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

I call myself semi retired when the mood takes me. I'm 47 with no dependants, save the cats, the mortgage is paid off and the value of the house has shot up since I bought it. I'm contracted to work for 14 hours but mostly do 21 hours a week. I've got several pensions knocking about from working at different places but I dare say none will keep me in much more than energy bills and tea and that's basically all I need. I have plans to go travelling once the cats go and can rent this place out to cover that.

The plan for full retirement but too infirm to back pack is to live on cruise ships as I'll be paying the same as a nursing home but it's far more luxurious and there's always a doctor in board. That's assuming I'm not off grid somewhere on the Continent.
 
Puddy_Tat said:
185.15 is the full state pension which you get if you have / are expected to have 35 years' NI contributions. The only way it would be different if it was less because you had missed years and weren't in a position to buy them back.

the state earnings related pension / state second pension is no more unless you retired a while ago
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Yeah, mine will be less unless I manually contribute (about £800 a year) more or get a job - I have put the money in myself for some years to top up my total. My current amount, if I don't pay anymore, is £140 a week. Need to scroll down the page to see the current amount as opposed to the big green forecast on top of the page.

Topping up manually is a bit of a mission, because you have to call them and they give you a very long reference number via phone. It's incredible that they don't send that long text via email or text. If you or they get ONE digit wrong then the whole operation can go wrong too. It's just absurd. I've asked them many times why do they insist on giving the very long reference by phone and it's for "security reasons". Why a reference number for payment has to be so fucking secure is beyond me. It's very unlikely some criminal is going to pay money on my behalf to my pension, right? That would never happen. So fucking stupid. :D :facepalm:
 
MickiQ said:
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.
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She could probably fill some of that hole, I think HMRC allows you to backdate payments. If she doesn't have the means to do so from her teacher's salary, maybe you could help plug the gap, if they were also your children that resulted in her having a hole in her pension pot, given that you're already seemingly well-provided for?
 
Artaxerxes said:
Bank robbery or jewel theft around 60 I think
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That's the Japanese pension plan. There are pensioners over there who commit crimes so that they can be sent to prison to be housed and fed and looked after. Tbh, that might be my best option when it comes down to it. Spent most of my twenties temping or job-hopping, I've spent time working abroad, so no pensions contributions from those jobs either. Was out of work for several years after an accident. My employment history has been patchy to say the least, so I'm not going to get a decent pension, and I figure that by the time I retire (if I retire), there won't be any state pension to speak of, it's already a pittance, one of the worst in Europe.
 
Is there a way of finding old pensions? Back in my 20’s I paid into a couple with old jobs but I have no idea what companies they were with. It won’t be much there, but, still…?
 
Now also going round and round in an endless “you need to register… you are already registered” loop for a local authority pensions portal.

WHY IS THIS SHIT ALWAYS SO DIFFICULT :(
 
My plan pre-pandemic was to retire in 2026. My business partner had for years been saying he didn’t ever want to retire, so it looked doable.

Then he got Covid - badly - and reassessed his life plan (or his wife did) and now wants to retire around the same time as me. Fair enough - he’s 6 years older. Trouble is we can’t both do it without people coming in from below to buy us out. So we are trying to sort that out.

Retirement won’t mean stopping, it’ll be retirement from working in my profession. My plan is to do an MSc. then possibly a PhD (history of science). I’ll have been doing the same thing for 30 years this September and would like a change.
 
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AnnO'Neemus said:
She could probably fill some of that hole, I think HMRC allows you to backdate payments. If she doesn't have the means to do so from her teacher's salary, maybe you could help plug the gap, if they were also your children that resulted in her having a hole in her pension pot, given that you're already seemingly well-provided for?
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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.
 
Once my kids have left home, hopefully we can sell the house and downside to a flat.

My plan is just to hope that one of the three children is really successful and will financially support us :hmm: Got to decide which one to throw all our resources behind...
 
I do like working so will work as long as I can/am capable, but will leave the current Corporate level of working I'm in and ease back when I reach 60.

I've a really decent pension where I currently work + a cpl of other smaller pots from previous companies, as does my wife, we both qualify for full state pension so we should be OK financially, we'll have no mortgage and will downsize.

If I die in service with current company she'll get just shy of £700k :hmm:
I'm not sure what I'd get if she does (she works for the NHS).

Main thing we worry about is who will look after us if we get infirm as we don't have kids :(
We've said if it gets to it we'll both go into a home together.
 
I don't hate my job, but I'm conscious that my mother died at 62, after having worked all her life, and before having a chance to enjoy retirement. So my wife and I have agreed that we'll retire in 13 years, when we both turn 60. We both have good pensions, and have been paying in as much extra as we could afford for many years, now. Reckon that, by the time we add the state pension*, we'll have similar disposable income as now, since we'll pay less in tax, no NI, no pension contributions, no commuting, no mortgage costs, kids off our hands, and none of the expenses associated with work. (*Mine's a final salary scheme, so I can take a lump sum to spend during the period 60 to 67, to even out the income.)
 
I'm almost 52 and I have option to retire at 55, by which time I'll have 30 years of paying into a defined benefits pension.
It won't give me a great monthly income and it would be better financially if I could work a few extra years, but losing 2 friends last year, both younger than me, makes me realise that life is too short to spend it all working. I'll see where we're at in 3 years time.

When I say 'retire' I mean stop doing the stressful (but rewarding) full-time job I currently do, I wouldn't mind carrying on doing some part time work.
 
My misfortune was being reasonably good at a job that would drain the very marrow from my bones.
There were some good aspects, but not having to work any more, and have the stress of it in my head 24/7 is the best bit about being retired. I actually sleep.
I have a modest income now, but am lucky enough to be a Londoner with a Freedom Pass which makes retirement very nice as I feel my city belongs to me.
I have also got better at cooking.
 
metalguru said:
One other way it can be less is if you were 'contracted out'. Despite having 37 years contributions already, my forecast tells me that because I was contracted out I need two more years contributions to get the full £185.15
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My projected state pension is £180.43 if I i keep contributing to April this year (which I will) I was contracted out whilst in the EAM scheme, they made me redundant in 2015 and the pension rules were changed a year or so later to end contracting out.
I was told at the time I would need 9 more years of NI to get a full state pension and I have managed 7. To me paying £1600 now to get back £4 a week come November isn't worth it.
muscovyduck said:
This thread has got me worrying to be honest. I've had all sorts of weird work and financial situations over the years so I've got a pretty measly pension pot even for someone my age. And it's not like I'll be joining the civil service or whatever soon
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Now is the time to act, my kids are 34, 32, 29 and 20 and do tend to look at me like dear old Dad is going a bit daft when he tells them to think about pensions but £1 put aside at that age is worth like £50 put aside when you get to your 50's
 
Once I rouse myself to get washed and dressed this morning, probably then have another cup of tea, me and Mrs P will use our freedom passes to get a five minute bus ride to Greenwich Park where we go regularly. Nice bit of walking exercise in a brilliant place, then schlepp home. No spend involved. In the good weather we will take a bit of grub and something to drink and have lunch in the rose garden there.
I also enjoy encountering non locals in the park, and seeing folk with their families, their children and walking their dogs. I survive on not much money now the mortgage is paid off, mind you the price rises of energy and groceries is a pain.
 
In the plus column: State pension in 2036 + a not brilliant work one + hopefully paid off a mortgage on a flat in the least glamorous part of Hackney.

In the minus column: Partner is a few years younger than me and has no pension. She would be happy to move out of London, me not so much.

I'd jack in work tomorrow if I could and I really hope there is a point between now and 2036 when that is possible.

I've got slightly older mates who are retired now and they have either inherited a bit, or are former squatters who are used to getting by on not much. Or both, lol...

There's loads of stuff I could be doing instead of work... it's frustrating and exciting in equal measure...
 
My pension situation ain’t great! If I work another 13y I’ll get full state, plus whatever I get of my NHS as I’ve only got a decade of contributions so far in that.

These are my contingencies:
1. One of my lads makes a fortune. Ya never know!
2. I’m still with Mr Millionaire. Ya never know that either! :D
3. I LOVE my job and it’s definitely amenable to stepping down/ private practice/ reduced hours so I very much hope I continue working in some way til the end because it gives my life meaning and purpose
4. I’m gonna invest in a BtL as soon as I’ve saved the deposit. The rent off this, once the capital is paid off, will supplement my piss poor pension

So that’s the plan!
 
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