How much pension could I take at 55

Albermarle

You might want to take into account that money left in a DC pension pot when you die , is not counted in any inheritance tax calculations . If paying IHT was a potential concern , then spending as little as possible from the DC pot ( maybe using more savings etc that are outside the pension pot ) could be a good idea from a IHT perspective anyway .

Farside71

Bear in mind that you may not be ready to retire at 55.  I gave up career work last year and now do driving work.  I might earn about a sixth or seventh of what I did previously, but it (almost) pays the bills while I wait until I can start taking pension in a few years.  The 5 weeks I was unemployed were starting to get seriously boring, although I am only 50 at the moment.  Don't discount a small income in a different job from your current one - and I am much happier spending less but living with less stress.

Albermarle

Farside71 said:

Bear in mind that you may not be ready to retire at 55.  I gave up career work last year and now do driving work.  I might earn about a sixth or seventh of what I did previously, but it (almost) pays the bills while I wait until I can start taking pension in a few years.  The 5 weeks I was unemployed were starting to get seriously boring, although I am only 50 at the moment.  Don't discount a small income in a different job from your current one - and I am much happier spending less but living with less stress.

Good that it worked out for you. However  I know someone who packed in a well paid management job for something much lower grade, and found it more stressful as they were being ordered about by much younger inexperienced people .

Kim1965

I think if you give up a stressful career and take on a "lesser" job, it would have to be your own terms. Being ordered around by youngsters wouldnt be part if the equation. 

Farside71

Albermarle said:

Farside71 said:

Bear in mind that you may not be ready to retire at 55.  I gave up career work last year and now do driving work.  I might earn about a sixth or seventh of what I did previously, but it (almost) pays the bills while I wait until I can start taking pension in a few years.  The 5 weeks I was unemployed were starting to get seriously boring, although I am only 50 at the moment.  Don't discount a small income in a different job from your current one - and I am much happier spending less but living with less stress.

Good that it worked out for you. However  I know someone who packed in a well paid management job for something much lower grade, and found it more stressful as they were being ordered about by much younger inexperienced people .

Yes, definitely a potential issue.  Low paid work is not the place to be if you are going to find that difficult. I have to hold my tongue a lot as you see poor management sometimes and want to try to help but such is the way of the world unfortunately in retail where most people don't give a toss really.  

The point still stands though that there are opportunities for a half way house of keeping an income going by doing something else and not having to rely totally on retirement income.  Half the drivers at my workplace are retired from other jobs like police or train drivers, and one is even 74.  Not so much doing it for the fun, but something to keep busy a few hours a week.

jimi_man

Marcon said:

Mick70 said:

morning all

Finding my job ever increasing stressful to point not sleeping at times and have mild anxiety , really dont like where I work any more .

3 years until I am age 55  and i'm thinking more and more, could I retire then ?  like many folk I have older children going through college etc so much is dependant upon their circumstances and if need my help financially.

At that age I am likely to have a DB pension of  £30k , it currently stands at £28k.   I am also hoping my DC pot will be £200k by then (kicked out of my db scheme , but can access it, had protected rights) .

My question is, IF were to retire at 55 , how much of that pot could i take each year ?   i was thinking about £8-£10k per year ?

thanks
mick    

To clarify one point - protected rights are a thing of the past - you can safely ignore them, since they were abolished in 2012 and are now simply part of your overall DC pot.

I think you’re getting confused and/or the wrong terminology has been used. Protected Pension Rights (I think) refers to DC pensions and Mick70 is clearly talking about his DB pension. I think he’s referring to Protected Pension Age whereby he was allowed to take it from 50 rather than the normal age of 55 for pensions so it may be that you misunderstood what he meant. 

There are still some pensions that can be taken earlier than 55 - mine was at 51 (public sector) but there are some private sector ones too. Probably not many left now. 

ex-pat_scot

Farside71 said:

Albermarle said:

Farside71 said:

Bear in mind that you may not be ready to retire at 55.  I gave up career work last year and now do driving work.  I might earn about a sixth or seventh of what I did previously, but it (almost) pays the bills while I wait until I can start taking pension in a few years.  The 5 weeks I was unemployed were starting to get seriously boring, although I am only 50 at the moment.  Don't discount a small income in a different job from your current one - and I am much happier spending less but living with less stress.

Good that it worked out for you. However  I know someone who packed in a well paid management job for something much lower grade, and found it more stressful as they were being ordered about by much younger inexperienced people .

Yes, definitely a potential issue.  Low paid work is not the place to be if you are going to find that difficult. I have to hold my tongue a lot as you see poor management sometimes and want to try to help but such is the way of the world unfortunately in retail where most people don't give a toss really.  

The point still stands though that there are opportunities for a half way house of keeping an income going by doing something else and not having to rely totally on retirement income.  Half the drivers at my workplace are retired from other jobs like police or train drivers, and one is even 74.  Not so much doing it for the fun, but something to keep busy a few hours a week.

I've heard of plenty of cases of toxic management / working conditions when people have tried to simplify and downslze their jobs.
There have been particularly difficult cases of volunteering and managing of stafff. Charity shops seem particularly prone to awkward working conditions and the challenges of managing those who are not incentivised by money