USS - General discussion

RSTime

bluebirdy said:

Hello USSers,

Checking in and just wondering how many others of you here *jumped* in the end before the ERF changes?

I did. One week in to JUBILATION (which is what the Spanish call retirement and a much better word) and so far so good. 

Taking three months of nothing to get academia out of my head, and to work out if I can, indeed, live on my pension, then we’ll see what comes next. Lots of creative, fun and travel plans and exercise/wellbeing in place. Not sure if I want or need to do more work and a bit uncertain about my post-Jubilation identity but there’s time to work that out.

Mortgage has gone, savings topped up, October never felt so relaxed. 😆

I am a deferred member and was going to wait a few more years before drawing my pension, but given the ERF changes and the forthcoming budget (I wanted the maximum lump sum) I started my pension on the 30th September...

FIREDreamer

RSTime said:

bluebirdy said:

Hello USSers,

Checking in and just wondering how many others of you here *jumped* in the end before the ERF changes?

I did. One week in to JUBILATION (which is what the Spanish call retirement and a much better word) and so far so good. 

Taking three months of nothing to get academia out of my head, and to work out if I can, indeed, live on my pension, then we’ll see what comes next. Lots of creative, fun and travel plans and exercise/wellbeing in place. Not sure if I want or need to do more work and a bit uncertain about my post-Jubilation identity but there’s time to work that out.

Mortgage has gone, savings topped up, October never felt so relaxed. 😆

I am a deferred member and was going to wait a few more years before drawing my pension, but given the ERF changes and the forthcoming budget (I wanted the maximum lump sum) I started my pension on the 30th September...

As an interested observer, how do the new factors compare with the old - how much worse are they?

NickBFS

bluebirdy said:

Hello USSers,

Checking in and just wondering how many others of you here *jumped* in the end before the ERF changes?

I did. One week in to JUBILATION (which is what the Spanish call retirement and a much better word) and so far so good. 

Taking three months of nothing to get academia out of my head, and to work out if I can, indeed, live on my pension, then we’ll see what comes next. Lots of creative, fun and travel plans and exercise/wellbeing in place. Not sure if I want or need to do more work and a bit uncertain about my post-Jubilation identity but there’s time to work that out.

Mortgage has gone, savings topped up, October never felt so relaxed. 😆

I am in the same boat. TBH,  once I made the calculations, the ERF changes did not seem to make a huge difference to my pension, so it is something that I could have lived with (it would have taken me a few months to catch up but, after that, the pension would have kept on building up). What it did, though, was to make the idea of retiring earlier than I originally planned (my initial intention was to retire in a couple of years) something worth considering and led me to re-appraise whether I really wanted to continue a couple of extra years. The decisive kicker for me was my institution offering  a voluntary severance package. I applied and, although they rejected my application (my post was too 'strategically important', they said. Yeah, right  ), once you have set yourself in the frame or mind to go, it is difficult to stay: every little niggle becomes a major annoyance. So, all in all, that plus the changes to the ERFs plus the far from appealing current prospects of higher education meant that retiring now seemed to best move to take. 


Still finding my feet for that new phase of my life but also feeling intensely relieved and relaxed and not the remotest tinge of regret for now.

FIREmenow

FIREDreamer said:

RSTime said:

bluebirdy said:

Hello USSers,

Checking in and just wondering how many others of you here *jumped* in the end before the ERF changes?

I did. One week in to JUBILATION (which is what the Spanish call retirement and a much better word) and so far so good. 

Taking three months of nothing to get academia out of my head, and to work out if I can, indeed, live on my pension, then we’ll see what comes next. Lots of creative, fun and travel plans and exercise/wellbeing in place. Not sure if I want or need to do more work and a bit uncertain about my post-Jubilation identity but there’s time to work that out.

Mortgage has gone, savings topped up, October never felt so relaxed. 😆

I am a deferred member and was going to wait a few more years before drawing my pension, but given the ERF changes and the forthcoming budget (I wanted the maximum lump sum) I started my pension on the 30th September...

As an interested observer, how do the new factors compare with the old - how much worse are they?

Factors are here from the guidance for IFAs:

PJM_62

bluebirdy said:

Hello USSers,

Checking in and just wondering how many others of you here *jumped* in the end before the ERF changes?

I did. One week in to JUBILATION (which is what the Spanish call retirement and a much better word) and so far so good. 

Taking three months of nothing to get academia out of my head, and to work out if I can, indeed, live on my pension, then we’ll see what comes next. Lots of creative, fun and travel plans and exercise/wellbeing in place. Not sure if I want or need to do more work and a bit uncertain about my post-Jubilation identity but there’s time to work that out.

Mortgage has gone, savings topped up, October never felt so relaxed. 😆

Great news Birdy ! 😀
Really glad it's all working out for you.
Keep us updated with how things pan out.

I started flexible retirement from end march, when the ERF change date was still 1st April. So I'm half way through a year of 80% pension + 3 days a week salary. Undecided about continuing into a second year of same , or taking full retirement, with 100% of pension (minus ERF) +  top ups if necessary from IB.

bluebirdy

FWIW the ERF changes made my pension worse by about two years. I’d planned to go part time this year and gradually reduce my work hours and fully retire in three years. But then VS happened also and suddenly it was a no brainer to retire fully the VS payment plus that ERF benefit made it worth it.

I’m not going to be one of those people who cut and run completely - I am hoping for an Hon position and I still imagine a bit of research/teaching in future - but I very definitely want to do it on my own terms and stop thinking about REF/TEF/KEF and wondering how teaching can be covered this year.

I am also aware of how !!!!!! much of the sector is for colleagues still working so it is painful but definitely not nearly as painful for me as it is for those still in.

So I won’t say it is “easy” to leave - very mixed feelings actually (I wouldn’t have chosen to go like this had things been better) but the timing was just right in the end.

bluebirdy

And it was the max TFLS alongside VS payment that swung the decision. We (OH also in USS retired at same time) leave any money in the IB in the end but decided to invest elsewhere (topping up ISAs and GIA, might start a SIPP - without recycling! - if we start working)

I think a lot of people in USS (you lot excepted) just haven’t really looked beyond first page of the modeller and do not realise how very favourable the TFLS can be. I have colleagues who did not know you can change things around. 

And I’ve learned a lot here from you good people in a short period of time so thank you.

swindiff

I notice my projected benefits have gone down on the USS modeller by around £700/year at age 60.  I guess they have just applied the worse ERF?

Edit
Actual figures are 
60 - 672
61 - 615
62 - 518
63 - 394

uss_hamish

@swindiff I just came here to say the same. I thought the modeller claimed to have been updated for the new ERFs before, but my predicted annual pension for the age I always check (less than 67, more than 60) is about £500 less today than it was on 26th August when I last checked. Grmph. Still, I also just had them do an actual projection for retiring in early January, which came out nearly £1k higher than the corresponding projection I got for retiring last year early January. I'm assuming that, at least, is a reliable thing to watch for "what would happen if I suddenly couldn't stand it any more and jumped now"!

ETA in August, when I asked the online modeller about what I'd get if I retired next January, it gave me an answer that was about £600 more than what the actual projection gave me; today it gives me an answer about £900 less than the projection! So who knows? I'm not sure the online modeller is good for anything - I wish the calculations were simple enough that it was realistic to do them by hand and check, but when one's worked for the university since the 1990s I fear it really isn't...

FIREDreamer

FIREmenow said:

FIREDreamer said:

RSTime said:

bluebirdy said:

Hello USSers,

Checking in and just wondering how many others of you here *jumped* in the end before the ERF changes?

I did. One week in to JUBILATION (which is what the Spanish call retirement and a much better word) and so far so good. 

Taking three months of nothing to get academia out of my head, and to work out if I can, indeed, live on my pension, then we’ll see what comes next. Lots of creative, fun and travel plans and exercise/wellbeing in place. Not sure if I want or need to do more work and a bit uncertain about my post-Jubilation identity but there’s time to work that out.

Mortgage has gone, savings topped up, October never felt so relaxed. 😆

I am a deferred member and was going to wait a few more years before drawing my pension, but given the ERF changes and the forthcoming budget (I wanted the maximum lump sum) I started my pension on the 30th September...

As an interested observer, how do the new factors compare with the old - how much worse are they?

Factors are here from the guidance for IFAs:

Wow that’s a harsh change.