What age are you planning to retire?

[MooFroo]

Who is actively planning to retire way before statutory retirement age?

I know a few people who have retired in their 50s - they’ve mainly stayed in the same job at the same company for many years and have a decent pension stacked up when they hit pension age. They can take out 25% tax-free at age 55, which seems to be happening more and more.

I spoke to a friend about it the other day and he said he wanted to enjoy his life after working for over 30 years. He has some health issues that have started to bother him now and he couldn’t see himself working for the next 15+ years until state pension age.

I’ve been looking online and lots of early retirees tend to travel in this pre-retirement age while you still have your health and are well enough to make the most of the adventures. That’s what DH and I’d like to do, so trying to work out how to afford it and what we need to do differently now in our 50s.

We both have very small private pensions, no ISA or any stocks/shares, no inheritance to come and will need the state pension. We do have a buy to let property which will be mortgage free in a few years and give an income.

Just wondered if people have planned an early retirement age and how you will be funding your lifestyle once you stop working. Be great to get some ideas and inspiration

Thank you

I had planned to retire as soon as I could draw the state pension (next year, in my case). I though that this, with a little help from a professional pension would be enough to live on with just a little for extras.

However, this will not be the case. Various factors, including the cost of living, husband in a care home, sons with additional needs and dependence, mean I will have to continue working for the foreseeable future.

I will cut down a little next year. For example, two part time jobs that I have done alongside my main occupation are bringing in very little income, so they can be dropped, and I could take a slight reduction in hours for the main job and still manage financially. Yet, this would not be a slowing down towards retirement, but rather an energy preserving scheme so I do not need to retire on the grounds of ill health.

I know that there is and will continue to be a two tier system in which some people will be able to retire early and enjoy their golden years fulfilling long held ambitions, and at the other end of the spectrum, others will have to work until they drop into ill health and poverty. The tier that we find ourselves in is not all to do with hard work and canny investment, sometimes life throws us some messy curveballs. Indeed, the retirement I imagined when I was much younger: something like husband and I travelling a little together, sons fulfilling their own dreams, perhaps a couple of grandchildren, will almost certainly not happen, but things could be worse.

I planned my retirement as soon as I started working.

I took my pension at 55, DH took severance at 56 last year and his payout paid for a Motorhome which meant we didn’t need to touch anything in our investment portfolios.

We both have final salary pensions, I took mine out at 21 which was quite unusual back then. Three parents have died and due to neither of us being the favourite child we have had zero inheritances. Our main bit of luck was an investment doing well over 20 years ago so we paid off our mortgage in our late thirties, obviously housing was much cheaper then as well.

We have just had our first 8 days away in our Motorhome, the plan is to travel extensively in the UK and Europe with a possibility of shipping it to Canada.

The best tip is to plan really young and to also and this is actually far harder have a good life partner and don’t divorce, that’s the hardest part. I have 3 friends divorcing right now in their fifties and all plans are out the window.

I don't think it's naive currently. If they were to stop the state pension, they would need to give many years notice to allow people to plan. I agree that the workplace pension schemes are the start of the thinking but, as we've seen with WASPI women any change to the state pension would be a colossal change that will take years. I'm sure the state pension will be phased out at some stage but it is unlikely to affect anyone who is currently working age (or older).

I would like to retire at 60 if I can. There isn't much longevity in my family, especially the women. The mum died suddenly at 67 and my dad not long after.
I have a small private pension and some inheritance stashed. Mortgage will be paid before rhen. We have a fairly valuable rental property which we could either keep to provide an income or sell for the capital. DH will eventually inherit from an aunt and his parents, who are wealthy.
I'll need to just wait and see how things pan out but early inheritance is definitely on my mind.

I’ve been giving this a lot of thought recently having seen/heard of several old work colleagues/friends from school die quite suddenly over the last couple of years. I’m almost 58 and have worked since I was 16 (Saturday jobs since 13), did my degree through OU while working ft and only had 16 weeks mat leave - I’m just so tired of the daily slog! My job is very stressful, as is DH’s and I just don’t have it in me anymore. I’ve applied for a couple of less stressful roles which pay a lot less but might get me through another 2 years then I’ll take my lump sum to top up work (public sector) pension until I’m 67. My dad died at 62 and never saw a penny of what he paid in, I want to have time to enjoy just pottering for a few years.

I am 63, I am planning to work full time for another 18 months and then find a part time job until at least state age pension. My DH died many years ago so I know how short life can be but not in a position to give up work all together.

Financially I am ok to drop down to PT, I am mortgage free, one adult child who is self sufficient, and I have 60k in savings (pension fund/inheritance), and in my industry there are a good options for PT work.

I’m 54 and no plans to retire early. I have a pension though not as good as DH’s. He’s 52 and could do with reducing his stress/ workload so I can see him possibly doing more freelance but we both like work and routine and the money! I work in education so have 12 weeks of holiday already though prices are high for me. I don’t really want to step off in to retirement before my time. I think work keeps you stimulated.
Our mortgage was repaid 7 years ago and DC are adult with one still living with us.

If they were to stop the state pension, they would need to give many years notice to allow people to plan.

The issue with that is that we are already feeling the impact of the changing demographics & some of the current pensioners have had a much better deal (early retirements, more final salary schemes, etc) than upcoming generations. It's a mess really, I'm not sure how it can be fixed.

The other thing is you need 40 years of National Insurance contributions (12 years of child rearing are paid for you ) so some of my friends who have not worked since they have children are not going to get their full state pension.

Isn't that for each child?

I think until the youngest is 12.

Are you currently public sector and on a defined benefit scheme? I only ask because if you take a lower paid role, will that affect your final salary element?

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/pensions/types-of-pension/state-pension/#:~:text=You%20usually%20need%2035%20qualifying,before%20or%20after%20April%202016.
It’s actually 35 years.

In 4 years when I’m 60 I’ll take the bulk of my nhs pension and retire but I will still work, less hours in a similar role as I feel too young to retire
ETA ALL of my friends retired as couples at 55 last year. I’m single which makes a difference to me.

I work for the civil service now (7 years) but bulk of my career worked for a private company with a very generous final salary scheme, which I also topped up with substantial voluntary contributions. So will access my lump sum at 55 (2 years away) and then go part time with civil service and see how the money goes. The private company I worked for gave great pension advice - save as much as you can and start early, then take as much as you can as early as you can.

I'll work full-time until I'm 67. Will then either retire or go part-time depending on circumstances.

It can't be fixed imo. Most taxpayers see the state pension and free healthcare as an entitlement/necessary reward for paying into the system and to take those away by means testing will rapidly push people in ine of two directions: UK talent moving abroad, resulting in a lower proportion of people prepared to work hard and contribute to the system, and a second group who will know that the are better off being under the means testing limit, firther exacerbting the rich/poor divide, and the system just can't cope with it.

I'm going to be encouraging my kids to train in roles that are sought after abroad because between the terrible nature crisis and constant eroding of services (nhs dentistry) in the uk, I think if they will be saving for a pension anyway and paying private healthcare, they might as well live somewhere warm and that values nature and hard work.

It's 35 years of NI

Thank you for sharing-real mix of plans here which is always to be expected, and really good to hear of plans to reduce hours, change jobs etc over time.

I don’t understand enough in detail how pensions work, but agree with previous posters that going forward it’s only going to get more difficult to have a decent income from your state pension and the hours will increase stat age or make it more difficult in some way to access.

Will definitely be encouraging my DC to educate themselves on personal finance and plan ahead for their futures while they are young - we all know how quickly time flies!

DH and I are doing a spending review, looking at were we can cut back on things now or in future if we want to- it’s always crazy to see how much we waste/spend unnecessarily on random stuff we really don’t need!

We both absolutely need to spend time on our physical health, losing weight, getting fitter and stronger and building muscle mass.

Read a quote in another thread last night which relates perfectly:

“The days are long, but the years are short”.

This is such a common misconception. The state pension is a benefit. It’s not a scheme that we have paid into. As a benefit it can be changed by the government at any point. I agree that means testing is likely in the future unfortunately.

Currently 58 and hoping to continue working until mid 60s. I like my job so that’s a good thing. DC at uni and I want to continue earning until a few years after they finish so I can offer them a home and help out while they get established in life. I only work 4 days a week and do housework / admin / looking after my DM on the 5 th day. DH works 5 days a week, we are happy with this split of responsibilities. We have reasonable pension funds but I just can’t see us supporting the DC as we want to without working, though working is also paying for a better lifestyle for DH and me too, holidays/ days out and restaurants.

Currently 58 and hoping to continue working until mid 60s. I like my job so that’s a good thing. DC at uni and I want to continue earning until a few years after they finish so I can offer them a home and help out while they get established in life. I only work 4 days a week and do housework / admin / looking after my DM on the 5 th day. DH works 5 days a week, we are happy with this split of responsibilities. We have reasonable pension funds but I just can’t see us supporting the DC as we want to without working, though working is also paying for a better lifestyle for DH and me too, holidays/ days out and restaurants.

Same, I'm an Electrician, love my work, will never retire, but will taper off - at 45 I've given up taking on jobs where I have to crawl through loft voids or teeter on tall ladders, but the idea of actually retiring, no, that's not for me.

Will definitely be encouraging my DC to educate themselves on personal finance and plan ahead for their futures while they are young - we all know how quickly time flies!

I'm encouraging my dc to look abroad for opportunities (they do have European passports). Life is only going to get more expensive here and much of the West will be desperate for skilled young workers and will have incentives to attract them. An example of this is Portugal where they want to have tax and housing schemes specifically for the young.

@EggnogNoggin I've just said similar re encouraging my dc to look abroad. Tbh I think even without the whole means testing of the state pension other countries can look far more attractive. Unfortunately we haven't invested in services or young people so there isn't that much to offer them here.