Plans to retire at 60

Ygraine1

Apologies to seasoned members if I am doing this wrong. I want to start a new thread but no sign on my screen of the button. So I found a similar thread and am jumping on this one. I am numerically challenged too so please be kind!

I am 60, I want to retire in 2 years. My latest USS statement says I will have an income of £15800 at 65. I also pay AVCs which according to USS will give me £430 per year for every year saved from April 2017. My tax free lump sum is £47500. I divorced in 2015 and have been awarded £2800 per annum of my exes pension.

My questions are:

If I retire from my uni job at 62 rather than 65 and alter the USS modeller accordingly, does it show the actuarial reduction of what I will receive? If not, how can I find this out?

If I pay extra into the income investor every month will I get all of this tax free on retirement? I have some savings and was planning to live on these in my last year of work and save as much of my salary as I can to gain the tax benefit but it only seems worthwhile if It is tax free later. Am I right here?

Is there anything else I can do to maximise my retirement income?

Many thanks for any advice pensions savvy USS members can offer. Y

Mnd

Go the the pension index page, button for new thread at the top, red I think, but I'm colour blind!

atush

She is currently in the LGPS and with actuarial reduction that pension should be worth around £4000/year from age 60.

have you thought, instead of taking her pension early, to open a DC pension for her. She could use that from 60 til it runs out, then take the LGPS less reduced?

After all, she could take thousands a year fromt he DC pension tax free under her personal allowance?

swindiff

We have thought about taking out a SIPP for my wife as even if she takes her pension reduced at 60 she will be well below the personal tax allowance threshold so would be useful to take better advantage of that. Problem is knowing where to start, would want something that we could just set up a direct debit each month and forget about, so something with a well diversified portfolio of equities that did not have large fees?

AlanP_2

swindiff wrote: »

We have thought about taking out a SIPP for my wife as even if she takes her pension reduced at 60 she will be well below the personal tax allowance threshold so would be useful to take better advantage of that. Problem is knowing where to start, would want something that we could just set up a direct debit each month and forget about, so something with a well diversified portfolio of equities that did not have large fees?

One of the Vanguard Life Strategy (VLS), or L&G Multi Index, or HSBC Global range through a low cost provider like Cavendish would suit that brief.

They have all been discussed on here a fair bit, range of risk / equity levels in each and globally diversified.

swindiff

Thanks Alan, I shall take a look

kidmugsy

swindiff wrote: »

The wife and I are now both 48 and have aspirations to retire at 60, our NRA is 67 so 7 years early. To enable this I have recently started putting a fair bit more into my pension.

We will both qualify for full state pension by the time we are 67, so that is £8,456 each

You've checked or you're guessing? I ask because you must both have spent time contracted out of S2P.

swindiff

kidmugsy wrote: »

You've checked or you're guessing? I ask because you must both have spent time contracted out of S2P.

I have checked. I am currently entitled to £137.81 a week and need another 6 years contributions to get the full £164.35 per week.

I have 32 years full contributions dating back to 86-87.

The wife is the same age and in the same position.

I know I was contracted out so not sure how it is calculated?

kidmugsy

swindiff wrote: »

I know I was contracted out so not sure how it is calculated?

I'd hope that the government calculator allows for that. Otherwise it would be rather pointless.

swindiff

It does also give me a COPE estimate of £50.50 a week which I guess is what I would have got on top of the £164.35 if I had not contracted out.