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

Hoping in ten years or so, early 60s at the latest. We will have paid our mortgage off in five or six years when DH will be 60 and me 56 so one or both of us could wind down and work part time if we wanted.

I'm 63 & really if I feel like I do now I have no plans to retire. I would rather keep my brain engaged.

Probably 68-70.

Thank you so much for coming back to me. It's so interesting to hear how other people are making plans and picking up nuggets of info on how things work for different people :)

need to be aware of tax implications of continuing to work at the same time as claiming a pension

I left teaching after 34 years at 58 and 8 months. On my scheme ( different for younger teachers) I could have gone at 55 but would have taken too big a hit on my teachers’ pension.

I went before I resented the job, I was still enjoying it but had seen too many carry on past their sell by date.

My FIL dropped dead at 54. My DF couldn’t let go and never retired until he was to infirm to work ( mid 80s)
I wanted something between these two extremes.

I’d also paid into AVCs which also helped and got a lump sum as I retired.

I paid into missing national insurance so that when I got to state pension age I was getting my max.

The winter fuel allowance missed me but the triple lock more than made up for it. I feel more secure than many - particularly one of my, adult, children.

No idea. Am 55 with not much in my pension pot. Just about to start a new job and plan is to put as much in as affordable.

Would like to be part-time by mid-60's but will depend how things pan out.

I nowhere near ready to retire now, and hope to feel more financially secure before I do.

Hoping 60, but then think I’ll try a part time job somewhere I can work a shift and forget about it. I noticed a big change in my parents and FIL when they retired, so I’d like to keep as mentally active as possible.

I'm 56. I'm hoping to go part time at 60 and retire at 63. When I say 'hope', that would work in current circumstances, but if I split up with dp or the world changes dramatically, obviously my plans will have to change.

@WidowSENParent Sending lots of love, that’s a lot for one person to deal with.

Its so hard to know what to do, so best to take it small steps at a a time and try to secure your future and your DCs future as much as you possibly can x x

Thanks @LornaDuh saw an article recently about the couple who set this up so will look into it properly!

I’ve been asking ChatGPT about planning for retirement and maximising investments and it’s been quite interesting. Obviously I’d recommend further research than trusting it but it talked about some ways of investing in property management which I’d not heard of before which sounds interesting so I’m going to investigate that.

I have a well paid job and I'm still planning on working until I drop.

They keep raising the state pension age and we don't have a great life expectancy in my family.

I'm hoping to drop down to 4 or 3 days a week before I die, though.

I'm not sure who actually retires unless they are old enough/lucky enough to have been part of a final salary scheme pension? I look at my private pension projection and there's no way I'll be able to live if I ever retire.

That's not remotely how it works.

Sounds interesting @CamillaMacauley - are you able to share any info on the property management work? Would be really keen to know more

@heartlessbitch There are a lot of people who have been investing while working and have private pensions or other investments including properties, stocks or have had inheritances which have helped them to be able to fund the years between leaving work and getting state pension.

My parents passed young and way before retirement age and DH is starting to feel his age so we do want to spend more time enjoying life rather than spending most of the time working. We could do part time or ad hoc work but who knows what lies ahead health wise and what we’ll be able to do

I had a very good plan. Started contributing into a final salary scheme as soon as started working. Worked my way up with the company putting self in a really good position for pension but then whole scheme was changed and plans went out of the window so needed to rethink everything.

I plan on retiring when my husband does. He'll be 66 and I'll be 56. He'll get a huge payoff from work after 40 years service so he plans to give up work then.

Mortgage will have long been paid off so we can just live off his payout though if we need extra we can use my side hustle (I make a little bit of money through writing books and selling on eBay).

@Secondishspring That’s the scary thing isn’t it about trusting your future to the government! Unless there is some way to protect your pension or benefits, it could all change!

Hope it all works out for you x

Yes@MooFroo it really is - although in my case it wasn't the government. I was so frustrated and disappointed about it because I'd worked really hard to get into a decent position but just had to accept it after a while.

So how does it work then, because I’ve just bought 7 years of NI to increase my pension when I retire. I pay NI every month.

I get that tomorrow’s pension is not from today’s NI but I’m paying, there is a social contract, and I’ll be entitled to it as I’ve paid up.

Perhaps around 62? I love my job, in no hurry to stop working. And want to save, to help my DC financially in future

In the past, many people worked from aged 16 and then died within a few years of retiring. That's largely how the economy could support generous final salary pensions

Now, too many people expect to study until 25, work until 55, live to 85. It's not realistic and pension schemes can't support that

Almost 40, plan to retire when I'm 55. Currently work 4 days a week, may look to reduce this to 3 in my late 40s/50

You can keep your brain engaged even when you’re retired, believe it or not.

Hopefully around 53-54. As long as Trump stops fucking things up we should have about £2m in pensions and ISAs by then, plus some cash. We’ll then get state pension and a DB pension of (index linked) £35k from 67.