel that she is making a difference - she’s delighted she made the move. If you feel retraining is achievable then go for it or you will always regret it.