Retirement planning - have you revised your figures?

daz378

I could retire  in amonth on lgps  at 56...but would only be on 8k ish a year...Will ask for my figures at 60 ..but if they are not at at least 900 a month  won't consider it...have to pay low council flat rent with that 420 a month...probably be 61..or 62 realistically....not to retire but to reduce hours

Gin_and_Milk

I think moneywise there's quite a jump between retiring at 56 and 60 - I'm in LGPS too.  You might be OK, but would £900 minimum still be enough?  If nearly half of that is going on rent, you won't have much after bills etc.

daz378

 I will get a 7k ish lump sum    plus hopefully  I will have saved   between 15 and 20 k by then ,plus circumstances permitting,  will work up 20 hours a week 

Silvertabby

daz378 said:

I could retire  in amonth on lgps  at 56...but would only be on 8k ish a year...Will ask for my figures at 60 ..but if they are not at at least 900 a month  won't consider it...have to pay low council flat rent with that 420 a month...probably be 61..or 62 realistically....not to retire but to reduce hours

How much pre 2008 service do you have?  If that has R85 protections (ie, you joined before October 2006) then those protections are still linked to a minimum retirement age of 60.  The more pre 2008 service you have, the more reason not to take your pension before 60.

daz378

Only 7 years..  wouldn't take it before 60...

Albermarle

daz378 said:

I could retire  in amonth on lgps  at 56...but would only be on 8k ish a year...Will ask for my figures at 60 ..but if they are not at at least 900 a month  won't consider it...have to pay low council flat rent with that 420 a month...probably be 61..or 62 realistically....not to retire but to reduce hours

Average retirement age in UK is around 62/63, so you will be about average !

Kim1965

 So what if a person stops doing the 40hr week job they have done for many years, draws some pension and takes on a part time position. Is that person retired?
 In the construction industry the average age a person retires from the industry is 59 yrs 1 month (according to Google). I would imagine they do something else for work.
 I just wonder if the definition of retirement is becoming blurred. I wonder what proportion of people get to their sixties and stop paid work for good. It seems a growing proportion ease into retirement? 

Savvy_Sue

Kim1965 said:

 So what if a person stops doing the 40hr week job they have done for many years, draws some pension and takes on a part time position. Is that person retired?
 In the construction industry the average age a person retires from the industry is 59 yrs 1 month (according to Google). I would imagine they do something else for work.
 I just wonder if the definition of retirement is becoming blurred. I wonder what proportion of people get to their sixties and stop paid work for good. It seems a growing proportion ease into retirement? 

We say DH is 'semi-retired', or that he has a 'portfolio' career. Neither of those shows as options on the 'employment' section of forms. So there's he's either employed part-time, or self-employed. Both are true. 

The reality, as I describe it to friends, is that since he left his full-time job he's been terribly busy without having very much income to show for it! 

But he's happy and healthy, and my income and state pension is enough to keep us going until next year, when his state pension will kick in plus we will probably start taking some of his company pensions. And at that point I intend to stop paid work for good! 

Albermarle

Kim1965 said:

 So what if a person stops doing the 40hr week job they have done for many years, draws some pension and takes on a part time position. Is that person retired?
 In the construction industry the average age a person retires from the industry is 59 yrs 1 month (according to Google). I would imagine they do something else for work.
 I just wonder if the definition of retirement is becoming blurred. I wonder what proportion of people get to their sixties and stop paid work for good. It seems a growing proportion ease into retirement? 

I do not know how this average retirement age is measured. As you say it can be difficult to define, although I do not think whether you take any pension or not is that relevant. Some people take a full pension and still work, and others retire and do not take any pension income for many years. In your industry many do not have a pension at all, apart from the state one.
In the news they often quote a % of people 'economically inactive', which is another measure again.
I think the main point is that retiring in your mid 50's, is often discussed in various MSE forums, but is only a practical reality for a small minority. 

Nebulous2

Kim1965 said:

 So what if a person stops doing the 40hr week job they have done for many years, draws some pension and takes on a part time position. Is that person retired?
 In the construction industry the average age a person retires from the industry is 59 yrs 1 month (according to Google). I would imagine they do something else for work.
 I just wonder if the definition of retirement is becoming blurred. I wonder what proportion of people get to their sixties and stop paid work for good. It seems a growing proportion ease into retirement? 

I've discussed the partial retirement idea a bit in the main pension forum. I retired last year at 59, and we also moved to a cheaper area, freeing up money from our house. My DB pension would probably meet our basic needs, but wouldn't be enough for holidays, eating out, leisure trips etc. We intended drawing down cash to bridge the gap to state pension age. 

Two things happened though; I struggled to adjust to retirement after working full-time for 40 years. I had done my sums, but hadn't prepared myself psychologically for retirement. I also disliked drawing down money. We've always been frugal and having a decent sum for the first-time ever, it felt wrong to spend it, even though that is what we had earmarked it for. 

I took a part-time job, working one long day a week,  and that has worked well. If asked about my status I tell people, I retired last year, but I've gone back part-time to give me something to do. 

I liken it to jumping off a cliff. Instead of taking that plunge into the abyss, I've descended to a ledge half-way down as a way of breaking the drop.