Early-retirement wannabe

drummersdale

So is that a combined VR payment of c£170k and then you get your pension at 58 as well?  I'm not suggesting redundancy is ever welcome but that sounds like a bit of fortunate combination of events - obviously your age and proximity to pension helps - I am 57 and have almost 38 years in Classic so if my Organisation offered VR I suspect I would bite their hands off!

Scooter500

I’m in my early 60s , if I stop working/ retire , my UK government pension freezes at the level gained then at actual retirement age I can start to collect? 

I am understanding I will have to continue to pay national insurance until retirement age is what I understand?

Anonymous101

drummersdale said:

So is that a combined VR payment of c£170k and then you get your pension at 58 as well?  I'm not suggesting redundancy is ever welcome but that sounds like a bit of fortunate combination of events - obviously your age and proximity to pension helps - I am 57 and have almost 38 years in Classic so if my Organisation offered VR I suspect I would bite their hands off!

It may be seen as a little underhand possibly but I know of a few people that have been in very good positions such as you and have "engineered" a redundancy. There are times when it can cut your working life down by a good few years so I personally wouldn't ever rule it out for myself at some point.
It wouldn't necessarily have to be militant, it could be as simple as a conversation with your manager about VR being an option.

LeadFarmer

I'll maybe start a new thread for this one, but someone I know who retired before the state pension age told me they later discovered that to receive their full state pension they had to keep paying National Insurance in a voluntary format, otherwise they would have received a smaller state pension. NI payments can only be paid from a salary, or additional voluntary payments.
Maybe needs a separate thread for this?

LeadFarmer

I'm 48 and can retire at age 50 on a smaller employers pension, or wait until age 55 and take the full pension and lump sum. Financially I ought to wait until 55, but early retirement is tempting. I can't wait to retire, lockdown has proven this as I have loved been at home, and always have. 

badmemory

Hopefully Xylophone will be along soon to post the link which will enable you to check whether you have already paid enough years of NI to qualify for the full state pension.  Anyone at 60 who has worked since 25 MAY already qualify (unless they have a DB pension where they were 'contracted out').

LeadFarmer

badmemory said:

Hopefully Xylophone will be along soon to post the link which will enable you to check whether you have already paid enough years of NI to qualify for the full state pension.  Anyone at 60 who has worked since 25 MAY already qualify (unless they have a DB pension where they were 'contracted out').

Thats what he thought, but discovered that from 2016 there were changes to the pension rules requiring him to keep paying NI whilst retired, and this had nothing to do with being 'contracted out'.

jimi_man

You can go online onto the Gov website and do a State Pension check. If you've never done it before then there will be some ID processes that need to be gone through, but once this is done then it's easy to check. It will tell you the maximum you can achieve and how many more years (if any) until you achieve it. 

Don't be confused by 'I've done 35 years', that's for people starting now. As an example, I've done 39 years NI contributions, I've been contracted out for 30 and I still have about three more years to contribute to get the maximum for me (£175 p/w)

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

MallyGirl

LeadFarmer said:

badmemory said:

Hopefully Xylophone will be along soon to post the link which will enable you to check whether you have already paid enough years of NI to qualify for the full state pension.  Anyone at 60 who has worked since 25 MAY already qualify (unless they have a DB pension where they were 'contracted out').

Thats what my friend thought, but discovered that from 2016 there were changes to the pension rules requiring him to keep paying NI whilst retired, and this had nothing to do with being 'contracted out'.

Have you had a state pension forecast? https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

If you're not on target to reach the full state pension then this can be improved by voluntary NI contributions after you stop working but best to check whether it is needed

The_Doc

or if you have a bit of time to kill, see https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-its-calculated
In simplistic terms, the maximum number of NI years obtained prior to 2016 is 30 and 35 are needed to get the maximum of the "New State Pension". So, yes, people need to keep making voluntary contributions even if they are not working/retired to get to 35.