To think you shouldn't be able to access your pension at 55 (soon to be 57)

[movemamamove]

We keep hearing about the ever-increasing number of adults who are not in work or actively looking and the impact this has on the economy, and pension age has been increased to 66 and will be 67, so why is it that people can draw down on their pension at 55 rising to 57 in 2028? Surely this encourages people to retire earlier and step out of the workplace far earlier than they should be & it's probably only the wealthiest anyway which doesn't seem fair.

DH & I have been focusing on 55 as the first stage in our retirement. We planned to take a step back from our careers, draw down on one of our pensions to travl & hopefully live abroad for a few years. If/when we do re-enter the workplace here, it would be part time & likely far less senior roles so earning less & spending less. If I couldn't access this money until 60 or even pensionable age, we'd just carry on working until then as the only way we can fund our intended travels is drawing down from a pension fund - we invested heavily into very good workplace pensions so have minimal savings but excellent pensions.

Anyone else have a view on this or maybe an explanation why this early draw-down option hasn't been increased bar this latest 2 year extension? Or perhaps explain the reason why this is a good idea?
AIBU to think it should be extended?
YABU - leave well alone. If you can afford to take a step back & access your own money, why not?
YANBU -agree and it should be increased to 60+ to stop people retiring so early.

Don't be absurd. I started putting additional moneys into my pension pot in my early 20s so I could retire at 55. In the event the pension scheme rules changed significantly and I couldn't retire until 57, and only then with a pension worth half what it was forecast. It was my money and my decision, nobody else's.

Then you can chose to do this. Bit for the rest of us, it’s our money, we saved it, we are entitled to it. and if we take it at 55 we have a signficant reduction to offset the longer period we will claim it for.

i am planning on 60 all being well. For me, 55 is too young, but the op is happy to take the discount and take her money out early. For some reason she just seems to think other people should not be able to. Clearly if she thought she shouldn’t, she would not.

I’ve relations who retired early at 52 and 55 and their worlds have become so so small. How many weeks a year can you travel . The rest of the time, they are gardening, fishing, hanging out with their elderly retired neighbours, who are in their 70s and 80s, as everyone else their age is working and their world has shrunk so much now, in comparison to the vibrant couple they were.

They get all hung up on petty shit. Day time tv is a thing. Going to the supermarket is an outing. As is the dentist. They have prematurely aged, as they spend so much of their social time with people decades older. Slipping into that way of life. Yes a couple of months a year they travel, always in the cheapest of ways, but also spend their time bizzarly with elderly people who they befriend when there. They also have a reduced income v their social group, as they are the only pensioners.

I can’t say I envy them, they’ve changed so much, and my own child even says are you sure when we discuss retirement, look at x and y, your brain slows down.

its a sobering tale.

I assume they are happy though? Not everyone likes the same things.

I led a 'vibrant' life before I retired but the constant work travel, work politics, work socialising was actually very wearing. I prefer gardening and travelling. I went back to London the other day and found it too busy, totally frenetic and noisy. Tastes change as we age.

I retired from teaching at 57. I'm still a foster carer though. Up until 57 I did both full time teaching and foster caring and it was tiring. I started claiming my teachers pension from 60. My DH retired early at 60 at end of March, sadly because of poor health. We travel we just got back from a 2 week cruise around Portugal, Spain and the Canary Isles. We'll go on holiday in January for a week probably another cruise because DC can't walk far now and again in May for a week in France with DD and DGC. Financially were fine but health wise DH not so good. We have other stuff we do so we are both members of Warwickshire cricket club so go to Edgbaston for all county games throughout the season. DH does genealogy. I ice cup cakes into roses. We both read a lot. DH does some DIY on btl properties. We eat lunch out two or three times a week, sometimes just as a couple or occasionally with friends who also retired early. We drive foster son around to his college and activities. We go to see DGC. We get invited to our younger son's house. I like to garden when the weather is good. DH mows the lawns. I'll be making Xmas wreaths with holly in December. DH and I visit his Mum sometimes and we visit my elder son and his girlfriend too. We do watch TV but usually International cricket matches. There's plenty to do. Immediately after Xmas we will decorate our sitting and dining room.

I’m also a teacher and it is a tough job but you are absolutely having a laugh if you think that primary age children are ‘more volatile’ than adult prisoners!! Being a prison officer must be one of the toughest and most dangerous jobs so I don’t begrudge them retiring at 55.

OP why don’t you retire when you are 67 then?

I'm retiring next year at the ripe old age of 59. I had a heart attack 3 months ago and have realised that life is too short to waste it at work when I don't have to. I may not even be here by the time I hit state pension age so I'm spending my money and time doing stuff I want to do whilst I'm still able to do it. You work as long as you want OP but on no headstone are the words "I wish I'd worked longer".

@Dontcallmescarface enjoy retirement, my Mother had a heart attack at around 55 and retired through ill health. She did do a little bit of work sometimes but more as favours to friends. She lived till mid nineties.

My parents were dead at 60 and 62, so I will be retiring at 55…I’ve no desire to get old, it doesn’t look much fun to me, but I’d like to enjoy the last few good years. Hopefully!

Someone younger will take over my work - and be paying the eye watering tax bill so I don't see the problem?

My FIL accessed his pension to enable him to finance the car he wanted. He doesn't need a new car. But he wanted a new EV, and he wanted the top one.

Now he's been suspended from his job as he had a medical incident which required reporting to the DVLA. He's 65. DH and I only discussed this a little while before we found out about this, because how is he expecting to live? He's already spent his entire inheritance from the deaths of both his parents.

Sorry I haven't RTFT yet but I just needed to get this out. It's really worrying. We don't have the space for him here and frankly, I would not want to share my space with him. I like him, but not enough to live with him.

(I think it's fine if the person doing it isn't a profligate like FIL!)

This post just reads as another virtue signalling one to be honest

I think it's great you can access your money at 55. My dad died at 50 so didn't get a single penny of his pension.

At 50 a substantial fraction of people are starting to develop health problems.

By 60 a lot of people have at least one health issue.

The state pension might be 67 but probably less than half of all people are fit and well with no health issues by that age, so they need to be able to access their private pensions.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/articles/generalhealthbyagesexanddeprivationenglandandwales/census2021#general-health-by-age-and-sex

that must be so worrying. hopefully he could sell the car, or has some way of adjusting so that he can cover his living expenses.

Seems fair enough. You might be a model or a footballer and find it hard to get work later in life

I took my private pension at 56 in the full knowledge of what it was worth, and able to manage on it. That freed up a job for someone else, and gave me the flexibility to do some consultancy and voluntary work as it suited me. I still pay tax and am not a burden on anyone. Yes, it was a privilege to be able to do this, but it is difficult to see who it harms. The economy is a complex thing and within it there is always movement of individuals in and out of the workforce.

if He continued working then it must have been lump sum? You can only take 25 percent, and he will get the state pension, so either way he should be fine?

Some of my family, friends & colleagues have sadly passed away without spending any time being retired

Who wants to spend their whole life working ?

However, I know some people who accessed their pension at 50 & still worked in a second career.

Many people in their 50s help care for grand children & elderly parents on top of working, but many retire & just do the caring.

If you asked 100 people, if they could afford to retire at 55, I believe most people would.

Most people do not retire, because they cannot afford to.
Not everyone has a private pension that they can access.

Oh god this sounds perfectly. I would love to make a Christmas Wreath !

Regarding people slowing down and their brains seizing up once they retire I think it entirely depends on the individual.

Amongst my retired friends there are people who volunteer, take courses, are school governors, scout leaders, magnet fish, hill walk with their dogs, sea swim, learn languages, run clubs, garden, decorate their homes, travel, go camping, cycle, join teams, go to repair cafes and mens' sheds, spend time with friends and family.

Those that retire early have the energy to do this and the time to set up new relationships, interests and hobbies to take them into older age. If you leave work later, it might be too late and you might be too tired to do this.

If you're the type of person who sits in a chair fretting about when the bins go out and waiting for Homes Under The Hammer to start it's because you're that type of person - not because you retired at 55.

That sounds wonderful, but I have to ask -- magnet fish??

Think fishing but with a big magnet on the end of a rope. Instead of fish you “catch” rusty bicycles and old shopping trolleys etc.

Eh?

Can you enlighten us on how working as a prison officer is less volatile than being a primary school teacher?! What an odd thing to post.

@Angelchick1971 will have worked 30 years with the most violent and disturbed people the country has to offer. I'm sure she's seen horrific things and experienced violence that most people couldn't even imagine.

My husband has been getting paid his military pension since he was 46!