When to retire

garrob

Hello, I will be 62 on 12th Feb 2022 and that is when I plan to retire. Is it best to retire on my actual birthday? or wait until the financial year is up, or wait until I get my pension statement in July? Thanks for any help in advance.

Paul_Herring

Presuming being paid monthly, at the end of any month, with no accrued holiday left.

Makes your last pay accurate.

At 62, in '22, there's no special prominence given to your birthday (your state pension isn't due until your birthday in '26.)

Around start/end of financial year is useful only if you're doing fancy stuff with income.

And what 'pension statement in July'? Private one?

Linton

Any difference is pretty marginal and depends on your detailed circumstances. For example it may be tax advantageous to take some employment income in the 2022/2023 tax year, if for example you are a higher rate tax payer whilst employed but wont be in retirement. Some people may need the final full NI year [STRIKE]as it wont count for your State Pension unless you are employed for the whole tax year[/STRIKE]. Have you checked whether you are due a full State Pension? See https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension.



Why may you want to wait for your July pension statement? Cant you get one prior to your planned retirement date if what it says is going to make a difference?

Anonymous101

Linton wrote: »

Any difference is pretty marginal and depends on your detailed circumstances. For example it may be tax advantageous to take some employment income in the 2022/2023 tax year, if for example you are a higher rate tax payer whilst employed but wont be in retirement. Some people may need the final full NI year as it wont count for your State Pension unless you are employed for the whole tax year. Have you checked whether you are due a full State Pension? See https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension.



Why may you want to wait for your July pension statement? Cant you get one prior to your planned retirement date if what it says is going to make a difference?

Just checking I've read that right.... you don't qualify for an additional year if you work part of that year? Even if you earn over the threshold?


As for timing, I agree, if you're a higher rate tax payer but won't be in retirement then financially its worth working on for a number of months but making sure you stay under the threshold.

Linton

Anonymous101 wrote: »

Just checking I've read that right.... you don't qualify for an additional year if you work part of that year? Even if you earn over the threshold?


As for timing, I agree, if you're a higher rate tax payer but won't be in retirement then financially its worth working on for a number of months but making sure you stay under the threshold.

Thanks, No its wrong, I mis-read a Steve Webb piece - will delete.

Anonymous101

Linton wrote: »

Thanks, No its wrong, I mis-read a Steve Webb piece - will delete.

Thanks. I thought so long as earnings were over £7,500 or there abouts that was enough to qualify. Although a good few years off, I'm looking to be working sufficient to qualify for my full state pension. The plan is to finish as soon as that happens. So a couple of months into the a new tax year.


As your original post there may well be benefit to working on as I'm a higher rate tax payer, however the personal allowances could well have changed by then so it very much depends on personal circumstances.

garrob

Many thanks for the replies, really appreciate it.


I will get full SP at 66. Regarding waiting until July - that's when we get our pension annual statements and was curious how they would work it out as they will not have had all the figures in and investment figures by February.

JoeEngland

garrob wrote: »

Many thanks for the replies, really appreciate it.


I will get full SP at 66. Regarding waiting until July - that's when we get our pension annual statements and was curious how they would work it out as they will not have had all the figures in and investment figures by February.

Aren't pension statements just a snapshot at a given point in time?

Sea_Shell

Does your pension provider allow on line access to view your policy??

We log on monthly to get up to date valuations for ours, for our spreadsheets, so you always know how things are doing.

Paul_Herring

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Does your pension provider allow on line access to view your policy??

Scottish Widows/Clerical Medical don't. They actively removed it some years ago, much to my frustration.

That said, they do provide a telephone service, which I bother a couple of times a year...

trphil

Paul_Herring wrote: »

Scottish Widows/Clerical Medical don't. They actively removed it some years ago, much to my frustration.

That said, they do provide a telephone service, which I bother a couple of times a year...

I can see my Scottish Widows pension on my Halifax online banking, but not the Clerical Medical one.