Retirement – Evaluation of Your Plans

I’m still a way off retirement, but reach a significant age in 6 months, namely 55. I’ve been paying into various pensions since I was 18, two of which I’ve got a combined 27 years in so far, and will be on the way to get 40 years by retirement. These are average salary  pensions (one much lower as was in my early career). The other two were private ‘money purchase’ with employer contributions, which have sat there, mainly losing money the last few years, but more recently, those losses have been recovered in the pot’s value.

I’m looking at accessing the tax free amounts from these two ‘non-essential’ pots. Not looking at more as I’ll be hammered on tax.

Why ?

I’ve seen too many close friends or relatives either not make it much into retirement, or end up with a retirement they weren’t expecting soon after retirement – i.e. one of the ‘partners’ health has deteriorated enough not to be able to do those ‘plans’ you look towards.

One friend has downsized and retired early with her husband, as he’s lost two close relatives the same age before they could ‘retire’. My BIL has lost his brother and his brother’s wife now has terminal cancer – both recently retired. He’s also lost his sister. BIL is in poor health and is yet to retire, and it’s restricting what SIL (my wife’s sister) can do now, and she’s fit and active – their plans are going to pot even before they retire.  Two other colleagues retired slightly early, but both their partners are now rather poorly, again restricting plans.

Another colleague has just negotiated severance, a couple of years early, and she can manage on that without drawing on her pension pots.

My plans, get a people carrier van, and do the touring UK/Europe, camping kit in, bikes in, SUP in, possible over night in it and get out and about. I get a lot of holidays, and long weekends are a real possibility – throw everything in and off we go.

The ‘dip’ into the  two pots won’t affect my overall pension by much at all, and I really don’t know how my spine will be in 12 years time – that will be 20 years after badly breaking it, and it gives problems now.

So the question, have any of you revised your plans as you approach retirement.  Seen too many close friends/relatives get to that stage, and then, despite having the money, can’t do anything fun with it.

My mum carked it three years after retiring at 65  (cancer), I’ve been doing my sums and guess I can retire at 57.

When do you hope to start executing your plans @fossy?

I’ve just tipped 50, and have been very conscious throughout my working life of the need to save for retirement. The only ‘plan’ I have currently is, frankly, to pour as much money into pensions as I can so I can retire as soon as possible, and on current calculations that look like 58.

I get the point about “stuff might happen, enjoy it while you can” but, equally, stuff might not happen, and you could well live for another forty years. It’s a difficult balance to strike.

its worth noting if you access your pot in any way that you’re limited to paying in £10k/year (including employer contributions etc) into pension pots in future. This might not have any impact on your situation, but one to consider

Yes I have revised my plans and in particular my retirement age. I’d always thought, up until the last year or so, I would work through to retirement age but I now plan to stop working next year at 58 and take my civil service pension at 60. The vast majority of my cs pension is in the old scheme which kicked in at 60 and given various issues at work, very low morale and a relocation of my office to the other side of London next year, i can’t see any real point in carrying on. Added to this are a few people I knew who have passed at a young age or suddenly when apparently still in their prime which makes working for the sake of it a bit less desirable.

Mrs kilo and i both went into the workplace straight from school and been continuously employed since then in relatively stressful roles (yes I managed to pick the stressful bits of the civil service) so a few years off while we are fit and mobile and for the first time in eight years or so not burdened with carer responsibilities seems like a good option.

a relocation of my office to the other side of London next year,

it might be worth looking into whether you can negociate redundancy instead of moving (that might already be the case) – you’d at lease get mandatory redundancy pay but your hr policy might force them to top up some more

Having worked in construction for the early part of my career, late 1980’s, there was no pension provision at the time.

Starting my own was not on the cards.

For the last 10 years I have worked for an employer who has a workplace pension.

The only way I can look at it was that I did enjoyed doing all the things I wanted to do in my 20’s.

My plan is to keep working until retirement age and see how I feel then whether I carry on working or see if the pension pot will be good enough to chuck in the towel.

Starting my plans now – it’s only in recent years I’ve been seeing other people’s ‘retirement plans’ change rather too quickly before they get the time to enjoy it. Happy to carry on where I am (work) until early/mid 60’s, as I’m building that pot and you generally can’t access that one quite the same, but should an opportunity come, I may go earlier. I’ll probably do something part time or volunteer somewhere though.

Won’t be thinking about not working until my two adult kids are standing on their own two feet and have moved out, then I really could consider retirement as we won’t have the same outgoings supporting them.

I’m not blowing any of it, but the notion of ‘working’ and waiting until you retire to carry out ‘plans’ could very quickly be dashed.

@5lab

Unfortunately my journey will just be a bit of a pain rather than impossible (from 25 -35 minutes each way on the bike to an hour and a halfish on the tube) so no dice with redundancy.

About a decade ago I decided that instead of aiming for retirement I was aiming to have a quality of life now.

I’m not sure that early retirement is quite as fulfilling as many people think it is. There are only so many rounds of golf and cruises that you can go on.

Pffft, retirement. I’m 55 and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to retire. I have saved into a private pension since my 20s but it’s effectively worthless. Decades of self employment mean nobody else is contributing so all I can blame is myself and the UK for having pretty much the worst pension provision in Europe.

Work till I drop, then live in poverty, crying into my gruel. That’s my plan. Will be the same for many, many Gen Xers and Millenials I’m sure.

@5lab

Accessing only the tax free amount doesn’t trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance. Plus I’m contributing to a Local Government Scheme. If I took more than the tax free then the MPAA would be triggered.

Hoping that the French push through easy Visa’s for UK nationals who own a property over there so I can split time 50/50.

Plenty of bits and bobs jobs over there to keep a bit coming in and I can work remotely on the stuff I do over here.

Need another 10 years of contributions into pension before it can happen though

I’m only 38 and started seriously planning a couple of years ago. I’ve always had a pension to pay into, and overpaid into it as much as possible.  But decided that while I was working 2 jobs I was going to max out my ISA  contributions as much as possible (as well as overpaying earnings over the 40% threshold into my actual pension).  I figured that the ISA is probably the more tax efficient way to do it in reality because any future pension is likely to be taxed at the ~20% rate anyway.

The plan (economy permitting) is to be able to quit or substantially scale back the need to work by 55-57 (i.e I should be mortgage free, I can draw down the 25% of my workplace pension to put into an ISA so it’s tax free, and leave the rest for another ~10 years, and the ISA should be enough to live off in the meantime).  Depends how the stock market does though, I’ll hopefully time it for whatever bubble occurs in the 2040’s.  So far it’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster as 20 years out the projected value has already halved since I started, crossing my fingers it rallies again at some point ?.

The aim is to be retired a decade before my parents reach the point where they need care so there’s time to enjoy all those retirement things before it comes to juggling hospital appointments, care homes, etc.

About a decade ago I decided that instead of aiming for retirement I was aiming to have a quality of life now.

I’m not sure that early retirement is quite as fulfilling as many people think it is. There are only so many rounds of golf and cruises that you can go on.

This is my view. In my case, quality of life is less work, so I am basically part time but spread over the year IE blocks of work followed by blocks of non work

“It’s all a gamble, the only thing you can be sure of is that life won’t turn out the way you expect” – Euthymol

. There are only so many rounds of golf and cruises that you can go on.

For defo but I’ve already been told I’m not having a life of sitting on my fat arse watching people fixing tractors on youtube 🙁
We have plans to travel and some actual tasks to do (refurbishing bits of our place in ireland for example and living there half the year or so), can probably justify having a dog or two, etc.

On the other side when my dad stopped labouring on building sites at 68 he pretty much did f all from then on and was happy.

I think that if you have a heavy physical job then retirement is a completely different kettle of fish.

I’m 62 soon and I’ll probably never retire – but luckily my business [although a very modest income] pretty much runs itself and I can work anywhere in the world.

I have a smallish pension that was limited by large outgoings on kids (had one, went for another and got twins!) but we are mortgage free and pretty capital rich frankly.  MrsSB has recenly had a sizeable inheritance and we’re now living some of the life we couldn’t afford over the last 20 years.
We’re finding it harder to put up with the miserable UK winters and are considering spending more time away over the winters esp as we can get some cheap Emirates flights via daughter #3.

I’ve seen too many people either become ill or simply die far too early – we’ve got to make the most of what we’ve got now.

 I can draw down the 25% of my workplace pension to put into an ISA so it’s tax free, and leave the rest for another ~10 years, and the ISA should be enough to live off in the meantime).

Double check whether that is more efficient than just taking the pension and tax free lump in parallel. According to STW’s favourite financial adviser taking the tax free sum in a lump is one of the biggest mistakes people make as it means they pay much more income tax overall.

I’m currently paying far more into my pension each month than I actually get in my salary ” cheque”, which is kinda weird.  Weirdly enough my COVID share options will be a significant make or break for my retirement fund. They’re currently trading at almost three times the option price. Only 16 months, two weeks, one day and 7 hours to go…

About a decade ago I decided that instead of aiming for retirement I was aiming to have a quality of life now.

I’m not sure that early retirement is quite as fulfilling as many people think it is. There are only so many rounds of golf and cruises that you can go on.

OTOH I’ve never been “expensive”. I enjoy mountain bikes, classic cars, motorbikes, sailing, and other expensive hobbies.

But the bikes are Vitus and/or 2nd hand.

The car is an MG Midget (the entry level of old cars)

The motorbike is a 20 year old Harley Davidson (not the absolute cheapest, but won’t depreciate)

Dingy sailing is no more costly than cycling

etc.

I don’t feel like I’m missing out on the income I’m saving, in fact I still have some leftover in my current account most months which I spend on the here and now.  I think about it more like “I’m in the demographic that could buy a T5 and a Santa Cruz, but I’d rather the Vitus and not have a car,” and all that money not-spent is years cut from my working life. A £30k campervan is 2 years net income after housing costs now, or more like 8 years with 20 years compound interest. Do I want a cup of tea in a car park now, or 8 years earlier retirement …….

I think that if you have a heavy physical job then retirement is a completely different kettle of fish

For sure, but I think that if you have a  job you enjoy then partial retirement is a completely different kettle of fish. I used to enjoy mine, now not really at all.

I’m 55. A few slightly older friends are already retired, but realistically,  I’ve got 5 years before I can access private and initial Civil Service pension without penalty. 60 is also the point youngest will hopefully be through uni. MrsMC is 2 years younger.

Plan is I retire at 60, she does 2 more years part time and then retires, we then downsize and do the travel thing.

There’s a few volunteer groups I’m keen to get involved with when I retire, and I’ve no problem with taking a part time job if necessary to see me through to state pension age if necessary.

I’ve started actively tracking mine in the last couple of years.  Check the fees on your pensions, one of my older workplace pensions had been transferred to reassure who, the robbing bastards, were taking 5% a year in fees for doing absolutely nothing and having a frankly terrible user platform.  Took 6 months to transfer to vanguard.  Appears I have some money ‘stuck’ in suspended funds due to Russia (Eastern European UT) – not that I knew the underlying assest were russian (russia isn’t eastern europe in my view) any way I’m having to write that off.

I can’t access my main pension to 65, and my current civil service pension is NRA ‘normal retirement age’ so if they decide in the next 25 years to up the national retirement age it will instant devalue that pot to the tune of approx 4% per year increased.  Really really screws with the planning.

Anyway I have a massive mortgage, so the plan is to use a lump sum to pay it off and hopefully be able to retire earlier than 68.  I honestly don’t think I could work that long, I struggle to think if I can make another decade let alone 25 years….

Without kids retirement in late 50s would be very achievable

I’m currently paying far more into my pension each month than I actually get in my salary ” cheque”, which is kinda weird.

@thegeneralist I’m sure you are, but just checking you are aware of the annual allowance? Tax on your private pension contributions: Annual allowance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

I nearly fell foul of this a few years ago and had to pause my contributions mid-year.

Probably at the age now I need to think about it – but as i too was self-employed on building sites then a student I haven’t benefited from compound interest in my lowly pension pot. Didn’t own my own home until 4 years ago! But very low mortgage due to high deposit.
But I like my job and I’m well paid and now shoving as much as I can into a pension, so I’ll be able to retire at 78.
Plus, i’m a euro passport holder so i can go live somewhere cheaper like Portugal.

if you have a  job you enjoy then partial retirement is a completely different kettle of fish. I used to enjoy mine, now not really at all.

There’s also the option of doing something completely different once you’ve retired from your “career”. That’s what I did. I had enough of a pension that, with my wife’s wages, we could cope. I ended up doing some voluntary work and also working in a bike shop part time.The latter changed my life significantly in terms of skills, outlook and, particularly, friendships. It led on to other jobs, all of which I feel enriched by.

For defo but I’ve already been told I’m not having a life of sitting on my fat arse watching people fixing tractors on youtube 🙁

The bloody cheek of it!

I get the point about “stuff might happen, enjoy it while you can” but, equally, stuff might not happen, and you could well live for another forty years. It’s a difficult balance to strike.

Both sets of parents still going in their 80s….

I’d quite like a Blade Runner style fixed termination date, would make planning so much easier…

My dad is 98 next month and my mum was also in her 90’s. Living well too – fully mobile and sharp as a tick.

My wife’s taken a break from her usual ‘role’ after being treated badly in the last few jobs, and walking away with decent settlement agreements. She’s now just working a day a week, so me going ‘early’ isn’t on the cards now, but a major shift in what we do for leisure time is.

I’d not really paid much attention to retirement, or pre-retirement plans until more recent years. When talking to an ex-colleague recently, he said retirement wasn’t what they had hoped. He’s still fit and active, just hit 70, does loads of hiking, but his wife has a minor fall in the garden, but ended up with some bad breaks – thats when they found osteoporosis, and her hip hasn’t healed well and she can’t do the walking etc, and her mobility is severely limited. He’s a higher rate tax paying pensioner, but can’t spend it on holidays and travelling.

I’ve seen other colleagues go ‘early’ on packages, and are having a whale of a time, accessing their pensions a little early or managing for a few years off severance pay.

There are only so many rounds of golf and cruises that you can go on.

If those are your retirement ambitions, then yeah, stay working pal!

My retirement plans are very much like the OP. Drop a lump sum into a camper van, and f. off around Europe with bikes and paddle equipment for 2-3 years. Following that, S. America and the weirder parts of Asia. I’m planning on 60, with my OH retiring at the same time at 55. Bring it!

Yes. I’m 50 and decided to go part time. To be honest I probably have ‘enough’ but not ready to stop altogether. Maybe that will change and I will decide to stop altogether. My wifes health has really pushed the thinking. She may not be around in 10 years time, so more time together now is important over more money in my pension in 10 years.

The challenge right now is most of my money is tied up in my pensions which I can’t access for 7 years. So the last few years it’s been about us maximising ISA’s and other investments we can use between now and when I’m 57.

Must add we’ve just done 10 years of looking after MIL and FIL, and I’m hoping my folks are still going to keep on going OK as they are at the age FIL died at now. I don’t want another 10 years of looking after elderly parents (it will happen though).

I turned 50 last week.

Having worked for charities all my life, my pension pot is woeful compared to many.

That said, I am pouring in what I can to savings, pension and mortgage being paid off.

Beyond that, an acceptance that I will be working to an older age, likely part time and in easier jobs than I currently do.

Retirement by Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr

Mrs S and I were just discussing this the other day. I’m 46 and being paying into pensions since I was 18, mostly local government pension scheme. Mrs S is 50 and a GP and has been maxing out her NHS pension contributions. We have also been saving well into ISAs.  There is no way she can carry on in her job for another 10 years but there must be enough in our combined pensions to manage an earlier retirement. I think we’ll pay for some proper scenario planning advice in the next few months to get a plan in place for her to retire, or semi retire, within 5 years, me within 8 years of possible.

Next year .aged 55 I aim to reduce my working hours to 30hrs a week , average .
Then try to drop to 21 hours the year after.
Aim is to try to get used to living on a reduced income, then maintain that by slow draw down of my ppp, rental income plus a few investments maturing.
Last year I amalgamatied all my individual pensions into vanguard which I should have done years ago . The fund performance and charges for the bad investments has probably cost me £100k over the last 15 years.
I don’t want to be stuck at work in my 60s whilst I’m still able to cycle , ski , windsurf, sup , golf etc. when I’m unable to do those I think I will start fishing again.

we’ve got to make the most of what we’ve got now.

Everyone is different,but since a young age  ^^that^^ has been my mind set.

So retirement was a piece of urine.

IMO,by far the most valuable thing  you can take to retirement is good health,because as said above,I have had too many friends and family that were ambushed before they got to that field of dreams.

We are going to downsize, move back north and then dirtbag it around Europe as much as possible. Bivvy/ cheap campsites, minimum cost climbing/biking. Crack on like we are 20 again, and on the same shoestring budget…. hopefully. Pensions, hmmm …not so good. Might look at what singletrackmind has done re vanguard or similar.

As i said in this thread https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/advice-for-someone-with-no-pension/

‘I have purchased property and land.
The main pension plan is to open a horse livery yard when I get a bit older as i have a small farm (purchased, not inherited).
This passive livery yard income with a bit of sideline farming and working part time should provide enough income.
I will develop some land as i get older and liquidate assets for income.’

I have actually just went part time now (semi retirement?) at 52.

Longevity doesnt feature in my family.