What do you think about retirement and when will you do it?

[RubyBlue]

Can’t believe I’m writing this ~ Can I dare to believe I could actually retire now? Well, yeah, but the pension is small and what would I do as my husband is WfH.

Regardless, my current job will be my final job ~ if I’m doing it till I’m 70 and I can be arsed, I may will, but as I work from home or I’m made redundant next year ~ that will be it. TBH the likely hood of redundancy within the next two years is slim.

Im entitled to a government (old civil service pension from a job I spent 20 years in but left 12 years ago) which is fine but will be better if I leave it until ~ at least 4 years also fine.

What are your plans, if any?

Can’t believe I’m fucking 60!

 

[Pickman's model]

i'd love to and will as soon as my euromillions investment pays off

 

[MickiQ]

This year probably April when my current contract runs out (self-employed freelance). I was 65 last November, I work from home and I enjoy it but there comes a time when you have to call it a day. If they extend my contract a month or two that's fine but come the summer I plan to call it a day.
I'm fortunate that I have no financial worries, No mortgage or rent, I have 25 years of a final salary pension scheme from Evil American Megacorp plus 7/8 years of whacking loads into a private scheme and plenty in savings.
I might have gone earlier TBF but CoVID came along and I took the attitude I might as well be paid for sitting at home as just be forced to sit at home.
Mrs Q is 60 and will probably go as soon as I do, she loves teaching but I can't imagine her keeping working If I've stopped.
Her pension has got holes in it from a total of over a decade taken out for being a full time mum but still good enough given we won't rely on it.

 

[maomao]

Im 48, have about five years of shit minimum contribution pension and a little over a year's half decent teacher's pension. My wife's in an even worse position. At least we'll probably own the house and the allotment'll have come through by the time I can't work anymore because we won't be rolling in it.

Also a member of the national lottery pension plan though.

 

[marty21]

I'd like to go at 60 (2 and a bit years away) , as Mrs21 has already retired. I'll pull the pin if they offer early retirement which is a fairly good deal in Local Authorities. Failing that , I'll do flexible retirement , I claim my work pension , then work part-time (3 days a week) & get paid 3/5 of my salary . If I do that, can save a bit & maybe go at 63/4 and survive until the state pension kicks in.

 

[danski]

Reckon it’ll be just after I die.

 

[RubyBlue]

Normally I wouldn’t want to post something like this but Urban seems to consisting of old farts looking to retire like me!

 

[RubyBlue]

I hope that’s not taken seriously!!!!!!

 

[Artaxerxes]

Bank robbery or jewel theft around 60 I think

 

[Pickman's model]

i was chatting to one of my managers recently and she said you can see how much state pension you'll get on the gov.uk site. so i had a look and found there were eight years i don't have enough ni for, all of which were when i moved from dole/being a student to low-wages. so i'm looking at £185 a week when/if i retire. plus a pitiful pension from work, which will be rather less than £185 a week, maybe £50 a week. if i'm lucky.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Honestly can’t see how I ever will. I’ll work and then one day I’ll be dead.

 

[maomao]

i was chatting to one of my managers recently and she said you can see how much state pension you'll get on the gov.uk site. so i had a look and found there were eight years i don't have enough ni for, all of which were when i moved from dole/being a student to low-wages. so i'm looking at £185 a week when/if i retire. plus a pitiful pension from work, which will be rather less than £185 a week, maybe £50 a week. if i'm lucky.

I didn't know you could do that. My forecast is identical (£185.15)

 

[Epona]

Yeah I am missing quite a lot of contributions too, I've spent quite a lot of time kind of off-grid as it were (not working, not claiming benefits, no ID).
I have a wedge paid into the old-style civil service pension scheme on top of that but not sure how much that will work out at per week.
Quite frightening really, but on the upside, even a small pension would be more personal income than I have right now.

I'd like to make up some of those missing contributions before I hit statutory retirement age though - as I am 51 now that could be another 25 years by then ffs.

But yeah I cannot wait to actually be retired, let's just hope that with the rising retirement age I will actually make it that far.

 

[Pickman's model]

Yeah I am missing quite a lot of contributions too, I've spent quite a lot of time kind of off-grid as it were (not working, not claiming benefits, no ID).
I have a wedge paid into the old-style civil service pension scheme on top of that but not sure how much that will work out at per week.
Quite frightening really, but on the upside, even a small pension would be more personal income than I have right now.

I'd like to make up some of those missing contributions before I hit statutory retirement age though - as I am 51 now that could be another 25 years by then ffs.

But yeah I cannot wait to actually be retired, let's just hope that with the rising retirement age I will actually make it that far.

i saw something martin lewis put out about being able to pay missing years, but after a certain amount of time you can't do that. all my years are in that category. if yours aren't yet it's apparently £800 a year: but that relies on having £800 to put into the fund for later.

 

[Hollis]

I'm mid-50s and just been made redundant.. which has rather bought this question into focus. It seems too early to retire- so I'll probably do interim work for a few years... After serveral less than enjoyable permanent roles, i dunno if I'm up to another one now.. And too late to retrain for anything really..

 

[sojourner]

I'll try to work as long as poss cos I think I'll be living in poverty and may lose the house on state pension alone, but have some cunning half-formed plans about dealing, shoplifting, and all manner of naughtiness in order to survive Also considering a caravan. Have some savings, but no private pension.

 

[Epona]

i saw something martin lewis put out about being able to pay missing years, but after a certain amount of time you can't do that. all my years are in that category. if yours aren't yet it's apparently £800 a year: but that relies on having £800 to put into the fund for later.

Gah, I didn't realise there was a time limit.
I think when I next have some income I need to have a look and see what I am able to make up in terms of payments.

 

[ouirdeaux]

I keep telling myself that I'm lucky to have embarked on a new career at an age at which I might have retired not so long ago. I can't see giving it up any time soon, though, and unlike many of my colleagues, at my age I have no opportunity to defect to a job with better conditions or pay.

 

[sojourner]

I keep telling myself that I'm lucky to have embarked on a new career at an age at which I might have retired not so long ago. I can't see giving it up any time soon, though, and unlike many of my colleagues, at my age I have no opportunity to defect to a job with better conditions or pay.

What is it?

 

[The39thStep]

What is it?

 

[mentalchik]

i was chatting to one of my managers recently and she said you can see how much state pension you'll get on the gov.uk site. so i had a look and found there were eight years i don't have enough ni for, all of which were when i moved from dole/being a student to low-wages. so i'm looking at £185 a week when/if i retire. plus a pitiful pension from work, which will be rather less than £185 a week, maybe £50 a week. if i'm lucky.

same as....can see me having to work for longer....am physically knackered now...my official retirement age is 7 years away

 

[metalguru]

I'm 59 this year so it's getting within reach... But lockdown in 2020 and 2021 made me think about how crap retirement on a small pension could be: isolated, not enough money to travel/go on holiday, miserably moping around the house etc....So I may well keep working longer than expected.

This topic always makes me think of poor William of Walworth.

 

[marty21]

I'm 59 this year so it's getting within reach... But lockdown in 2020 and 2021 made me think about how crap retirement on a small pension could be: isolated, not enough money to travel/go on holiday, miserably moping around the house etc....So I may well keep working longer than expected.

This topic always makes me think of poor William of Walworth.

Yep , he was so looking forward to retirement, had been looking forward to it for the 20 odd years I've been on Urban.

 

[blairsh]

Honestly can’t see how I ever will. I’ll work and then one day I’ll be dead.

This.

 

[ouirdeaux]

You'd use death as an excuse to skive? There's no work ethic any more.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

state pension forecast thingy here

under current rules, you need 35 years of NI contributions to qualify for maximum state pension, and (it came up on another thread after i checked mine) you apparently get (or did then) credit for the year you turn 16, which was a bit weird, as i left school at easter when i was 16, so was at school for the whole tax year when i was 15/16.

you also get NI credits if you're on most state benefits. and you can 'buy' some missing years.

having left school at 16, i'm about only one year off full state pension entitlement now. (unless the bastards change the rules again)

if i'd joined the work (local authority) pension scheme when i started there (when i was 20, reaching 30 didn't seem all that likely let alone retirement age) and stayed in local government, i'd have a fairly good pension lined up. as it is, i've got about 8 years in the old scheme, then 8 years in a similar (but not quite as good scheme) then only re-joined this year. i did manage to transfer the crap pension schemes of the last decade in to the LGPS just before the truss government buggered the markets, which increased the likely pension value of them (before last year's crash) by a fair chunk, albeit from not very much to slightly more.

as for retirement plans, it all depends. i'm seriously considering moving house, and might want to raise a bit of finance to do that, which means retiring at 60 almost certainly won't happen. although i'm a bit unsure about the whole idea, as it's possible i may have to give up work to look after mum-tat (she's in her 80s now) or the job might not last until i reach retirement age.


i could claim old pension schemes at 60, but not sure they would be enough to retire on. Going part time before retiring fully might be an option.

 

[rubbershoes]

I'm mid-50s and just been made redundant.. which has rather bought this question into focus. It seems too early to retire- so I'll probably do interim work for a few years... After serveral less than enjoyable permanent roles, i dunno if I'm up to another one now.. And too late to retrain for anything really..

Sorry to hear about the redundancy

 

[dessiato]

I have, I hate the boredom

 

[hash tag]

I don't want to give people any funny ideas but Mrs Tag often says I am not allowed to retire as she wants my death in service payout.

 

[The39thStep]

i was chatting to one of my managers recently and she said you can see how much state pension you'll get on the gov.uk site. so i had a look and found there were eight years i don't have enough ni for, all of which were when i moved from dole/being a student to low-wages. so i'm looking at £185 a week when/if i retire. plus a pitiful pension from work, which will be rather less than £185 a week, maybe £50 a week. if i'm lucky.

I am just in the process of reporting those first nine words to AmateurAgitator