Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

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

MickiQ said:
I'm not talking about her state pension but her final salary teachers pension. She started teaching when she was about 22 or 23 so if she had worked non-stop she would have 38 years contribution by now. However she took 2 career breaks the first from 1988 when Eldest was born to 1998 when Middle started school then a second from 2002 to 2004 when Youngest arrived to disrupt our (and quite a few other) lives. She then worked part time as a supply teacher for 2 or 3 years before getting a permanent job where she is now. The end result of this is that rather than having 38 years worth of contributions she only has about 18 or 19 years so instead of getting a final salary pension of 67% of her final salary she will only get about 30%.
Being a full time mum can seriously affect a woman's pension earnings. We'll both get state pensions me the end of this year but she won't get it till 2028.
However in Mrs Q's case she is quite happy with the idea of being a 'kept' woman as she describes it. My final salary pension scheme also includes a widow's pension component that will pay her 50% of it once I shuffle off this mortal coil so she is well provided for even then.
Click to expand...

Can she buy back notional service or buy back years. I know teachers who have done the buy back just to add years service on.
 
pbsmooth said:
I've just discovered some people in the civil service get 27% employer pension contribution and now I'm considering a career change 😅
Click to expand...
It doesn't really work exactly like that. The employer contribution doesn't go to your personal pension, it's used to fund the pension scheme as a whole - in return you get a guaranteed amount of annual pension in retirement, rather than a pot that is available to you.

Most university workers, teachers, local government employees etc. get a similar deal.
 
I havent transfered any of the years I spent working in Spain over... so im going to look into that. If I could even add just 2-3 years it would help.

As it stands I dont have much NI contributions racked up in the UK as was part time, seasonal, low wage, unemployed or abroad until the past few years. So I probably need to do the full 35 year stint until I'm 68 just to be sure..... If I can transfer some of my Spain work history it could reduce that or allow me to doss around for a year or two in the future if I can afford it.
 
Elpenor said:
You could always join the armed forces as you’d pay 0% contributions as it’s entirely based on the employer / taxpayer contribution

www.gov.uk

Armed forces pensions

Information related to the Armed Forces Pension Schemes.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
Click to expand...
Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my father-in-law was in the armed forces, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WW2, and then had a 25 year stint in the Australian Army - me had a fantastic pension from the army - he died about 8 years ago, but had been receiving about £4k a month (thanks in part to a strong Aussie currency at the time. He was in his 90s when he died, and not a big spender even when he could get out and about.
 
Pickman's model said:
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.
Click to expand...

I had no idea you could do this and this is my forecast....

Screenshot 2023-02-13 at 12.44.48.png

I'll be mortgage free and my daughter grown up so this could be worse. I dont have a private pension as have spent the majority of the last 20 years self employed and it something I just never gave much though. I started a new job on 1st of Feb and it comes with a decent pension. I'm 48 but, being honest, would be quite happy if I make it to 70 to 75. Given my health issues and the immune system lowering meds I'm on I've had a 3 experiences of genuinely thinking I was going to die. Hospitalised for days etc. Males on my mum's side tend to snuff it around this age but they are all alcoholics and smoked etc.

I like being busy so would sooner have a job in tescos than sitting home with little to do.

Also like the idea of renting out the flat and travelling to places I've never been.
 
One of my friends has just retired, he's five years older than me and has worked in banking all his career.

I have numerous pension pots due to moving jobs but don't know if it's worth combining.
 
equationgirl said:
One of my friends has just retired, he's five years older than me and has worked in banking all his career.

I have numerous pension pots due to moving jobs but don't know if it's worth combining.
Click to expand...

Depends really what type of schemes they are.

E.g. if they're defined contribution money purchase schemes, it may be worth combining to make them easier to manage. - It's also relatively easy to do.

I had 3-4 different pension pots which I've transferred all into one self-invested personal pension on ii.co.uk. - they basically do it for you..

If they're final salary schemes then you're probably best leaving them where they are.
 
Smangus said:
This might be of use for thise with state pension gaps.


UK state pensions: later deadline for NI top-ups that can mean £55,000 extra
Click to expand...
Under the new state pension system introduced in April 2016, you typically need a 35-year NI contribution record to qualify for the full state pension amount, which is currently £185.15 a week.

So why this ? :-
(I retired in 2020 and get my pension in 2026)

---------------------------

  • 45 years of full contributions
  • 4 years to contribute before 5 April 2026
  • 1 year when you did not contribute enough

----------------------------- I'm confused because the figures are different ....

You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast

Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2022

£194.66 a week

Forecast if you contribute another 2 years before 5 April 2026

£203.85 a week

£203.85 is the most you can get

You cannot improve your forecast any further, unless you choose to put off claiming.

-------------------

So I pay £1600 and get £9.19 more per week or £477.88 per year ?
So payback in 4 years ?
If I'm leaving the country in a couple of years I suppose I'll have to pay in advance ...

-------------------

www.gov.uk

Pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance

How to pay your voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions - online, Direct Debit, bank transfer, cheque.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

But this is where I got stuck before...

What is your Class 3 National Insurance reference number?
This is 18 characters and begins with 60. For example 603490017829614130. You’ll find it on your bill.

What "bill" ?
 
Last edited:
Did you have some years contracting out gentlegreen via your work pension

If so your NI category on payslips / P60s would have been ‘D’ rate and you’d have been paying less NI compared to those who were not contracted out

Contracting out stopped at the end of the 2015-16 tax year

Can’t help on the reference number / bill. Maybe somewhere on the govt gateway?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

trashpony
  • Poll
Do you work whisper?
2 3
Replies
62
Views
2K
Buddy Bradley
Buddy Bradley
Orang Utan
Things to do in the office when you’re bored
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
MrSki
MrSki
Hollis
  • Poll
How many days a week do you WFH?
2 3 4
Replies
110
Views
3K
bcuster
bcuster
quimcunx
  • Poll
Do you work full-time? What are your standard hours?
2 3 4 5
Replies
121
Views
5K
Throbbing Angel
Throbbing Angel
Cloo
How do I do this CV?
Replies
20
Views
708
Cloo
Cloo
Back
Top Bottom