HELP!! Advice needed.

lowestoftlill

Can anyone out there give me advice please.
I will be 60 in October and the DWP have given me a forcast of my state pension. But my private pension fund say that I am retiring early and they will deduct 34% from my lump sum and 11% from my monthly pension.
I understood that the retirement age for women born before 1950 was still 60.
How can one government department tell me I am allowed to retire at 60 and then another tells me I am retiring early?
Incedently my pension is with the local government.
Any help would be appreciated.

dunstonh

You have 2 different things here. One is the state pension. They other is your occupational pension. The dates dont have to match. If the scheme age is 65, then they are within their rights to penalise you if you request early retirement.

margaretclare

Of course, you don't HAVE to retire at 60 even though you *can* take state retirement pension at age 60. You could carry on, either take SRP or defer it (in which case you get a better deal AFAIK). Your employer is not *forcing* you to retire at 60, it's your choice if you want to do so.

IMHO a woman retiring at 60 has decades more to live. The Queen now sends out thousands of centenary cards whereas at the start of her reign it was a few hundred. You need to do some planning at this stage of your life - what kind of lifestyle do you want for your retirement years, do you want to be limited in income for those decades, do you plan to do any other work to boost your income, have you got any other savings/pension plans?

A lotta thinking and decision-making to do.

Best wishes

Margaret Clare

EdInvestor

You can "retire" ie take a pension from a private scheme at any age from 50 onwards at present.This will go up to 55 in 2010.

dunstonh

I almost typed that Ed, but 'lil went on to say the pension was with the local Govt.

Andy_L

If you pension is "with the local government" ie you are a member of the local government pension scheme (rules here: http://www.lgps.org.uk/) then, unless you age plus years of service = 85+, then the earliest you can retire without reduction in benefits is 65.

Andy

EdInvestor

dunstonh wrote:

I almost typed that Ed, but 'lil went on to say the pension was with the local Govt.

Yes I realise it didn't apply, just thought I'd mention it for others.I decided against mentioning that you can now retire at 50 without taking a pension at all - just 25% of your fund in cash, but since we are still here,might as well.......;)