To ask when realistically your will retire?

[SleepDreamThinkHuge]

Do you think you can retire before 65?

And if you cannot retire before 65 do you think you will be able to work less hours (part time) topped up with your state pension and still afford life?

Anyone else think retirement will be a myth especially if you retire in the 2050s where the projection is that the retirement age will easily be 70 plus. The thought of people having to work at 70 is quite a sad sight.

Hyperbolic scaremongering.

There’s Always somebody comes on to talk absolute scaremongering shite 🙄

My husband's retiring in Sept at 60, I'm going down to 3 days per week then, and retiring fully in 2025 when I'll be 55. Our views have changed recently as family bereavements have rammed home the view that you can't buy time, so we're taking a hit on pension income but we'll cut our cloth accordingly.

I think state pension will be means tested for future generations but I doubt people of your (and my) age will be affected.

It’s a huge expense - more than half of the total welfare bill. NI doesn’t go anywhere near to paying for it particularly due to increase in life expectancy.

The younger generation will be paying for your pension in their taxes while they will likely not get the same benefits themselves.

My plan (I am 39)

Part time by 55, retire by 60

Mortgage will be hopefully gone in 5 years which will certainly help

I then plan on diverting mortgage payments into s&s isa/ pension/ fun (probably an even split across the 3) - mortgage is 1600 a month so it will make a big difference

I have been contributing to pension since 24 and have a decent pot (I am self employed so only my contributions nothing gold plated)

I have always planned for the future and have been fortunate to earn well and not feel the need for wealth trappings

I retired from NHS at 55, state pension is 9 years away at 67. However, I dont think I will get a state pension. I have always thought that. I think the national finances are in such a dire state that the state pension will be means tested. It doesn't matter that I worked and contributed in full

Have you considered that one of the reasons for the ‘dire state’ of the treasury might be people like you retiring early on a generous defined benefit pension and being economically inactive for years?

Average life expectancy for women is now mid-eighties. So you’ll be on the teat for thirty years, perhaps more, after retiring at 55. As a PP notes, your contributions won’t even have come close to covering the cost of paying you your NHS pension for 30 + years and your state pension for 20 +. And yet, you are still complaining that you might not get the state pension.

That you “contributed in full” doesn’t entitle you to a better deal. Your pension and NI contributions will have been tiny compared to what your retirement will cost. Look at annuity rates and see how many hundreds of thousands you’d have to pay over to even get the ~ £8k per year state pension, index linked, for life. If you were truly interested in ‘contributing in full’ you’d restart work in an area with staff shortages and help to grow the economy. And, of course, pay tax and NI.

As I mentioned earlier on in the thread, I am 51 and have declared myself retired. I created a Government Gateway account to check what state pension I will be entitled to and was satisfied with the results. If I want to pay in a lump sum to get more, I have the option to do so before 2037. Nobody should be dictating to others when they should and shouldn't retire. We all know our individual surrounding circumstances, which never have to be justified.

Wow @Iamthewombat you are particularly bitter aren't you?

Have you considered that one of the reasons for the ‘dire state’ of the treasury might be people like you retiring early on a generous defined benefit pension and being economically inactive for years?

I know having worked from 16, no children so never took a break, I have no guilt in becoming 'economically inactive' in early retirement. You only get one life and I can't imagine working myself into the grave when I don't need to.

I have never worked my pension out pa.
Its 430 pm ( just over 5 k pa)from 55 or was dble at 65.
As ive said before I took it at 55 but work in easy
( easier!) Jobs x 2 a week that do not feel stressful cf to my career. I sometimes think that retriement does not have to be complete ,but a change. I feel days a week keeps me active amd gives structure. I am happy to do this till state pension as my old career wd have been too much and affected mh. I wonder, rather than complete retirement, this wd suit a lot of people if manageable. ( we have no mortgage, support a post grad dc course, and dont go on hols other than camp)

Missisipihallelujah
I too have a gap in my contributions . Do you think its worth toping up ? ( lk)

I'll be retiring when I'm physically unable to work / can't get a job less demanding due to age.

I have a tiny private pension and single so running a house/flat on state pension is unthinkable...

Sorry I meant not worked out state pension projection .

Anyone who has a ‘generous private pension’ which has enabled them to retire early will still be paying income tax and pretty much by definition will not be receiving any state benefits until they receive their state pension.

They pay council tax, VAT, probably fuel duty and VED. They may well also be contributing to society/their community in other ways, e.g. by volunteering, caring or providing childcare. Some of those things save the exchequer an awful lot of money.

No. I can do basic maths, though. I suppose that you are someone who thinks that your relatively small public sector pension contributions and NI have been invested by magical fairy fund managers such that their value has increased hundredfold, and you should be able to get your personal pot of gold whenever you feel like it?

No, the PP has a generous defined benefit pension from the NHS. Not a ‘generous private pension’. Public sector pensions are the opposite of private. That’s how they work. They are paid for by current taxpayers. Those schemes are, generally speaking, not funded, by which I mean they are not backed by a pool of assets.

People who do what the PP did won’t be paying as much tax as they would if they were working. The idea that people retiring early at public expense somehow compensate for that by volunteering and providing childcare for family members and are helping the exchequer by doing so is a fallacy. They’d be more helpful if they were actually working for longer, and paying income tax and NI on those earnings.

The younger generation will be paying for your pension in their taxes while they will likely not get the same benefits themselves.

That has been happening for several years. People now in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are paying for current state pensions and definitely will not get the same benefits themselves.

I’m retiring next year. I sold my business when I was 55 and have worked 2 days a week since then, using proceeds of sale to top up income. DS finishes school ( independent) next year and Uni costs will be considerably less than school fees. I will probably continue part time in private sector ( currently NHS) to top up while DS is at Uni.
I have a good pension but will need to balance working hours so I don’t end up paying higher tax rates.
Hopefully DH and I will survive to state pension age but after I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and DH had a stroke earlier this year, neither of us may benefit despite working and paying taxes the whole of our adult lives.
Fortunately DH retired at 57 to spend time being a sahp. He has a small pension that will keep him going until state pension age but we are currently considering applying for PIP. At no point in our working lives have either of us claimed benefits so we do feel justified in utilising PIP considering the circumstances.

I am 53 now self employed. I will get my Civil Service pension when I am 60 and State pension at 67. I expect I will retire between those 2 dates.

I think for those of us over 50 today the State pension will remain as is. If I was under 50 I would be working out my finances on the presumption that I may not receive a state pension or that it would be means tested.

Ah, my apologies, I failed to distinguish between defined benefit and private pensions, mea culpa.

So are people who have private pensions, or savings, or other means of funding their living expenses allowed to retire early, then? Or are they allowed to choose what they do with their time and their money?

I think so and from what I can see on my nat ins record, probably the same with yours, it tells you how much you need to top up with. I am coming in at 40 quid a month shy of full pension, at present. It could be a lot worse 😕

I am the same, never had kids so have never claimed child benefit allowance. I dont begrudge anybody who has, either. It is just when some try and guilt trip you, for having retired early, you need could point that out. Horses for courses.

Have been part time for last 12 years due to kids but am older mum so now gone back full time at 51. I decided I'd rather have the time with the children and work more when they were older. Could probably still go part time in 6 years and retire at 60 but actually thinking there are loads of things I want to do at work now so happy to work longer.

Great that that's worked for you. Look at the people who regret going at working full throttle while the kids were young ?? Also, with kids grown up, you can extend your work opportunities, as you said. Good for you x

I'm aiming for 60 (currently 40) but so much could change in that time. If DH and I stay healthy and in our current roles then it should work fine but illness/redundancy/anything else life throws at us would require a rethink.

I think of it a bit like a birth plan, it's important to be informed and know what you would like to happen and how you might get there but it's impossible to have full control over it.