I want to retire early

Molly4

Good Afternoon


I am a female in her late 50's and not due to qualify for the state pension or any other financial benefits awarded to people of retirement age until I am 66(as it currently stands)


I am thinking about retiring early at 60. I currently work full time but my pension contributions will only pay out a small amount so I will need to work part time to boost my income.


Before I make my decision I need to know if there are any other benefits or financial benefits I can claim when I reach the age of 60. I can see that I should be entitled to free perscriptions and eye tests but not free dental treatment. I think I will have to wait until I am 66 to claim anything else like a free bus pass or pension credit.


Is there anything else I can claim for as a female aged 60?


Regards

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coyrls

If you live in the right place (London, Liverpool, there may be others) you can get free transport at 60 regardless of gender. You can also get a Senior Railcard at 60. If you're going to be relying on benefits such as these to make retirement affordable, you probably don't have enough to retire on.

robotrobo

Good luck on your early retirerment Molly, but im afraid you will soon find out how hard it is to manage on very little money, you may get your £100 heating (eating) allowance , & dont forget your £10 xmas bonus, you could get to the doctor and see if you can get sickness benefit , like a lot do , other than that i would keep going like the governent want you to , it should be about 100 year old retirement age then, but to be serious Molly , you have to have a laugh or you would crack up !, good luck.
mr bean

Molly4

No I don't live in these areas. As I said above I will be working part-time as well as receiving my work pension.

melanzana

Can I ask what income you might have if you go at sixty? If it is not enough to sustain you, I think you might have to think it through a little more.

I'm not trying to put you off at all. Retiring early is amazing. I did it, but I had planned it out for a number of years beforehand. I retired at 55 and never looked back at all.

You might be able to downsize your house if you own it, move to a less expensive part of the country, get rid of your car if PT is nearby, there are lots of ways.

But I would urge you to make sure you will be comfortable on whatever income you might have if you go early.

Best of luck to you, I'm sorry I don't know about benefits I am not in the UK.

p00hsticks

robotrobo wrote: »

you may get your £100 heating (eating) allowance , & dont forget your £10 xmas bonus,

As I suspect the OP has already identified for herself, she won't qualify for these until she reaches State Pension Age at the age of 66 (if they are still around then).

And assuming she is single it'd be £200 for the Winter Fuel Allowance.

coyrls

molly57. wrote: »

No I don't live in these areas. As I said above I will be working part-time as well as receiving my work pension.

Because you said "Before I make my decision", I assumed that you thought that the availability of any benefits would make a material difference to your decision. My point was that if you are relying on the minor benefits available at 60 to make a difference, you must be working on very tight margins, which would suggest that you don't have enough resources to support your plans.

AnotherJoe

molly57. wrote: »

No I don't live in these areas. As I said above I will be working part-time as well as receiving my work pension.

Yes but you also indicated your decision was dependent upon what are, frankly, trivial benefits, which indicates you'd be living very close to the edge financially.

Molly4

Because you said "Before I make my decision", I assumed that you thought that the availability of any benefits would make a material difference to your decision. My point was that if you are relying on the minor benefits available at 60 to make a difference, you must be working on very tight margins, which would suggest that you don't have enough resources to support your plans.


My decision is not based on what trivial benefits are available to me. If and when I decide to retire it will be based on the available income to myself ie pension and part-time employment to give me a reasonable standard of living.


Having old fashioned values and being a thrifty person I ask about the trivial benefits because as a UK Tax and National Insurance contributer like most of us then if I'm entitled to it then I should be claiming it. A lot of people do not claim what they are entitled too and therefore miss out on trivial financial benefits that will add up no matter how small.

Molly4

Forgot to add


As the old saying goes " Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves"

AnotherJoe

molly57. wrote: »

My decision is not based on what trivial benefits are available to me. If and when I decide to retire it will be based on the available income to myself ie pension and part-time employment to give me a reasonable standard of living.

Then its the way you phrased it. Why ask "before I make my decision I need to know" if it doesn't matter ?

You could just have asked "what benefits are available from age 60?" without any reference to pension - talking of which many "attractions" have a seniors rate that applies to age 60 and up so fill your boots with art galleries, museums and the rides at Alton Towers