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Retirement

Exactly

@Dark Traveller you'll have 5 years at £18k before you reach 67. Which is £90k.

If you hold off until 67 then you'd need to live until you're at least 85 to 'break even' and that's before considering the tax savings you'll get by taking it early. Assuming you have no other income, that'll save you almost 20%. So really you'll need to live until 92 to 'break even'.

People often misunderstand the 'penalty' for taking a pension early. It isn't a penalty, it is generally the same amount spread across a different time frame.
Also you don’t have to stop completely, get involved in elections, ballot card delivery, polling booths etc. invigilating in exams, loads of stuff can keep your income ticking over without committing too much.
 

Did you manage get the answer to your question about repayment of overpaid tax relief wether it's a lumper or on your tax code ? I'm interested as I think I might have overpaid this year.

Is this with HMRC?

If you've overpaid with them you get a letter about June time with a code to claim a refund online.

If you've underpaid they re-adjust your tax code for the following year +1 (so if I'd underpaid 24/25 they'd adjust for 26/27).
 
for me, it's just one of the last steps you take in life before the hole in the ground. i don't mean that to be morbid or anything mind it's just the way it is.
I'd say its just packing in work .The rest of your life is there still
If work is your life that's a shame
I get the " miss the crack " thing but my job went from being brilliant crack to soul destroying . All the politics and stuff people blabber on about now . No one talked politics 20 years ago .
 
Whilst I understand your conclusion, I find it quite sad that you’ve lived almost an entire life disliking the majority of every waking moment of it.
You just see it from the work is everything angle. Every workday had an evening, a break etc ,they were your life you enjoyed .Paid for by your efforts that day .Work is accepted as something you had to do and you made the most of it but would you rather be elsewhere ? I'd say yes .
I remember as lads we'd get on our little motorbikes Friday night head to the borders or the lakes .Get back Sunday night with tales to tell , wishing we could do it all again
You'd walk into work and Malcolm went to Dickens with their lass .
 
It seems work then takes over the rest of your life. Holidays, trips away, you need to see if you can get the holidays etc. Want to do something impulsively as you have the energy, then find John has already booked those dates. Some weeks I can’t be bothered and others I feel like a teenager again. Guessing retirement will allow that flexibility. And if we want to do an overnight stay to recouperatd after attending an event, then no worries about using up precious leave. Every day will be a holiday 😊
 
Did you manage get the answer to your question about repayment of overpaid tax relief wether it's a lumper or on your tax code ? I'm interested as I think I might have overpaid this year.
No I’ve just set the money aside to settle it as I think it’ll be a lumper but haven’t had it confirmed yet - I think it’ll be a case of doing self assessment and then a demand will be generated
 
You just see it from the work is everything angle.

No I don’t.

I see it from the ‘work-life balance’ angle. There are bits of life, whether they are work-related or otherwise, that aren’t necessarily enjoyable or pleasurable and, of course, we all aim to achieve the right balance. I was commenting on somebody saying that he didn’t enjoy a single moment of what constitutes a major part of his/everyone’s life.

Yes we all work to ensure we can afford to live the life we would like and afford the things we enjoy doing. But most of us strive to do so by following a career path that we at least find parts interesting or rewarding and/or (if we’re very lucky) doing something about which we have a passion.

My comment was that it’s sad that not everybody can do that.

And I’ve already had a conversation with the poster about his comment and my response and he’s we’ve clarified what each of us meant.

Having said that; I did used to joke about the ‘work-life balance’ thing with cracks like ‘my life is my work… so that’s balance’ (or something) but it was a joke. I was quite interested in what I did and enjoyed many aspects of it. Most of the time I moved on when the ‘balance’ veered towards being frustrated or pissed off more than I was feeling valued or contributing.

I suppose I was lucky in that my career path, by and large, was one that took me in various directions and across many sectors and skill sets. Looking back, many elements from a preceding experience, contributed to being able to move forward in a later one … but I wasn’t aware of it at the time. I thought it was haphazard. I suppose if career progression is something that, in itself, is interesting to you, then it’s more likely you’re gonna enjoy the process of progressing it.

Woffle over
 
No I don’t.

I was commenting on somebody saying that he didn’t enjoy a single moment of what constitutes a major part of his/everyone’s life.
He said he hadn't enjoyed any of his jobs . I understood that in the context of he'd rather be elsewhere ,doing non work stuff . Accepting you have a job to do and giving it your best shot can still be done without enjoyment . I've had some great days at work, if I had a choice that morning to get paid and stop off I would of
 
Got my lump sum redundancy from my last job this week.

Opted against putting any into pension and going to spend some, invest some, and payoff a bit of the mortgage with the rest.

All helps towards when I can put my feet up! Hopefully 5-6 years and then do what I fancy.
 
Got my lump sum redundancy from my last job this week.

Opted against putting any into pension and going to spend some, invest some, and payoff a bit of the mortgage with the rest.

All helps towards when I can put my feet up! Hopefully 5-6 years and then do what I fancy.

The ideal situation for me would be to be made redundant in 3 years time when I'm 55. If that happened I don't think I would bother going for another full time job. I would qualify (just) to get access to my private pensions at 55 before it goes up to 57 but I would want to try to leave it maturing a little longer.
 
Exactly

@Dark Traveller you'll have 5 years at £18k before you reach 67. Which is £90k.

If you hold off until 67 then you'd need to live until you're at least 85 to 'break even' and that's before considering the tax savings you'll get by taking it early. Assuming you have no other income, that'll save you almost 20%. So really you'll need to live until 92 to 'break even'.

People often misunderstand the 'penalty' for taking a pension early. It isn't a penalty, it is generally the same amount spread across a different time frame.

Sorry @Edinburgh Black Cat but everything you just said there went rocketing over my head…. I’ve got a toy monkey bashing cymbals in my head
 
Sorry @Edinburgh Black Cat but everything you just said there went rocketing over my head…. I’ve got a toy monkey bashing cymbals in my head

When you retire early, many look at the headline figures & are put off by how much less you get each year. The reality is that all youre doing is spreading the pot (i know there isnt an actual pot for DB) over a longer period so you get less annually, but same over expected average lifetime

Then because pension (and state pension) is taxable, if you wait until state pension age, youll pay more tax on your works pension as you wont have had the years were youre only earning your works pension
 
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When you retire early, many look at the headline figures & are put off by how much less you get each year. The reality is that all youre doing is spreading the pot (i know there isnt an actual pot for DB) over a longer period so you get less annually, but same over expected average lifetime

Then because pension (and state pension) is taxable, if you wait until state pension age, youll pay more tax on your works pension as you wont have had the years were youre only earning your works pension
Allows you to front load on income too as for many the years between retiring and SP are those when they want to do more before travel becomes more of a challenge
 
Allows you to front load on income too as for many the years between retiring and SP are those when they want to do more before travel becomes more of a challenge
Helped me to go part time when retired early at 57. Worked great as more time to do things we enjoy and topped up income nicely.
 
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Allows you to front load on income too as for many the years between retiring and SP are those when they want to do more before travel becomes more of a challenge

Can't with a DB as its a set annual amount regardless of age. But this is one of the few good things the last government did in making pensions more flexible & allowing flexible drawdowns with DC pots where previously you had to buy an annuity.
 
The ideal situation for me would be to be made redundant in 3 years time when I'm 55. If that happened I don't think I would bother going for another full time job. I would qualify (just) to get access to my private pensions at 55 before it goes up to 57 but I would want to try to leave it maturing a little longer.
Similar. Phase 1 of retirement for me will involve working a bit for some pocket money.

Won't get access to pensions by then so need to accumulate the savings instead. Had 2x quite lucrative redundancies which has helped, but you can't rely on it or know when it will happen...
 
Can't with a DB as its a set annual amount regardless of age. But this is one of the few good things the last government did in making pensions more flexible & allowing flexible drawdowns with DC pots where previously you had to buy an annuity.
Well you can by taking more lump sum at the start of retirement and less month in future years and means less tax to pay when SP kicks in too
 
Lots of folk I work with have not really considered their work pensions or what they are invested in. Most are just in the default ‘target date’ fund which even for those with a 2050 date the performance over the last 5 years is less than the FTSE 100. (These are L&G funds)
I’m close to retirement and am lucky enough to have a DB pension so can be be more adventurous with the choice of fund.
What I don’t quite get with the typical company DC fund is they switch out of equities so far from ‘retirement’ age when you want to be building your pot up to the max.
Surely your pot stays invested anyway so you would either delay your retirement if you could or change the amount you draw down. If you have had a better return then you will surely better off anyway ?
I’m obviously missing something here because this is how the company schemes work.
 
Lots of folk I work with have not really considered their work pensions or what they are invested in. Most are just in the default ‘target date’ fund which even for those with a 2050 date the performance over the last 5 years is less than the FTSE 100. (These are L&G funds)
I’m close to retirement and am lucky enough to have a DB pension so can be be more adventurous with the choice of fund.
What I don’t quite get with the typical company DC fund is they switch out of equities so far from ‘retirement’ age when you want to be building your pot up to the max.
Surely your pot stays invested anyway so you would either delay your retirement if you could or change the amount you draw down. If you have had a better return then you will surely better off anyway ?
I’m obviously missing something here because this is how the company schemes work.

Default schemes are cautious because the vast majority of people don't really understand pensions & aren't engaged with them. So the providers dont want to then be accused of over risking their money in the event of a crash.

The more awareness is made, and the more people understand how they work, the better chance you have to push for change.
 
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