How much to live on

hugheskevi

blue.peter said:

drummersdale said:

Erm the CS commutation rate is an eye watering 12:1😫

Argh! That really is dire! Even I am surprised that it's that bad. It can't have been updated in decades. From memory, that's the sort of commutation factor that I used to see in scheme rules in the early 1980s, when I first started working in that field. Annuity rates have worsened a lot since then, as interest rates have fallen.

It is pretty terrible. It is best just to accept that it is not worth taking more than standard lump sum (if any) and instead look to the 2015 pension freedoms and use Defined Contribution pensions to build up a lump sum instead whilst using the Defined Benefit schemes for guaranteed income. DB plus DC is a great combination, with the completely flexible DC perfectly complementing the guaranteed DB pension to provide both capital (albeit a mixture of tax free and taxed in the DC scheme) and income.

drummersdale

Yep no gold plated Civil Service pensions here!

drummersdale

hugheskevi said:

blue.peter said:

drummersdale said:

Erm the CS commutation rate is an eye watering 12:1😫

Argh! That really is dire! Even I am surprised that it's that bad. It can't have been updated in decades. From memory, that's the sort of commutation factor that I used to see in scheme rules in the early 1980s, when I first started working in that field. Annuity rates have worsened a lot since then, as interest rates have fallen.

It is pretty terrible. It is best just to accept that it is not worth taking more than standard lump sum (if any) and instead look to the 2015 pension freedoms and use Defined Contribution pensions to build up a lump sum instead whilst using the Defined Benefit schemes for guaranteed income. DB plus DC is a great combination, with the completely flexible DC perfectly complementing the guaranteed DB pension to provide both capital (albeit a mixture of tax free and taxed in the DC scheme) and income.

Think that boat has sailed for me as I’ll have completed 40 years in October and not hoping to do too many more years.

DairyQueen

drummersdale said:

Erm the CS commutation rate is an eye watering 12:1😫

OH's private sector DB offered a relative (ahem) generous 16:1. A factor of 40? Dream on.

drummersdale

If I could get a factor of 40:1 I would be commuting the lot and asking for the Million in pound coins so I could count it all…😂

missile

QrizB said:

I'm not retired yet but my parents are. Dad was self-employed and Mum had a low-level administrative job with HMRC. I don't know their exact financial position but they've been retired for ten years and are doing quite nicely on about £15k pa.

They own their own house, run an elderly car and an equally-elderly camper van. And a spaniel. Pre-Covid they'd go away in the 'van to Spain or Portugal for 2-3 months at a time, twice a year.

As long as my retirement is as pleasant as theirs seems to be, I'll be happy

Maybe they will be reluctant to share details of their finances? However, you could ask for their help and advice to plan for your own retirement.

missile

I retired early when most of my contempories were working. I missed the banter, meeting new people and the challenge. I went back to work as a consultant. I found the office politics were far worse than I remembered and retired again. I took up charity work and enjoyed helping those less fortunate than I. 

My wife has now taken early retirement due to ill health.

Made me realise just how precious our time together is.  A huge pension pot cannot buy happiness but it could buy me a new motorcycle. 

Farway

missile said:

I retired early when most of my contempories were working. I missed the banter, meeting new people and the challenge. I went back to work as a consultant. I found the office politics were far worse than I remembered and retired again. I took up charity work and enjoyed helping those less fortunate than I. 

This in bold, when I started work a lifetime ago we all seemed to get along fine, scratch my back & I'll cover yours, pub on Friday lunchtimes etc.

But as the years went by it seemed to me that there was a gradual rise of back stabbers and some deliberate misdirection, or maybe I just became more aware of them?

Only saying because it made me even happier to be out of it

blue.peter

Farway said:

But as the years went by it seemed to me that there was a gradual rise of back stabbers and some deliberate misdirection, or maybe I just became more aware of them?

I've a suspicion that common HR policies are part of the problem. Everyone is encouraged (read "required") to keep a record of their achievements for appraisals. This results in a tendency to claim credit for everything that's gone well, however tenuous the link between the person making the claim and the work.

For example, I was responsible for writing a technical document used by staff, and for producing updates to it a couple of times a year. I once discovered that someone claimed credit for an update that I wrote on the basis that she'd reminded me that something needed to be included in the next update about two weeks before I produced it.

It does vary a bit from one company to another, too.

I worked for one - let's call it company A - for many years. The office politics there was truly awful. And the top management was pretty dire. I only stayed there because of inertia. I tried to just keep my head down and get on with the work, but it wasn't always easy to do that.

Eventually, Company A made me redundant, and I joined Company B. The atmosphere there was much more pleasant. (I don't think it a coincidence that it had better managers.) However, it soon merged with Company C. As more and more of the Company C managers got into positions of power, things got a lot worse. It became very much like Company A.

Fortunately, Company D came along after a few years and bought the enlarged Company B. I was made redundant as a result. This was at just the right time for me: I was able to retire.

Like you, I'm very happy to be out of it.

scottish_lassy

Nice to see everyone back.  I am returning to work next week to a workplace with a few less people - as a couple were accepted for the VER offer.  It will mean more work for the rest of us and I am going to see how it 'pans out' as before I got my post, it was downgraded (a LA ploy with every vacant post!) and so if the responsibilities have risen due to vacating staff, I will apply for a re-grading which would help over the next few years in preparation for retirement comfort - next plan is installation of an en-suite. I have accepted that I am not going to have a huge income in retirement BUT also accept that if everything is up-to-date at retirement, I don't NEED a huge income.  A water-tight home, food, light, heat, family and friends plus a little 'buffer' is all that is required for me.