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Retirement


Darlo1973 said:
I'm in the transition period of when the minimum age increases from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028

As I understand it, I will be 55 in 2027 so I could access my occupational pensions then BUT if I don't do it before 6 April 28 then I will have to wait until I am 57 in 2029.

Doesn't really make a difference to me as I am very unlikely to want to access the pensions before 2029 but it might be a consideration for other people my age.
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Check you dont have a protected pension that you can get at at 55 - I have one with Aviva which I nearly transferred and would have lost the benefit if not for a bit of research
 
Mnemonic said:
Most self employed people operate as a ltd company, take £758 in salary each month to avoid paying tax or NI, then take dividends for the rest. Significantly cheaper than being officially self employed and paying tax without a limited company. In fact, you'd need to be very stupid not to have a ltd company.
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Pretty sure most self-employed people operate as a sole-trader. You're not technically self-employed if you're on a payroll, even if you own most or all of the shares in the company.
 
Shambo said:
Probably a silly question but did upping your pension contributions in the final few years make a really big difference as to what age you got to retire?

My dad hated work and couldn't wait to retire. Finally retired and then had a stroke 6 months later and was never able to fully look after himself. Fuck that. I am never having that situation happen to me. Its all about making sure I am working towards something now so I can get out of work as early as possible.
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It certainly helped us to plan to retire slightly earlier - but was probably a combination of a few things.

Initially we increased our mortgage contributions in our earlier years and any bonuses/savings was used to get this paid off by our mid 40's. We then used those monthly funds to pay into ISA's/bonds as well as increasing pension contributions - mainly to take advantage of the tax breaks. Our kids have now left home, so the last couple of years we have just maxed out our income into various investments.

But the story about your dad is a familiar one and the main reason we are getting out now in our mid 50's (in theory we could keep working to get an even bigger pot - but how big is big??). We want to enjoy our life while we are still 'young' enough to do it and be able to do stuff. If by our mid 60's we are a bit lower on cash than planned, then so what? Our state pensions will be around the corner and we'll be stating to slow down probably by then.....if we are even still here ?! ;)

I lost two good mates a couple of years ago in their early 50's and it just brings home how uncertain life is, so you just have to go for it while you can. Having a pot of money and not having the opportunity to enjoy it is such a waste.
 
Tuono said:
You said your self employed brother in law claimed furlough but didn't get the full amount because he didn't pay his NI. As I pointed out the self employed couldn't claim furlough so one of you is lying. You also claimed the self employed didn't pay NI, also impossible.
It isn't illegal to work cash in hand or have you contacted their accountants and found out they haven't paid the tax?
So you have no problem paying cash to hopefully get the job done cheaper but you call out people working for cash! Bit of a hypocrite aren't you?
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I take it youre talking about sole trader as opposed to ltd company?
 
JAZZMANB said:
How much does an 80 year old spend in a month ? Usually mortgage free ,picking up your free bits and pieces . Yeah you get the odd globetrotter but lots are happy with a little routine

That's kind of me . Never day never but I have the lump in draw down and a few post of savings and sipps bubbling away . Few more things will drop around 65 and 67 and just be canny as a go . Beats working. State of mind ,mental health and overall outlook is hard to price .
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My thoughts exactly.

I know a few 80 somethings and once you hit your mid 70s you are quite restricted in what you can do either because of yourself, partner or other situations.
My plan is to budget until 80, then as I get close to that age and can adjust my finances to suit.

I don't want to be a 90 year millionaire who's been living like a pauper for the last 30 years.
For me it's live in your 60s, manage in your 70s and 80+ is a bonus.
Flip said:
Check you dont have a protected pension that you can get at at 55 - I have one with Aviva which I nearly transferred and would have lost the benefit if not for a bit of research
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Yes, I checked a few years ago and my Aviva and Aon are protected at 55, which was a nice surprise.

I'm not quite ready to retire at 55, but it's nice to know that if I get a tap on the shoulder at work after 55 that my pension is available to me to live on which takes that stress out of finding work and living day to day.
Of course there would be an option of finding easy work and topping it up with tax free cash for a few years, but I'd have to get the spreadsheet out for that.
 
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JAZZMANB said:
How much does an 80 year old spend in a month ? Usually mortgage free ,picking up your free bits and pieces . Yeah you get the odd globetrotter but lots are happy with a little routine
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Above is probably true, but you're also likely to need to pay people to do stuff you can no longer do yourself, like repairs and maintenance, and you may need home help.

Spending changes, but it doesnt go away.
 
a1970man said:
My thoughts exactly.

I know a few 80 somethings and once you hit your mid 70s you are quite restricted in what you can do either because of yourself, partner or other situations.
My plan is to budget until 80, then as I get close to that age and can adjust my finances to suit.

I don't want to be a 90 year millionaire who's been living like a pauper for the last 30 years.
For me it's live in your 60s, manage in your 70s and 80+ is a bonus.

Yes, I checked a few years ago and my Aviva and Aon are protected at 55, which was a nice surprise.

I'm not quite ready to retire at 55, but it's nice to know that if I get a tap on the shoulder at work after 55 that my pension is available to me to live on which takes that stress out of finding work and living day to day.
Of course there would be an option of finding easy work and topping it up with tax free cash for a few years, but I'd have to get the spreadsheet out for that.
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As someone earlier in the thread said

Go-go years go-slow years then ya no-go years you’ll just naturally slow down to a stop
 
a1970man said:
My thoughts exactly.

I know a few 80 somethings and once you hit your mid 70s you are quite restricted in what you can do either because of yourself, partner or other situations.
My plan is to budget until 80, then as I get close to that age and can adjust my finances to suit.

I don't want to be a 90 year millionaire who's been living like a pauper for the last 30 years.
For me it's live in your 60s, manage in your 70s and 80+ is a bonus.

Yes, I checked a few years ago and my Aviva and Aon are protected at 55, which was a nice surprise.

I'm not quite ready to retire at 55, but it's nice to know that if I get a tap on the shoulder at work after 55 that my pension is available to me to live on which takes that stress out of finding work and living day to day.
Of course there would be an option of finding easy work and topping it up with tax free cash for a few years, but I'd have to get the spreadsheet out for that.
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I really like that.
Biggest challenge for me has always been my lads. In all honesty I am too bloody soft.
 
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Flip said:
Check you dont have a protected pension that you can get at at 55 - I have one with Aviva which I nearly transferred and would have lost the benefit if not for a bit of research
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I will put that on my list of things to do but, as I said, it's very unlikely that I would want to access it at 55. Even if I had to stop work in the next few years the plan would be to use my S&S ISA pot first (since withdrawals don't count as income) and keep the pension funds invested. The ideal situation would be to be made redundant at 56 or 57, take a year out (The Ashes down under 29/30 is on the bucket list) then get a part-time job or do some consultancy work to keep me busy.
 
Paddy O'Dors said:
Pretty sure most self-employed people operate as a sole-trader. You're not technically self-employed if you're on a payroll, even if you own most or all of the shares in the company.
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I don't know a single self employed person who isn't operating via a ltd company. It saves a fortune in tax.
 
I'm a sole trader as are 99% of the people I work with. I only know one person operating as a Ltd Company. As far as I know he hasn't paid income tax for the past 6 years.
 
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