Excellent Pension/ retirement advice from the Weslyan

[BG2015]

I'm 51. I've been teaching since 1996 with no major breaks in service.

My pension is made up of a mix of final salary and career average so I have been concerned about how this will my retirement. I want to retire at 60.

Financial advisor from the Weslyan came to give me some advice. It was free, she looked at my teachers pension online, talked me through how it's all calculated and told me I could retire at 60 on a pension of £20k a year with a £30k lump sum.

Music to my ears. With another small pension that I've got since before I went into teaching and equity from my house when I downsize it will be perfectly doable. And if I live to 67 and they're still giving state pension I'll get another £8k a year.

So now I have a plan and an end date in mind. I was really impressed and highly recommend them.

Great to hear. I've got them coming to see me in a few weeks. I've been teaching since 1998, and been a bit concerned about how I'll manage.

Will they just come out to anyone ?
How do you sort that then ?

But you can look at teacher pensions online and see that for yourself

You can sort it out yourself yes, but she told me a way to protect the first part of my pension ( final salary 80th scheme) so that it doesn't drop any lower. They take the last 3 years you earn the most - so in my case 2010-13 - that will disappear as time goes on as I don't quite earn the same now. But by opting out of the scheme for 1 calendar month then opting in again it will protect that part. It's a loop hole that even the TPS suggest.

If you're a member of both schemes it's not as clear cut.
I just contacted them and they made an appointment with my local advisor.

We had a Wesleyan man who came to our staff meeting and did a presentation then anyone who wanted to could ask for an appointment with him.
He was very helpful as I had no idea if I'd be able to afford to retire or reduce my hours. There is online stuff available but I found it very confusing.
Now, after talking to him, quite a few of our staff are going to be doing phased retirement or winding down.

She's coming out to our school too in the summer term to do a presentation.