Six months to go...

Gers

...until I receive my deferred LGPS. :beer:

I had thought of reducing my hours to part time this year (rough time in January/February/March) but now it doesn't seem so necessary. Now the idea is to hang on until my 60th birthday in February and then 'sod off', though I am feeling particularly whimsical these days!

Is there anything I should be doing to ease this transition? Or just carry on as normal and wait for the administration to contact me?

Thanks

atush

I would be living on my new retirement 'salary', banking the rest into ISAs or personal pensions.

this will not just increase your savings, but also tell you if you can afford to retire on just your FS pension or might need to live on savings/part time work until you reach SP age.

kidmugsy

(i) Make sure that your LGPS has got your up to date address. (ii) Check that you've told them who you want to get the widow's pension and any other benefits if you should snuff it early. (iii) Don't say "sod off" until after the first LGPS payment is in your bank account. (iv) See whether there's any way you can wangle a nice redundancy payment from your present job. (v) Have a "sunshine break" week in, say, January or February - I recommend Madeira. (vi) Then work on from your birthday until our Spring arrives. Then march out into the sunshine with a song in your heart.

Gers

atush wrote: »

I would be living on my new retirement 'salary', banking the rest into ISAs or personal pensions.

this will not just increase your savings, but also tell you if you can afford to retire on just your FS pension or might need to live on savings/part time work until you reach SP age.

Excellent idea - thanks! My ISA is full but I can use other saving schemes.

kidmugsy wrote: »

(i) Make sure that your LGPS has got your up to date address. (ii) Check that you've told them who you want to get the widow's pension and any other benefits if you should snuff it early. (iii) Don't say "sod off" until after the first LGPS payment is in your bank account. (iv) See whether there's any way you can wangle a nice redundancy payment from your present job. (v) Have a "sunshine break" week in, say, January or February - I recommend Madeira. (vi) Then work on from your birthday until our Spring arrives. Then march out into the sunshine with a song in your heart.

(i) - yes - get annual statements
(ii) - yes - all declared ( I am female)
(iii) - spoilsport! Seriously, this is good advice even though I have in place a sound enough financial footing to do the 'sod off' thing whenever my whimsical nature gets stung into action.
(iv) - interesting idea. I did approach my employers earlier this year about redundancy and they did not have it in mind.
(v) - spring break.. yay! Am planning to go to some sunshine a little later to see family in the antipodes
(vi) - another interesting idea which I had not considered! A song in my heart is a certainty, a smile on my lips and a full tank of fuel in my car!

Thanks for the responses. I shall bide my time, get this house ready for 'closing' (ie. selling) and get ready to set out for new adventures. Having not been out of work since the age of 16 I feel I deserve it.

:beer:

atush

you do deserve it, but do ask union, workmates, HR if voluntary redundancy is a possibility (don't let HR know you are thinking of retirening!!!)

Save hard, take a last holiday on their time (using up any holiday pay this winter) then go in spring.

Sounds like a plan.

Gers

Gers wrote: »

...until I receive my deferred LGPS. :beer:

I had thought of reducing my hours to part time this year (rough time in January/February/March) but now it doesn't seem so necessary. Now the idea is to hang on until my 60th birthday in February and then 'sod off', though I am feeling particularly whimsical these days!

Is there anything I should be doing to ease this transition? Or just carry on as normal and wait for the administration to contact me?

Thanks

Well, the whimsy kicked in sooner than even I anticipated.

I have now decided that I will be leaving work in November/December - really can't carry on with such a dreadful situation (no details) but as I am financially secure even without the pension then I'm off.... moving house to a lovely lovely part of the UK and will contemplate part time work a bit later.

I really appreciate all the advice here, thanks, and I'm glad I wrote the original post as it forced me to think about my situation in more depth since then. No point in six months of misery (and it has become miserable) when the change is easy to make.

My one piece of advice for everyone a mile light years away from being to stop work is 'invest in a pension'. I can't imagine how my life would be right now if I was 'forced' to carry on working past my 60th birthday, especially as my state pension has been put back about five or six years.

So going back to nesting! :j Not nesting for children but nesting for a good old withdrawal from a salary!

No questions - no 'should I, shouldn't I' - just many thanks!

AlwaysLearnin

Good on you, and all the very best!

mgdavid

well done and good luck :-)
I have less than a year to go and you've prompted me to do a similar analysis, so thanks.

atush

Come back to us after you go. Tell us what is best about it, worst about it and if you can live on your new rediced income easily.

Have fun down under this winter!

gardenia101

How lovely - hope you have a fantastic retirement!

I have a long way to go yet (I'm 44) but thanks to many on this board I feel I'm in a much better place pension wise than I was last year.

Another thumbs up for Madeira.

Gers

atush wrote: »

Have fun down under this winter!

'Up north' this winter - a bit of 'down under' in mid spring to visit to family in the antipodes.

Thanks for all the encouragements - something to pass on.