My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

I think it's a good idea to sit down & try to do a bit of a pensions forecast, OBL. I am intending to do something similar soon. I am hoping we will have some money left in the home improvements fund when we have finished all the work. I had intended to add this to the ISA, but I think it is worth looking at whether it would be more beneficial to buy back some state pension years, as I will have quite a chunk missing, with having taken VR. I have a local authority pension too, but again, due to the VR, not the full amount. I intend to get the rest of the work out of the way then do some investigations. The works pension is probably 'career average' now, rather than 'final salary', but I don't think that will make too much difference to me, as I was on my management level grade for a long time.
Hope your barium test goes ok. The most important thing is that you managed to get an appointment swiftly & it is always better to know what's going on, even if it does make us worry. I'm glad your mortgage will be gone by retirement age. It must be quite scary knowing that it will need paying into pension years, but this will be the case for a lot of people, I think.
F x

I'm so glad my mortgage will be gone when I retire, it's just a shame we did a part buy part rent scheme because I will still have to pay rent which will possibly the same amount Im paying for both rent and mortgage at the moment, it goes up in line with inflation every year  but is also cheaper than a normal rent so I'm not sure how much it will go up to 

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver said:

As an early retiree myself I would echo the advice that with pensions the earlier you focus on them the better so Nicnak you will thank yourself later by at least working out what you will get but ideally increasing contributions and this is something I drum into my daughters and son in laws heads. OBL you have presumably an NHS pension which is a good one and even though you work part time the benefits are good. Remember you possibly won't have to pay NI or presumably tax or pensions or commuting costs. House and pet sitting is a good option when retired. Any short breaks can be done on a budget if needed and if you have to wait until state pension age you will get your bus pass. A lot of people manage with just state pension so having an NHS one too will give you some extra. 

Good luck with the barium test. 

Thanks ES, I'm going to make an appointment as soon as I can,all the people who deal with pensions etc at work are still working from home so I will wait until they all come back and sort it then. I do have an NHS pension which I've been paying I since about 1993/94 I was full time for quite a few years then worked 30.5 a week until last November when I reduced my hours to 26.5 a week. Hopefully my NHS pension will be enough to cover me along with state pension. I am definitely thinking seriously about the house/ pet sitting thing as an option as well,I know someone who does it and she loves it 😊

Onebrokelady

Sun_Addict said:

My son’s friend started his pension at 16. I wish I’d been that sensible. Never too early. 

Both my DDs started paying into a pension as soon as they could,I think DD1 was 17 or something like that 

Onebrokelady

milann said:

Just a thought but if you become unfit for work with your fibro would you be better off considering going on the sick and through occupational health for early retirement through ill health? 

This is an option I could look at if I get worse than I am now and being realistic this might end up happening at some point, I'm not classed as being ill enough at the moment though because although I'm in a lot of pain most of the time I'm still very mobile and able to do my job, definitely an option for the future though 

badmemory

Please don't wait to check your state pension, it is the end of the tax year on Tuesday & that will be a year knocked off ones you can pay.  It may be that you have old part years that you can make up.  But first check that doing it will be to your advantage.  Some people have paid years that turned out to be of no use to them!

Onebrokelady

badmemory said:

Please don't wait to check your state pension, it is the end of the tax year on Tuesday & that will be a year knocked off ones you can pay.  It may be that you have old part years that you can make up.  But first check that doing it will be to your advantage.  Some people have paid years that turned out to be of no use to them!

It's not my state pension I'm checking it's my work one 😊

Onebrokelady

Had a busy day today and a spendy one too 
I've hoovered the main areas and done one load of washing then I had to go into town for some bits I had run out of.I bought some gloss paint from Wilkos so I can start painting the woodwork in my living room, I also bought a card holder for my bus ticket, I've been keeping it in my purse but it's starting to wear on the corners and I don't want it to get damaged. I also bought some more face masks because some of ours are falling apart now, they are from Smiths and were  £2.99 each which I think is very cheap and they are very comfy 
I've just got to go out and sort the 🐓🐓for the night then I'm done for the day 
Ive got tomorrow off as well so will be making the most of that. My plans are painting woodwork if it's raining or tidying in the garden if it's  dry, I expect we will go for a walk as well at some point depending on the weather 

milann

Enjoy your day off tomorrow 👍

badmemory

You are so right it wasn't you it was foxgloves who said further up your thread that they were going to get round to it.  Whoops!

Onebrokelady

badmemory said:

You are so right it wasn't you it was foxgloves who said further up your thread that they were going to get round to it.  Whoops!

Never mind 😀