Early retirement - Planning?

Lisa46

OH is taking early retirement at the end of the year, age 58. He currently works in a heavy, manual job, has to travel quite a distance & works rolling shifts. These are some of the reasons to go early. Can anyone advise of any retirement planning, bearing in mind that he still wants to work, though reduced hours. We just need to know what we can claim for and how do we maximise the pension he will get. Many thanks in advance.

tanith

I think that a bit more info would be good... someone will be along with more knowledge I am sure ... but in the mean time.. what kind of pension will your husband have coming in? Will he be fit to work ? Do you work? and how close to retirement are you? What did you think you might claim for?
He obviously has a while to go before his state pension kicks in . But as I say this information would give a better picture , the more info the better...

Lisa46

Thanks Tanith. I'm 52 and work 14 hrs a week, minimum wage. He will be fit to work but wants less manual employment. He will take a lump sum and approx 9k per annum.

Dithering_Dad

Just a thought....

If your OH has a final salary pension from this employer and they suggest that he could go part-time (to ease himself into retirement), he needs to make sure his pension is not calculated on the average of his last three working years, otherwise he could find his pension dramatically reduced.

sleepless_saver

Dithering_Dad wrote: »

Just a thought....

If your OH has a final salary pension from this employer and they suggest that he could go part-time (to ease himself into retirement), he needs to make sure his pension is not calculated on the average of his last three working years, otherwise he could find his pension dramatically reduced.

Not necessarily, though definitely worth checking. In the public sector at least, if you work half time for the final 3 years, then the final salary on which your pension is calculated is the full time salary. You get 1.5 years worth of pension for those years rather than the 3 years you would have got if you'd stayed full time.

Lisa46

Thanks DD and SS! He will be finishing on the same job that he is doing now, full-time.

Lisa46

Does anyone know of a course that we could attend? We don't mind travelling!

cyclonebri1

Can't help directly but the company I retired from (yesterday), used to hold pre-retirement courses for it's employees around 5 years from planned retirement. They also threw the doors open to other companies and individuals as our company shrunk in size.

A couple of IFAs, and ex DHSS consultant etc were on hand to answer any queries. A day well spent as agreed by everyone who attended. I'm sure mant larger employers will run this facility but might need a little searching out.

Lisa46

Happy retirement Cyclonebri, enjoy!