Retiring

nellyonthewing said:
Been fully retired 11 years now. Stepped down retirement is best if you can fix it rather than a sudden cessation of work. I had 3 jobs from 50 -60.
Do a spreadsheet -I know where my income/expenditure went for 10 years and and can confidently say I have enough to match my lifestyle all I have to do is stay alive to enjoy it..
Pay off debt its a killer.
£25K is plenty for a couple with both state pensions incl.
Click to expand...

Most of my clients live on that comfortably.

Some of the (mainly) men made the mistake of funding their own pension to the hilt but paid nothing into their wives pensions. This means when it comes to taking the pension, the spouse often has a lot of her personal allowance left unused. Shouldn’t happen so much nowadays but I have clients where the female only has a state pension of £5kish as didn't pay full NI and the bloke £20k. Only £1250 of her unused allowance can be transferred so he ends up paying £1200 odd unnecessary tax.

it’s ideal if both can bring in £12500 and pay no tax.
 
Millwallawayveteran1988 said:
Most of my clients live on that comfortably.

Some of the (mainly) men made the mistake of funding their own pension to the hilt but paid nothing into their wives pensions. This means when it comes to taking the pension, the spouse often has a lot of her personal allowance left unused. Shouldn’t happen so much nowadays but I have clients where the female only has a state pension of £5kish as didn't pay full NI and the bloke £20k. Only £1250 of her unused allowance can be transferred so he ends up paying £1200 odd unnecessary tax.

it’s ideal if both can bring in £12500 and pay no tax.
Click to expand...
Would you normally advise women to pay voluntary NI contributions to increase their state pension. I think you can typically pay for up to the last 6 years, even if over state pension age, and possibly more years depending on age and circumstances?
 
Tommy_Catons_Perm said:
Would you normally advise women to pay voluntary NI contributions to increase their state pension. I think you can typically pay for up to the last 6 years, even if over state pension age, and possibly more years depending on age and circumstances?
Click to expand...
Depends on how much it increases the income by and how much it costs really. Plus individual circumstances.
 
dickie davies said:
That's where I hope to be in five years when I hit 63
A £300k fund, take £75k out tax free and use £10k a year of it added to my pension drawdown planned to be £12.5k a year so I will be on £22.5k tax free plus what Mrs DD brings in. Then the state pension kicks in four years later
A rough calculation says that the drawdown should last until I'm in my 80's

Three month long lets in warm countries are our aim
Click to expand...
This was the one good thing that Osborne did - the opportunity to access our private pensions in the way you describe above rather than having to buy one of those shitty annuities, and whatever is left in the pot during drawdown still has the chance of growing. Also, there’s a bit of wriggle room in your scenario in that once you’ve started drawdown if you have any spare cash you can stick some back in which would make it last longer although I think they’ve now reduced this amount to 4k per year from 10k and who knows if they’ll scrap it entirely in the future.
I’m 50 now and really wished I’d started investing more in my SIPP sooner but it’s not performing too badly at the moment. I’m way off your 300k target but still got a bit of time and if my investment in NIO shares pays and they sky rocket to Tesla levels and beyond then my pipe dream of retiring at 55 might become more than that!
 
Chippy_boy said:
There's plenty of people in the private sector who have seen bugger all pay rises over the past 10 years as well you know.

Anyway, enjoy your early retirement and your extra 15 years of relaxing compared to most of the rest of us. Most people in the private sector could only dream of this. In fact 44% of my pay at 67 would be a fucking mirac
Click to expand...

blueinsa said:
I like bert as a poster and thank him for his service but agree with you here.

His bit of a sob story the vast majority of us would kill for.
Click to expand...
The austerity may be linked to over generous pensions provisions so far removed from most workers options to be deemed something of a crime in itself, lucky bugger!
 
M18CTID said:
This was the one good thing that Osborne did - the opportunity to access our private pensions in the way you describe above rather than having to buy one of those shitty annuities, and whatever is left in the pot during drawdown still has the chance of growing. Also, there’s a bit of wriggle room in your scenario in that once you’ve started drawdown if you have any spare cash you can stick some back in which would make it last longer although I think they’ve now reduced this amount to 4k per year from 10k and who knows if they’ll scrap it entirely in the future.
I’m 50 now and really wished I’d started investing more in my SIPP sooner but it’s not performing too badly at the moment. I’m way off your 300k target but still got a bit of time and if my investment in NIO shares pays and they sky rocket to Tesla levels and beyond then my pipe dream of retiring at 55 might become more than that!
Click to expand...
I am in the same boat as you, luckily I have a Military pension currently which will increase when I am 55. I am invested in renewables namely energy storage in the form of VRFB's hopefully will take off hugely in the next couple of years, if all goes well I will be comfortable at 55 to retire.
 
Tommy_Catons_Perm said:
Would you normally advise women to pay voluntary NI contributions to increase their state pension. I think you can typically pay for up to the last 6 years, even if over state pension age, and possibly more years depending on age and circumstances?
Click to expand...
Without a doubt.
If you phone them they are quite good with advice.
My wife, a non tax payer, gets her state pension next July.
We just paid up extra years that will be in profit within 3 years of getting her pension.

Another thing we did was each year since pension freedoms were relaxed I have paid into a private pension for her the circa £2600 that she can pay in.
HMRC gives all the tax back into the pension,
At end of tax year draw the circa £3600 out.
Repeat paying in.
20% return a year.
Very nice.
 
I have a company pension that i fully understand how it works due to it being a pension pot.

My wife works in education for the local council and it seems to be calculated totally different, I think i need to get some advice on it before making any plans.
 
I have a pension from a previous employer with a value of £229k.

I recently requested a quote from it for when I am 66 etc.

Am I right in thinking I can simply take 25% of the 229k as a tax free lump sum and request that they pay me a certain amount per annum until the pot is empty or do I HAVE to stock to the annuity figures they quoted me??

Also, do I have to wait until I am 66 to claim it or can I take it at 55 (which I could have done if I still worked there)
 
denislawsbackheel said:
Without a doubt.
If you phone them they are quite good with advice.
My wife, a non tax payer, gets her state pension next July.
We just paid up extra years that will be in profit within 3 years of getting her pension.

Another thing we did was each year since pension freedoms were relaxed I have paid into a private pension for her the circa £2600 that she can pay in.
HMRC gives all the tax back into the pension,
At end of tax year draw the circa £3600 out.
Repeat paying in.
20% return a year.
Very nice.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree with the first point about state pension. Based on my rough calcs it seems to be in profit within about 4 years.

I also concur with the second point with a SIPP that I set up for the wife and pay in on her behalf. She is early fifties with very little pension saving and despite me rattling on to her for years to sort it she wont listen. So I sorted it for her. She will thank me one done......or maybe not if the blind will never see
 
Kazzydeyna said:
I have a pension from a previous employer with a value of £229k.

I recently requested a quote from it for when I am 66 etc.

Am I right in thinking I can simply take 25% of the 229k as a tax free lump sum and request that they pay me a certain amount per annum until the pot is empty or do I HAVE to stock to the annuity figures they quoted me??

Also, do I have to wait until I am 66 to claim it or can I take it at 55 (which I could have done if I still worked there)
Click to expand...
Yes you do not have to buy an annuity and you can withdraw pension from age 55 and 25% is tax free. You can go in drawdown when each withdrawal is 25% tax free or take all 25% tax free first. I think the two ways are called drawdown and UFPLS aka uncrystallised funds pension lump sum. I don't fully understand it myself or know which is best way. It depends on circumstances. Beware you don't run out of money if you don't have other pensions like a DB scheme. You should get financial advice e
 
abu13 said:
I have a company pension that i fully understand how it works due to it being a pension pot.

My wife works in education for the local council and it seems to be calculated totally different, I think i need to get some advice on it before making any plans.
Click to expand...
If she is a teacher her pension is a goldmine and you can find out a lot of info at the official site here.

Member Hub | Teachers' Pensions

Our site has been organised around our members. You can select what kind of member you are from the options below.
www.teacherspensions.co.uk www.teacherspensions.co.uk
 
A ballpark figure , what would a financial advisor charge for one off consultation ?
 
denislawsbackheel said:
Another thing we did was each year since pension freedoms were relaxed I have paid into a private pension for her the circa £2600 that she can pay in.
HMRC gives all the tax back into the pension,
At end of tax year draw the circa £3600 out.
Repeat paying in.
20% return a year.
Very nice.
Click to expand...
This does sound like a nice little earner. Are you saying that you can still pay into the pension whilst drawing out at the same time?
 
Petethemancinleeds said:
The austerity may be linked to over generous pensions provisions so far removed from most workers options to be deemed something of a crime in itself, lucky bugger!
Click to expand...
Its far from a sob story-personally my workload more than doubled in the last 5 years-from managing one custody suite to two-including one of the busiest in the country-overwhelming stress, risk and daily abuse that made me ill. 12 hour shifts-days and nights, with no break whatsover on most day shifts.

I paid £700 a month for my pension-so I expected it to be good. That said I left the majority of my lump sum behind to allow me to quit with my sanity.

This isn't about private v public. And frankly its ridiculous to suggest a 67 yr old could wrestle with criminals!

That said I am fortunate because I wasn't hit anywhere near as hard as the majority of my colleagues I left behind and I looked after my finances and invested my spare time to make sure I could afford to go and try to enjoy my time. There are still side hustles out there that can help people-and I do appreciate that there are plenty of people struggling in the present climate. Happy to take a pm or 2 if anyone wants a pointer (nothing in it for me).
 
Last edited:
I retired in March at 56 and we both have pensions (RAF and NHS) that we draw now.. we also have rental income from a flat we own. I have a company pension that is currently unclaimed which is worth around £95k... I’ve been waiting for a recovery from the pandemic before claiming it so I’ve lost around £2k to date If you assume it would pay around £200 per month.

not sure if I’m better taking the 10% tax free then getting an annuity or going for drawdown?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top