Redundancy and then Early Retirement?

CloesUnc

Albermarle said:

Buying extra NI years to increase your state pension up to maximum, is very good value for money and should be a priority.
I do not know the exact figures but no doubt somebody will be along shortly who does .

Thank you and MallyGirl for this information. I have had a look at the Gov.uk Tax Service website and downloaded an application form. It seems that once I finish work I apply to pay by Direct Debit, either monthly or quarterly. If I leave today I will need to contribute another 7 years' worth of NI to get full SP; so my DD will run for 7 years. There doesn't seem to be an option to pay by lump sum up front, but I guess that wouldn't be able to take into account future inflation, hence there is no option for it. 

cfw1994

squirrelpie said:

Get some paper/spreadsheet and draw up your anticipated expenditure for each month until you are 60. Then decide how you'll fund that expenditure and check that you can afford it. That's assuming you think you'll be rolling in clover once both pensions are in payment.

The numbers sound feasible to me.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6229495/spreadsheet-to-monitor-pensions#latest for some spreadsheet fun you can try!

Brenster said:

CloesUnc said:

Sorry i also meant to say that there may be a small chance of redundancy, but I don't know.

If you are thinking of leaving anyway, and are not concerned about how asking may affect your job / future, why dont you meet with your boss / HR to see if voluntary redundancy is an option ?  Obviously dont let on you are thinking of leaving anyway....

A good plan....didn't work for me, but that's life, worth a try!!

MallyGirl said:

it might be worth buying a few extra years via voluntary NI. The payback only takes 3 or 4 years and then you are better off.

Almost certainly worth doing, but you can back date those 'buying years back' up to 6 years, so no rush.   As you say, you can DD them too.

Good luck!

CloesUnc

Brenster said:

CloesUnc said:

Sorry i also meant to say that there may be a small chance of redundancy, but I don't know.

If you are thinking of leaving anyway, and are not concerned about how asking may affect your job / future, why dont you meet with your boss / HR to see if voluntary redundancy is an option ?  Obviously dont let on you are thinking of leaving anyway....

Is it the done thing to straight out ask for voluntary redundancy? 

Marcon

CloesUnc said:

Brenster said:

CloesUnc said:

Sorry i also meant to say that there may be a small chance of redundancy, but I don't know.

If you are thinking of leaving anyway, and are not concerned about how asking may affect your job / future, why dont you meet with your boss / HR to see if voluntary redundancy is an option ?  Obviously dont let on you are thinking of leaving anyway....

Is it the done thing to straight out ask for voluntary redundancy? 

Not usually - and it would flag to your employer that you were thinking of leaving.

cfw1994

Marcon said:

CloesUnc said:

Brenster said:

CloesUnc said:

Sorry i also meant to say that there may be a small chance of redundancy, but I don't know.

If you are thinking of leaving anyway, and are not concerned about how asking may affect your job / future, why dont you meet with your boss / HR to see if voluntary redundancy is an option ?  Obviously dont let on you are thinking of leaving anyway....

Is it the done thing to straight out ask for voluntary redundancy? 

Not usually - and it would flag to your employer that you were thinking of leaving.

You did say "there may be a small chance of redundancy".    Whatever gave you that hint: exploit it!  If you think they are thinking about that, why not have a "what-if" conversation with someone senior?

Ideally your boss, but maybe their boss or other senior leader.   

"I'm hearing there may be redundancies ahead - if that was the case, would you consider VR?   I could potentially be interested, and it might make things easier for <Company Name>"

I'm in IT, and we regularly have redundancies rolling around....but it is rare (at least where I am) for VR to be offered.....but in your shoes, I would explore it.  
As mentioned, don't give any indication you have a resignation letter already prepared, just explore possibilities!

ErinGoBrath

cfw1994 said:

Marcon said:

CloesUnc said:

Brenster said:

CloesUnc said:

Sorry i also meant to say that there may be a small chance of redundancy, but I don't know.

If you are thinking of leaving anyway, and are not concerned about how asking may affect your job / future, why dont you meet with your boss / HR to see if voluntary redundancy is an option ?  Obviously dont let on you are thinking of leaving anyway....

Is it the done thing to straight out ask for voluntary redundancy? 

Not usually - and it would flag to your employer that you were thinking of leaving.

You did say "there may be a small chance of redundancy".    Whatever gave you that hint: exploit it!  If you think they are thinking about that, why not have a "what-if" conversation with someone senior?

Ideally your boss, but maybe their boss or other senior leader.   

"I'm hearing there may be redundancies ahead - if that was the case, would you consider VR?   I could potentially be interested, and it might make things easier for <Company Name>"

I'm in IT, and we regularly have redundancies rolling around....but it is rare (at least where I am) for VR to be offered.....but in your shoes, I would explore it.  
As mentioned, don't give any indication you have a resignation letter already prepared, just explore possibilities!

Perhaps go round the other way. Say you are thinking of buying something expensive like a holiday home and you are worried about redundancies?

CloesUnc

Thank you everyone for your comments, I feel quite reassured about my plan.

where_are_we

I happily accepted redundancy at 62 and retired with about £10K DB NR60 pension. Your financial situation is much better than mine was - my OH (60) was retired with only a small occupational pension and we had 3 children still living at home (no mortgage). Your lifestyle echoes ours, so I see no problem with your plan even though you are younger and have more years to finance before your DB NR60 kicks in. Is your other DB pension NR 55? If not it may be better to take it at NR age, as long as you can manage on SIPP withdrawals only until 60. Maximise your pension contributions this tax year 20-21 (you have to be quick!) as you will no longer have earned income when you retire and will be limited to £2880 net to your SIPP each tax year.

I have not regretted early retirement and provided your partner is happy with it and you are prepared to take on more "household duties" and have activities to enjoy, my advice is to go for it!

CloesUnc

where_are_we said:

I happily accepted redundancy at 62 and retired with about £10K DB NR60 pension. Your financial situation is much better than mine was - my OH (60) was retired with only a small occupational pension and we had 3 children still living at home (no mortgage). Your lifestyle echoes ours, so I see no problem with your plan even though you are younger and have more years to finance before your DB NR60 kicks in. Is your other DB pension NR 55? If not it may be better to take it at NR age, as long as you can manage on SIPP withdrawals only until 60. Maximise your pension contributions this tax year 20-21 (you have to be quick!) as you will no longer have earned income when you retire and will be limited to £2880 net to your SIPP each tax year.

I have not regretted early retirement and provided your partner is happy with it and you are prepared to take on more "household duties" and have activities to enjoy, my advice is to go for it!

Very encouraging thank you. the second DB is NRA 67 so will be actuarially reduced at 55 but I don't see a problem with that. it will just be paid longer. I may defer it by one or two years so there is flexibility. Understood about the SIPP thanks for the tip.

borders

I have done similar to yourself. I retired two years ago at 56, taking my company pension early. I also had a lump sum, some of which was invested, some of which is available for extra spending. The spending part will run out at 67, when my state pension kicks in. One way that I increased my state pension was by working part time. That may be of no interest to you but you may get bored and fancy doing something. I don't know the exact figures but if you earned between about £6200 and £8500 then you would get NI credits without paying NI contributions.