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Post by remmington on Nov 16, 2022 8:05:00 GMT 1
Mine will be 67 - just checked - born before April 1970.
State pension as it stands is £185.15 per person (2x per couple). Which sounds OK - £370.30 until one of you die and it halves.
Plus you gotta pay 35years Ni to qualify (which aged nearly 56 - I have paid for nearly 40years).
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What made me look is - I started to sort out my aging parents bills/money out - it supprised me how much pension income they have from state pensions/collection of private pensions and an annuity they bought.
They are saving out of pension income - I did sit down and ask them what they are saving up for at there age.
So I have 11 years - 6months and 10days left at work. Unless I drop down dead working - or fund an early escape.
Been giving this a lot of thougth of late - anybody else on here? Given up work early?
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Post by chippie on Nov 16, 2022 10:28:27 GMT 1
I gave up/enforced redundancy/retired at 56…..
I was made redundant in 2014, but because of ill health, I was told by my employer I could take my pension….
My income is supplemented by the State Pension too, I had the option of ‘State Levelling’ which I opted for…but, when I reach my 66th b’day in 2 yrs time, I’ll get my pension from Centrica and my State Pension as 2 separate payments…
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Post by Noberator on Nov 16, 2022 12:28:50 GMT 1
I took a Redundancy package at the end of March 2005 from my Employer after being their for 25 years.  I didn't want to but after waying up what was happening with reduced numbers and changes to the Employees T&C's I didn't like what I was being told. I was 50 years and six months old then and under my Contract of employment I could take a pension from the age of 50 which under the new T*C's wouldn't happen until any employee reached 62.  I contacted out of SERPS in the late 1980's as did a few other of my work colleagues at the time around or older than my age. So I have three pensions. 1) Ex Employee Pension from 50 after taking a Tax free up to £30k lump sum under the terms of my contract at the time. 2) Contract out of SERPS Pension with a Pension provider and I also paid into an AVC Scheme (Additional Voluntary Contribution) from the late 1980's until I left my Employee in 2005. These two provide a yearly income after taking a tax free lump sum of 25% out of the pot. These where available to me from the age of 55 if I so wished to access them. 3) State Pension as of July 2022 based on birthday. |
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Post by Joepublic on Nov 16, 2022 15:23:18 GMT 1
56 next month, my favourite quote - "I don't want to be the richest man in the graveyard".
I've still not drawn my tax free 25% from my pension as wars / economic issues have meant my pension pot dropped by as much as £35K since last xmas day, although they have rallied a bit recently.
Arthritis in wrists / thumbs is making life difficult, 12 hour shifts leave me lifeless on my days off post covid. I've promised myself a daylight job from easter next year, probably a driving job due to the arthritis.
My oldest bro is 69 and still working 5 days a week engineering.
Older bro retired at 60, engineering / college lecturer - he seems to manage OK, caravan, 2 hols abroad each year too - never talks about missing work tbh.
The wife is 7 years older than me and hasn't even looked into when she can retire.....
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Post by remmington on Nov 16, 2022 21:08:42 GMT 1
I gave up/enforced redundancy/retired at 56….. I was made redundant in 2014, but because of ill health, I was told by my employer I could take my pension…. My income is supplemented by the State Pension too, I had the option of ‘State Levelling’ which I opted for…but, when I reach my 66th b’day in 2 yrs time, I’ll get my pension from Centrica and my State Pension as 2 separate payments… Interested in your responce!  |
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Post by remmington on Nov 16, 2022 21:09:00 GMT 1
I took a Redundancy package at the end of March 2005 from my Employer after being their for 25 years. I didn't want to but after waying up what was happening with reduced numbers and changes to the Employees T&C's I didn't like what I was being told. I was 50 years and six months old then and under my Contract of employment I could take a pension from the age of 50 which under the new T*C's wouldn't happen until any employee reached 62. I contacted out of SERPS in the late 1980's as did a few other of my work colleagues at the time around or older than my age. So I have three pensions. 1) Ex Employee Pension from 50 after taking a Tax free up to £30k lump sum under the terms of my contract at the time. 2) Contract out of SERPS Pension with a Pension provider and I also paid into an AVC Scheme (Additional Voluntary Contribution) from the late 1980's until I left my Employee in 2005. These two provide a yearly income after taking a tax free lump sum of 25% out of the pot. These where available to me from the age of 55 if I so wished to access them. 3) State Pension as of July 2022 based on birthday. Interested in your responce! |
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Post by remmington on Nov 16, 2022 21:10:08 GMT 1
56 next month, my favourite quote - "I don't want to be the richest man in the graveyard". I've still not drawn my tax free 25% from my pension as wars / economic issues have meant my pension pot dropped by as much as £35K since last xmas day, although they have rallied a bit recently. Arthritis in wrists / thumbs is making life difficult, 12 hour shifts leave me lifeless on my days off post covid. I've promised myself a daylight job from easter next year, probably a driving job due to the arthritis. My oldest bro is 69 and still working 5 days a week engineering. Older bro retired at 60, engineering / college lecturer - he seems to manage OK, caravan, 2 hols abroad each year too - never talks about missing work tbh. The wife is 7 years older than me and hasn't even looked into when she can retire..... Interested in your responce! |
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Post by remmington on Nov 16, 2022 21:17:02 GMT 1
I am not as clever as the people on this forum (I lack vision).
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I have a picture of retirement in my mind... (albeit a clouded one - dumb version).
1. Bad health and early retirement forced onto to you.
2. Retirement and a feeling of "personal redundancy" - no use any more!
3. Poverty.
4. Good health - happy hobbies - no time to go work - as too many better things to do than work.
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My Father struggled with retirement - while he had plenty of money - he felt useless not going to work daily. He liked business (the game). My Father had no real hobbies - he just worked (hard). When he stopped working - he felt "lost"...
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Post by valhalla on Nov 16, 2022 23:07:21 GMT 1
I am not as clever as the people on this forum (I lack vision). ----
I'm too busy working like a fool to have time to think about these things. The sad reality is, I also have no clear vision about when it's all going to end, and how.
One significant part of our pension plans is the sale of the shop and its contents - this is where a good deal of our money is tied-up. We are paying into the same pension-plans that we had as top-ups when we were both in full-time employment, but they are not going to give us more than a tiny bit of pocket-money, going the way they are. We chose to have AVC's and AVC top-ups outside of our main employment/employers, because didn't trust them as far as we could kick them at the time (Mrs. V. and I started-off with the same employer, before she left to find a better on!). We are glad of that now, as it has meant that we can keep the continuity with two separate and independent providers, with funds that are completely separate from one-another.
Does anyone know what the best "independent" pension-fund provider is? That is, best returns on investment, and best security? It became clear to myself and Mrs. V around the early-to-mid-2000's, when we started getting seriously interested in these sorts of things......
A clue (a very unsubtle one) : It's government, and it's almost as good as the Civil Service final salary scheme for sheer cheekiness......
Mrs. V. used to work for LDV for a few years, and their pension scheme went bust, along with everything else. We shrugged our shoulders, and said, "Well, it's only a few years of pension lost!" Then we saw the returns and competence in financial-management from the Pension Protection Fund (the catch-all for all the funds that went to the wall), at which point we realised, 1) it was going to provide a good income for ourselves, even given that it was a small handful of years contributions, 2) it was outperforming all our other pension funds that we were still contributing-to.
The only saving-grace for our pension/s is my main one from my employer. Only 20years of a total of 40years contributions to draw-on, but it's a final-salary scheme, and I had shifted from staff to a Senior Management role in plenty of time to get the perks that came with the later appointment (Senior Management had their own "scheme" with very attractive rewards), but more importantly, I made sure that I had done the bare-minimum to earn the maximum possible salary near the end (previous 2years of overtime was counted into my salary, which itself was more than Mrs. V's staff salary).....and it just counted in time......for me to hand my notice in before I had killed myself by working too hard...... I have no idea what it's worth, or what it is going to be worth, but I'm sure it will be alright.  |
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Post by sorted on Nov 16, 2022 23:21:14 GMT 1
I’m 58 and was made redundant around 9 years ago after 20 years - it worked well for us as we were able to juggle finances then and clear all debts bar mortgage, and started heavily overpaying on that so it finished a month ago. Got the current job after just 2 months which pays better and I’m hoping to retire in around 3 years- however they are starting to make cost cutting noises so I may be lucky and get another payment to go early! We decided I would retire sooner rather than later as Mrs S does not enjoy good health- arthritis in neck and back- and we would like to live a little in case things get too bad.
Pension wise I have been lucky as both previous and current employer have good schemes and I have an OK pot. Worse case, I could take a couple of years off then do some contracting in my current field as there’s always a demand for what I do somewhere or other- maybe 6 month stints then 6 months off- until I get to 67 and have the state pension too.
That’s my kind of plan anyway!
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Post by remmington on Nov 17, 2022 7:51:29 GMT 1
valhallaYour quote "I'm too busy working like a fool to have time to think about these things. The sad reality is, I also have no clear vision about when it's all going to end, and how." How do I put this - end game strategy? You have a job - you wanna retire - you type a letter out - give it to your employer - job done! Have a few holidays and then the DIY starts at home. But if you have your own static business in premises. It is a differing ball game. It has to sold/disolved - "resolved" maybe a better word. This I fear is not gonna be easy - looked hard work from where I was standing - when my Father did it.
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Post by Roverman on Nov 17, 2022 17:55:06 GMT 1
At 50 years of age I went self employed and opened my own garage, after working for the same firm for 20 years (didn't receive a penny off them when I left) plus worked for other firms early all in the trade, I was advised to come out of serps (bad advice I don't receive a full state pension now) advised to take out a private pension  I receive £5 a week, one thing that I did not expect when my late wife past away I received some of her state pension, I also received £5 a week from her private pension but when the council found out they took it all in council tax but I manage you have to cut your cloth as they say, when I lost my wife after 64 wonder full years I was ready to top my self  but through my self in to classic cars and that saved me, and now at 85 I just love it working on them and taking them to shows, when you retire you have to have a hobby something to do or you won't last long All the best lads Roverman |
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Post by remmington on Nov 17, 2022 19:38:51 GMT 1
At 50 years of age I went self employed and opened my own garage, after working for the same firm for 20 years (didn't receive a penny off them when I left) plus worked for other firms early all in the trade, I was advised to come out of serps (bad advice I don't receive a full state pension now) advised to take out a private pension I receive £5 a week, one thing that I did not expect when my late wife past away I received some of her state pension, I also received £5 a week from her private pension but when the council found out they took it all in council tax but I manage you have to cut your cloth as they say, when I lost my wife after 64 wonder full years I was ready to top my self but through my self in to classic cars and that saved me, and now at 85 I just love it working on them and taking them to shows, when you retire you have to have a hobby something to do or you won't last long All the best lads Roverman Thanks for your input @roverman |
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Post by valhalla on Nov 18, 2022 0:08:50 GMT 1
At 50 years of age I went self employed and opened my own garage, after working for the same firm for 20 years (didn't receive a penny off them when I left) plus worked for other firms early all in the trade, I was advised to come out of serps (bad advice I don't receive a full state pension now) advised to take out a private pension I receive £5 a week, one thing that I did not expect when my late wife past away I received some of her state pension, I also received £5 a week from her private pension but when the council found out they took it all in council tax but I manage you have to cut your cloth as they say, when I lost my wife after 64 wonder full years I was ready to top my self but through my self in to classic cars and that saved me, and now at 85 I just love it working on them and taking them to shows, when you retire you have to have a hobby something to do or you won't last long All the best lads Roverman Yes, it breaks my heart to see all my classic Rovers just languishing for want of a few years of attention again. When I worked for a big company, it was all so easy (like remmington says) - holidays, good pay, weekends to myself, etc., etc. I had loads of time to build things, restore my Rovers/Landrovers (several of each), and generally enjoy life.
Mrs. V. keeps nagging about "the end game", but right now, we need the money to afford the sort of work on our house that is going to let us retire and stay in it until death do us part.
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Post by remmington on Nov 18, 2022 8:18:56 GMT 1
At 50 years of age I went self employed and opened my own garage, after working for the same firm for 20 years (didn't receive a penny off them when I left) plus worked for other firms early all in the trade, I was advised to come out of serps (bad advice I don't receive a full state pension now) advised to take out a private pension I receive £5 a week, one thing that I did not expect when my late wife past away I received some of her state pension, I also received £5 a week from her private pension but when the council found out they took it all in council tax but I manage you have to cut your cloth as they say, when I lost my wife after 64 wonder full years I was ready to top my self but through my self in to classic cars and that saved me, and now at 85 I just love it working on them and taking them to shows, when you retire you have to have a hobby something to do or you won't last long All the best lads Roverman Yes, it breaks my heart to see all my classic Rovers just languishing for want of a few years of attention again. When I worked for a big company, it was all so easy (like remmington says) - holidays, good pay, weekends to myself, etc., etc. I had loads of time to build things, restore my Rovers/Landrovers (several of each), and generally enjoy life. Mrs. V. keeps nagging about "the end game", but right now, we need the money to afford the sort of work on our house that is going to let us retire and stay in it until death do us part.
"the end game" financially the "the house always wins" ------ Self employment is "not just a job" - it is lifestyle choice (one I am beginning to question of late). I am spending a lot of time of late supporting my aging parents with independant living - in and out of there house several times a day. They are doing well - but need help. They are in the last chapter of there lives and "boy has this made me think" about "the whole life game" - what I am doing with the rest of mine! I would like to thank everybody who has posted to this thread above - I also found myself of late - questioning older male customers at my workshop (while they wait to collect cars): Sort of "are you retired?" - "what did you do for your working life - did you like it?" - "when did you chuck the towel in?" - "what have you done in/with retirement?". Some of these customers I have had for decades - they all have freely chatted and responded with much the same. Most of them were pushed into early retirement with redundancy or a health scare. Several also had given up work early to "nurse a spouse" with ill health. On a lighter note: Nobody has yet to sell the concept of "getting old" as good idea! |
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I receive £5 a week, one thing that I did not expect when my late wife past away I received some of her state pension, I also received £5 a week from her private pension but when the council found out they took it all in council tax 
but through my self in to classic cars and that saved me, and now at 85 I just love it working on them and taking them to shows, when you retire you have to have a hobby something to do or you won't last long