To dread retirement

[citygirl1961]

I know a lot of people are looking forward to retirement but I dread it.

After thirty five years of working in the Civil Service I am due to retire in three years time which I know will pass quickly.

I work full time, always have done. I am divorced and live on my own, bills and rent to pay, don't own my own home.

I know I will get a good pension but I still worry about finances as I know I won't get housing benefit with getting a good work pension.

Not only do I worry about finances and not being able to afford to do things, I worry about being bored. I suffer from depression and anxiety and being at work keeps me busy and helps to take my mind off things.

People I know you've retired say they don't know how they found time to go to work and say they have more money than they had before, but then you've got more time on your hands to spend it. I have plenty of friends and like meeting up for lunch and coffees. I'd go mad if I couldn't do that.

Does anyone else feel this way? I just can't embrace the thought of it at all.

I am retired.
I am not sure if you are more worried about the lower income or what you will be doing with your time.
Re income. First you will not need to worry about 'work clothes' or fares to work, so that saves some expenses. Then you will have more time to plan meals to make them more energy efficient (batch cooking etc).
If it's the time, then the usual advice is to join local groups. Set yourself some personal goals. Take up a sport to keep yourself active for as long as possible, etc

One of my family has done this. She works part time and deferred her pension and plans to keep going until (at least) 70.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tax-calculator/

work out your income (pension, pension + working part time) and the tax you will pay

When you say the Union is this from a handout or have you been able to talk to a proper independent financial adviser through your Union. I recommend this because there may be things that you can do to defer your pension, or work part time which will give you security. I would not take advice from colleagues, unless they know what your financial position is to the penny then their advice is flawed, even if it is well meaning.

What pension scheme are you in? If you have a chunk in Classic, that does not increase beyond 60. Any hours worked to the value of that beyond 60 mean, essentially, you've been working for free.

Which is why you need to plan. You've got some interesting hobbies which you could expand. You could join the U3A, or maybe ramblers near you. You could volunteer at the food bank or other charity. You tend to spend more when you first retire then spending tapers off. Look at your revised budget and plan accordingly. How about getting a dog? Or organising/reviewing some travel options Have a look at books that cover making the most of your retirement. Lifes short make the most of it. After 6 months you'll wish you retired earlier.

You can defer taking your State Pension and your work pension if you stay in work post retirement age. Once you reach retirement age, you don't pay National Insurance so you will actually take home more than you do now.

Quite a few women I worked with worked past retirement age when they could retire at 60 and they all said they'd never had as much money due to not paying NI and having free travel.

You literally do not have a problem. You don’t have to retire but can easily afford to. It’s the dream! If you want to work then work. If you want to retire, retire. If you want to work part time, work part time. You have sufficient money and no responsibilities. You do know how many women have nothing but the state pension?

Why not have a one time consultation with a fiduciary financial advisor? It might set your mind at ease.

@citygirl1961 everyone who earns over the threshold will pay more tax but it's still worth working as you will end up with more money each month.

Plug the numbers into a salary calculator, as mentioned earlier you won't pay NI so that's a pay rise.

I assume your pension is final salary which means if you lower your income your pension goes down..I get why you wouldn't want to do that however having a pension & salary is great,! High taxation is only because you will have so much more income. You can use that to build up your savings.

Btw, understand the anxiety of not working as it's affects many people who worry about, how much is enough money? Use the next year to note exactly what you spend and that will give you reassurance.

Yes my neighbour just lives on the state pension but she gets most of her rent paid, she only has to pay about £14 per week.

I have had two broken marriages. Me and my second husband did buy a house once but he left me in the lurch with nothing, no furniture, a huge loss on the house. I have had no option but to rent. Where I live now, the heating is cheaper as the flat is well insulated. If I moved to somewhere with a cheaper rent I would be paying more in general bills. Plus I can't guarantee that the area wouldn't be as nice if I moved, you don't get a lot of choice with the Council and private renting is far more expensive and not secure.

Income tax is tax on income. Nothing different about how your pension is treated. Once you are state pension age you won’t have to pay national insurance.
It sounds as though you would benefit from phasing into retirement, perhaps by working three days a week. Then look to setting up a regular routine for the other days daytime and evening. Are you worried about not being useful, being lonely? Look for volunteer opportunities perhaps doing craft or hearing reading inaschool/nursery/library. Make plans, it css as n be an exciting time of life.

Can u get pension credit if you rent maybe.a single person discount on rates.maybe look into this at CAB or similar. Lots of volunteering, maybe NT or similar, I.was dreading DH retirement. However I have got cancer and chemo. Thought I w be bored ! DH has attended all my appointments ,and we go to a coffee morning with lots of nice people all.in the same boat. Our aunt lost her husband, goes on lots of cruises,days out Nt and hols alone 😔

Do you seriously think she’s better off than you? The state pension next year is less than £12k a year.

There is no compulsory retirement age for civil servants. Why can't you go on working, if you want to?

I don’t know why OP isn’t addressing this frequently asked Q either. OP is lucky she works for the CS as they will accommodate her as I know some employers can get funny with more mature staff. OP could then just retire with a larger income with more years worked and then stop once she feels it starting to become taxing.

Ah you didn't say you were In a Council place.

Even better then. You wont be evicted by a ll selling up or significant rent increase.

You have a private pension. And state pension. You can. Keep working or go pt or retire.

You have plenty of options and are in a good position.

Take up volunteering

So not defer state pension for every year you defer you recover the income in 8 years once you retire - even considering paying tax you are better off taking it and investing / savings / spending

There are loads of things to do. Look up your local U3A group. Volunteering, loads of different things and groups, just ask at your library. Go on tours with a theme. DH read a lot and listened to podcasts about the Plantagenets, so we planned a few days in France going to some of the sites associated with them, which made a holiday a bit more interesting. Earlier this year we started going to a beginners line dancing class, which is good fun, sociable and with the dance in the City is Ours, is becoming fashionable again. For the first time in my life, I am ahead of the curve. We were self employed and thought we would work for at least 5 years longer, buy the collapse in high street footfall forced us out earlier than planned, traumatic at the time, but so glad we did now. Embrace it and enjoy it while you can.

If you add the current state pension and your company pension together , is your salary much more than that ??
is your flat council ir privately rented?

Don't think too hard about the future.
Live in the moment.
If your too busy worrying about the future you can't enjoy today.

There are loads of things you can do on retirement. You can't work forever.

I think you need some professional pensions advice. I imagine work will provide this. As I understand it you don't have to take state pension at 67 - you can defer it and it will be bigger when you do eventually take it. Ditto work pension.

@citygirl1961

I think maybe your anxieties are muddling your thinking.
You come across as thinking your neighbour is better off because she gets her rent paid. But you will have your state pension and your CS pension. You are not going to be worse off at all.
I'd suggest the first thing you do is speak to a financial adviser about your specific situation so you can have a clear and accurate prediction of your situation.

I left the civil service 18 months ago under redundancy. I will be 60 this year. I have taken a preserved pension a year early which represents about 60% of what will be my final civil service pensions. Add on my state pension and at 67 I will be comfortable - not multiple luxury cruises a year type comfortable, more caravan in Wales type of comfortable. Which is fine because I like caravans and Wales.
I am single and do own my house but whilst I have no rent, I do have to plan for maintenance of my somewhat wonky Victorian terrace.
I haven't retired as such, I'm now a full time foster carer as I do need to earn income until I'm 67.

Most of my social life now is breakfast and lunches with friends. But I do go to the cinema and theatre a lot, never minded going on my own.
I look for exhibitions and events at museums and art galleries. Yesterday evening I went to a free art exhibition on my own and ended up having lovely chats with the women from the Ukranian Women's group and a woman who had collected stories of people who had come over on Windrush. On Thursday my city is having a big event to celebrate VE day, all free. I'll go and have a mooch and probably end of talking to some random people and having a thoroughly nice time.

There are literally endless opportunities for volunteering - it's not all charity shops. I'm part of a Good Neighbour scheme - I go and visit someone who is housebound once a week, we have a natter and a cup of tea. Its an hour or so out of my week but is a vital contact for him.
I do have a cat, an allotment and a son. I'd wanted an allotment for years and got it several years before I really had time for it but I'm glad I planned ahead, it takes up a lot of my time and Ive made friends with other plot holders. The boy is away at uni so doesn't take up much time.

You have 3 years to plan, forget the worries, in your ideal but realistic world what would you hope your life to look like? What do you wish you had more time for now? What are your passions and interests? Now is the time to start building some contacts and networks, to find out what's happening in your community and to get involved.
Shift your mindset to start thinking about the opportunities retirement could bring you.