Nearly 60 - where did that time go?

savingwannabe

I what's app everyone and this site is a godsend as all my friends and family live too far away. I saw family for one week in August and havent seen friends since March so i get it.  Well done on savings and the decorating. Hurrah. When this covid is over you will be able to show off your lovely house. 

Irenadler

Aw, hang on in there MW, I know the feeling being on my own. Had to stop family visits for a while, then bubble, then back to restrictions.   I think the worse thing is it is constantly changing. If we had a consistent set of rules, I think it would help us to feel less anxious....

Talking to the kindly folks on here has helped a lot, I have vented, got great advice and support on here, calmed down, panicked again, but even though I have times when I don't want to get out of bed, or, only to drag the dog out, never mind not being able to post on here, I find coming back to say ok, I have had a bad patch, but, look I have managed to save this, or do that towards money saving.... even a small thing, like me being able to join one survey site and do something on it, is a big step for me... take care

MoneyWorry

Thank you everyone. You’ve helped a lot. I think it’s two things that get to me.....the constant changing, (it now looks as though Wales will be in full lockdown at end of this week), plus it’s difficult to see an end in sight to all this. 
My best friend did make me laugh though. She’s found a ludicrous website that does outfits for cats. She says if we can’t celebrate my birthday next month, she’ll order my cat  a party outfit and I can make a video of us both. 😻

MovingForwards

I dealt with this situation months ago by writing off this year. It meant I didn't get my hopes up about going to see people, didn't plan to go for meals and the final bit was when work said it doesn't look like we will be in the office until the start of next year. Once I took control of the situation, aside from work, my stress levels reduced as did my expectations.
Although, I know it's not easy to do for most people.

Now you've said about the cat outfit, we will want to hear all about it, if it happens 😁 then having started it you will need to do a Santa outfit and others throughout the year!

MoneyWorry

Just realised it’s been a year since I posted. Sadly 2021 has been a bit worse than 2020. I’ve experienced a number of completely unexpected health issues which mean I won’t be able to continue working long term. I’m hoping to grit my teeth and plod on to my 62nd birthday in November next year. So looking at pensions, here’s the latest. 

Pension 1 £8580 pa from now....I can take this anytime

Pension 2 £300 pa from age 62....my current pension at work
Pension 3 £2520 pa from age 65

Basically, I need a savings injection of between £7500 and £10500 to add to pension and current savings to get me through.

Option One take pension 1 and save it. It will be taxed, but will give me £6864 plus £1080 from contributions that I would have saved into it.
Option Two leave pension 1 until 62 then take money required as TFLS. This is most tax efficient, but being a private pension has the most risk if something happens to economy.
Option Three take pension 1, then pay the £90 a month original private pension contribution into my company pension, though I would need to check on recycling rules. 

So, not the position I wanted to be in, but it could be a whole lot worse. I know both physically and emotionally, I will be so much better not working. I would have probably left work at 64 anyway so it’s only 2 years early realistically. 

MovingForwards

Double check your budgets and see where you can claw back some savings. Obvious ones are clothes and less wear and tear on your car. Can you bring your outgoings down to your new income.

Save every penny possible for the next 12 months into savings to provide instant cash availability. If possible, don't take all your pension in one go, it's a lot of tax. 

Start building up store cupboard items.

Possibly goes against your personal ethics, look at work sick pay and let them take you down the capability route.

Investigate benefit entitlement and PIP, if you've not already done so.

savingwannabe

Good luck i dont know much about pensions but MF does. All the best. 

MoneyWorry

To be fair, work have been not too bad with me. I’ve been there 5 years. Previously, my time off sick has averaged less than 2 days off a year, but this year, I’ve had 6 weeks off since April.  There’s been some murmurings about capacity where I am, but no more than that. Once I leave, I’ll probably register with a couple of agencies for short term temping and see how that works out. 

MovingForwards

Sounds like a good plan, temping is a lot of fun.

Are you logging a diary with your daily activities to see if there's a pattern? If you can potentially pin point any triggers, it may help you work out what roles are viable.

MoneyWorry

Planned out my first bit of extra saving. I bought a takeaway with wine for boyfriend and me last night. My boyfriend now will fund our entertainment for next 5 to 6 weeks. Apart from coffees with friends and a cheap meal with my sister, I have nothing planned till Christmas. I have £480 after last night in entertaining budget so more than comfortable diverting both November and December entertaining into savings.