Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Flip

Original poster

early retirement

22 replies

monalisa12 · 18/01/2019 05:18

I am in a boring dead end job. I see no way forward in my job so I want to take early retirement. The problem is that if I do that then I take only a portion of my pension and that would not be enough to live on and I will not get my state pension until I am 67.

I have no capital and do not own my own property and do not have a lot of savings so i am just sticking it out for financial reasons, Someone suggested that I take early retirement and boost up my earnings with a part time job a couple of days a week but someone else warned me that if I did that there would be the issue of being heavily taxed or something so it would not be a viable option. My only option would be to stay in my current job for as long as I can because I cannot afford to do much else and at my age (56 this year) I feel I am too long in the tooth to start looking and applying for other jobs when I have a job that I know how to do and if I were fortunate enough to get another job then I would have to learn it which would take time and I would only probably have about 4 years in the job anyway and it just doesn't seem worth it.

I feel I am in a no win situation.

OP posts:

Lightsabre · 18/01/2019 05:30

Can't you look for another full or part time job that will make you happier?

GnomeDePlume · 18/01/2019 05:54

How many years until you can retire on full pension or are you looking at having to go on until 67?

I think if you retire from this job, take a pension and get a part time job then your tax situation is no different. You would have the same tax free allowance.

Leaving this job and taking a part time job would mean losing any employment security.

Are you able to get pension information which shows year by year what your pension would be so what it would be if you retired at 60, 61, 62 etc? Look at your outgoings. How soon would you be able to retire?

Original poster

monalisa12 · 18/01/2019 05:55

If you read my post you will see that I feel I am too old to get another job and what use is part time????

OP posts:

blackcat86 · 18/01/2019 06:00

You sound to be in a very vulnerable financial position with no capital, property or lots of savings if you're looking at early retirement. Could you not keep your current job and retrain in something you can use as a self employed business? That way when you're earning you'll likely be earning more so you could substantially drop your hours and be semi retired?

Silkie2 · 18/01/2019 06:04

The small pension you get will not be your state pension I presume, but another one you have saved into. You need to find out how much longer you need to pay into this to make it enough to live on. And also to look at other work opportunities, maybe things like part time carer or dog walker.
You really need to know exactly what you will be getting from this pension to make a decision.
Have you been job hunting yet?

Original poster

monalisa12 · 18/01/2019 06:11

De Plume

I have done my homework and I cannot afford to take early retirement without my state pension to boost it up and I am 56 this year . I could go on another few years but I get more and more frustrated with things not going right at work and certain tasks not being done properly and nobody is seeing that they do get done properly. I also stated in my earlier post that I am too old to start trying to get another full time job

OP posts:

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 18/01/2019 06:16

You’ve answered your own question haven’t you? I cannot afford early retirement without my state pension. You have no assets to fall back on. It’s a long time from 55 to 67.

AJPTaylor · 18/01/2019 06:17

Too old at 56 to get another full time job? You are clearly not too old to Do that. I am 51, relocated last year and have found work. With the increased retirement age, you cannot think like that.

Original poster

monalisa12 · 18/01/2019 06:31

I guess so. I had better start seriously looking. I think I am just lazy because it takes effort to look for a job and effort to sell yourself to a potential new employer and then you might get there and decide it was not as good as you thought or you might have a worse boss than you already have and you might end up regretting it, As the saying goes Better the devil you know and you could jump out of the frying pan and into the fire

OP posts:

MaverickSnoopy · 18/01/2019 06:35

You are absolutely not too old to get another job. A couple of years ago I recruited someone who was 64 into a high end admin role.

From what you have said it sounds like you don't want to work. Perhaps that's the problem?

Could you do your role on a self employed basis? Could you turn your skills into something self employed?

diggitydamn · 18/01/2019 06:43

you'd have 11+ years in a new role which is longer than most people stay in any job these days. I'd therefore say the whole 'too old' thing is nonsense and self defeating.

My mother found a new job in her 70s (even though she didn't actually need to work) and is having a whale of a time. I've just offered a guy in his late 50s a job, because he had self awareness and experience the younger applicants didn't. Didn't occur to either of us that he was too old.

The problem here is your belief you are too old, not your age. Challenge that mindset and go look for a new role, or stay miserable where you are. Your choice...

Original poster

monalisa12 · 18/01/2019 06:49

I have a lot of thinking to do. I think there is a vacancy in another area of my office which I will look into but they may want to generally advertise it or not advertise it and scrap the post and I do not think any employer would be allowed to poach someone into a vacancy just because they know them from the office already

OP posts:

Lightsabre · 18/01/2019 08:22

Could there be an option to try out the new job in your office as a secondment? Then, if the grass isn't greener, you can return to your substantive post. Sometimes a change really is as good as a rest.

GnomeDePlume · 18/01/2019 08:28

monalisa12
I think there is a vacancy in another area of my office which I will look into but they may want to generally advertise it or not advertise it and scrap the post and I do not think any employer would be allowed to poach someone into a vacancy just because they know them from the office already

But if you dont ask about it you will never know.

Most jobs have rubbish bits, that's why we are paid to do them. If they were all fun we would all do them for nothing and call them hobbies!

Does your organisation offer any inhouse training, mentoring etc? It sounds like you are stuck in a rut. Could you ask to learn about a different role? Adding a skill? Is there any change coming in your organisation you could volunteer to be part of?

A colleague of mine took part in a new system implementation in the last few years of her working life. Totally outside her comfort zone. She had to learn the new system and learn to train. It gave her a real zest. If she hadnt volunteered she would have had to accept the system as it stood. Being part of the implementation team meant she could influence and gain inside understanding of what was being changed.

Sticking your head above the parapet will get you noticed and seldom in a bad way.

I do sympathise, I am similar age and am now starting to rather look forwards to retirement though it does feel like a long way off.

Hyggebernati0n · 18/01/2019 10:28

Can you look at your current job another way ? Do you get sick pay ? Do you get paid holiday ? Does your current job pay your bills ? If yes to all theses, why don't you start something new outside work, to make your out of work time more interesting ? You can still update your CV and look for a new job, while you are working. 56 is too young to retire if you have a small pension

lljkk · 18/01/2019 10:32

Why so negative, OP?
You're never too old to learn new things (& enjoy learning new things)

Are you desperate to retire at 60?
(Isn't that difficult for everyone now?)

Even a min. wage job is likely to be more income than drawing a pension.

Original poster

monalisa12 · 20/01/2019 00:16

I think I just need a new job really and one that I like

OP posts:

daisychain01 · 20/01/2019 05:40

OP, the other thing to consider is that drawing on your pension several years earlier than you otherwise might, will always erode the pot and therefore yield a much lower monthly amount over the lifetime of that pension.

So, by getting a job you enjoy and delaying drawing on your pension until you absolutely have to, will have benefits such as keeping you active, in a social environment, contributing to society and to your own sense of self-worth, plus will protect those precious pension years until you really need then.

Personally, I'm planning to work until they carry me off in my box. I mentor the new starters coming into the workplace, I am myself mentored by more mature and experienced people ahead of me in the hierarchy, I am a believer in diversity in the workplace. The constant enrichment, combining experience and new energy will always make for a better organisation.

Original poster

monalisa12 · 20/01/2019 22:32

The other thing I wanted to mention that if you take early retirement and then get another job do you pay extra tax because you have already taken early retirement? A friend of mine said she worked with someone who took early retirement and when he got another job he as paying a great deal of tax. Perhaps she is confusing that with emergency tax or something

OP posts:

Original poster

monalisa12 · 20/01/2019 22:36

Oh I forgot to mention that this man was paying a lot of tax due to the number of hours he was working

OP posts:

Original poster

monalisa12 · 20/01/2019 22:43

I have also read online that early retirement can affect your state pension

OP posts:

GnomeDePlume · 21/01/2019 06:04

You have to have a number of years working (and paying NI) to be able to claim the full state pension. If you have worked for all or most of your adult life you will be close to or over that threshold now.

Google HMRC national insurance contributions to take you to a link to check your own situation.

Flip