Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[Couchy]

I've been thinking about semi-retiring this year. Just drop down to a 3 day week, but, money has never come easy to me and we're not big earners etc. So, walking away from money to basically loaf about, seems kinda wrong and a bit hard to get my head round?

I semi retired 5 years ago, it lasted 6 months till I wanted something more to do and started this side of the business. It’s now the biggest business I’ve ever had and I’m busier than ever. I’m now a little worried about proper retirement in a few years !

[Cousin Jack]

I semi retired 5 years ago, it lasted 6 months till I wanted something more to do and started this side of the business. It’s now the biggest business I’ve ever had and I’m busier than ever. I’m now a little worried about proper retirement in a few years !

I have 'retired' about 4 times, but the last one stuck, although I now have a few voluntary things, one of which is quite challenging.

[Potter]

I think “retired” for me just means not having to work if I don’t want to. I think I’d carry on for a bit because I mostly enjoy what I do and I’m not ready to walk away yet, but having the freedom to choose would be retirement enough for me.

[Dodgy69]

Been thinking..

I currently work with a couple of lads who are 64 and have had good careers in previous jobs with good pensions. Both are gonna keep working until state pension age. My question is why, ? Seems to me, both are afraid of drawing their works/personal pensions and/or afraid of what their gonna do when they give work up.

So, should we draw all our pensions at state pension age altogether or use works/ personal pensions to finish earlier, hopefully knowing you've got SP to come later.

[Count Steer]

Been thinking..

I currently work with a couple of lads who are 64 and have had good careers in previous jobs with good pensions. Both are gonna keep working until state pension age. My question is why, ? Seems to me, both are afraid of drawing their works/personal pensions and/or afraid of what their gonna do when they give work up.

So, should we draw all our pensions at state pension age altogether or use works/ personal pensions to finish earlier, hopefully knowing you've got SP to come later.

There is another permutation. Take the work pension at your preferred time and defer the state pension when you reach the age. It used to be a pretty good deal if you deferred for a year, dunno how good it is now though*. Obvs it depends on health etc as it takes a while to claw back but over a few years it's

*Just checked. It increases by 1% for every five weeks, so 10.4% for a year.

[Bustaspoke]

Age 61,I retired a couple of months back,not missed it for a minute.I took one pension 18 months ago as I was retiring but got talked out of it at the last moment.I have another pension that I''ll take when I'm 65 & the state pension when / if I get to 67.
For the last 3 years I've been shunting trailers round a depot & what I noticed was that as the drivers came in to finish their shift some of them would hurry up so that they could go home,but others would hang around talking to everyone,then you'd see a few of them talking on the car park.I realised that for some of them,as well as work,it was a big social thing
The shunters are a team of 4 & on my last day I said to one of them,age 71,'I don't know how you do this at your age,fair play to you if you enjoy it but I've had enough'.His reply was that he hated the place but it wasn't as bad as being at home with his wife
Another driver used to joke with me about retirement & one day he told me that he'd mentioned me to his wife as he found it hard to believe that I would pack it in,but over a few months he started to think about what I had said & what I would do with my time,he realised that he had no hobbie's,in effect all he had done all his life was work & he wouldn't know what to do with all that spare time.I'm sure there are a lot of people like that
Not me though

[Horse]

I retire in a few months and am very keen to avoid the 'bored to death' thing. Trouble is, I'm now at risk of having too much to do

[Count Steer]

I retire in a few months and am very keen to avoid the 'bored to death' thing. Trouble is, I'm now at risk of having too much to do

Ha! Within a few weeks I wondered how I ever found time to go to work.

[weeksy]

I retire in a few months and am very keen to avoid the 'bored to death' thing. Trouble is, I'm now at risk of having too much to do

Ha! Within a few weeks I wondered how I ever found time to go to work.

Give me a list then of your mon Tue wed this week.

I see this all thr time and I'm really curious as to what people do all day every day

[mangocrazy]

Been thinking..

I currently work with a couple of lads who are 64 and have had good careers in previous jobs with good pensions. Both are gonna keep working until state pension age. My question is why, ? Seems to me, both are afraid of drawing their works/personal pensions and/or afraid of what their gonna do when they give work up.

So, should we draw all our pensions at state pension age altogether or use works/ personal pensions to finish earlier, hopefully knowing you've got SP to come later.

There is another permutation. Take the work pension at your preferred time and defer the state pension when you reach the age. It used to be a pretty good deal if you deferred for a year, dunno how good it is now though*. Obvs it depends on health etc as it takes a while to claw back but over a few years it's

*Just checked. It increases by 1% for every five weeks, so 10.4% for a year.

I think you'll find that depends on when you were born. If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the annual uplift when deferring the state pension is 10.4%. After that date it drops to 5.8%. Being an old git, I was able to take advantage of that kind offer, and deferred my state pension for 5 years and 8 months. As a result I effectively doubled my state pension...

[mangocrazy]

I retire in a few months and am very keen to avoid the 'bored to death' thing. Trouble is, I'm now at risk of having too much to do

Ha! Within a few weeks I wondered how I ever found time to go to work.

Give me a list then of your mon Tue wed this week.

I see this all thr time and I'm really curious as to what people do all day every day

Whatever they want to! (Or more realistically, whatever their spouse/partner allows them to...) I worked pretty much without a break from my late teens through to a few months past my 70th birthday. As a result I told myself in no uncertain terms that I will not feel guilty about doing fuck all should I so choose now I'm retired. In actual fact I'm fairly easily bored, so normally find something to occupy my time. These days it mostly involves motorcycles, funnily enough.

[Horse]

I retire in a few months and am very keen to avoid the 'bored to death' thing. Trouble is, I'm now at risk of having too much to do

Ha! Within a few weeks I wondered how I ever found time to go to work.

Give me a list then of your mon Tue wed this week.

I see this all thr time and I'm really curious as to what people do all day every day

I'll let CS answer for himself, but I can tell you about my plans:
- qualified as a Community First Responder, so will probably be on call one day a week
- get back into painting and drawing
- writing
- 'house husband' stuff; shopping, cooking, cleaning
- possibility of occasional freelance work
- joining old git retired mates for occasional lunches

Edit after seeing Mango: started work in 1976. Had one month between jobs since.

[Dodgy69]

Been thinking..

I currently work with a couple of lads who are 64 and have had good careers in previous jobs with good pensions. Both are gonna keep working until state pension age. My question is why, ? Seems to me, both are afraid of drawing their works/personal pensions and/or afraid of what their gonna do when they give work up.

So, should we draw all our pensions at state pension age altogether or use works/ personal pensions to finish earlier, hopefully knowing you've got SP to come later.

There is another permutation. Take the work pension at your preferred time and defer the state pension when you reach the age. It used to be a pretty good deal if you deferred for a year, dunno how good it is now though*. Obvs it depends on health etc as it takes a while to claw back but over a few years it's

*Just checked. It increases by 1% for every five weeks, so 10.4% for a year.

I think you'll find that depends on when you were born. If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the annual uplift when deferring the state pension is 10.4%. After that date it drops to 5.8%. Being an old git, I was able to take advantage of that kind offer, and deferred my state pension for 5 years and 8 months. As a result I effectively doubled my state pension...

Differing state pension seems like the wrong thing to do to me, don't we want it sooner, but like any pension, you can get more but for a shorter period if you delay.

For those who would get bored, why not a part-time job, just to keep your finger on the pulse. I reckon, if you enjoy the great outdoors, there's much to do.

[mangocrazy]

Differing state pension seems like the wrong thing to do to me, don't we want it sooner, but like any pension, you can get more but for a shorter period if you delay.

For those who would get bored, why not a part-time job, just to keep your finger on the pulse. I reckon, if you enjoy the great outdoors, there's much to do.

For me, deferring the state pension allowed me to a) build up a reasonable pension pot via my last employer while b) topping up the state pension when I finally took it. Due to fecklessness on my part as a young man, I didn't have any meaningful private pension provision to speak of from my yoof, so had to work longer to ensure I wouldn't be destitute as an old man.

To be fair, for the last 5-10 years of my working life I was just phoning it in anyway and only working 3-4 days a week so it wasn't too onerous.

[Bustaspoke]

I retire in a few months and am very keen to avoid the 'bored to death' thing. Trouble is, I'm now at risk of having too much to do

Ha! Within a few weeks I wondered how I ever found time to go to work.

Give me a list then of your mon Tue wed this week.

I see this all thr time and I'm really curious as to what people do all day every day

I don't know what other people do,but myself I have a routine & walk 50km per month & cycle 600km.
This Monsday I did a 15km walk & went out on the Street Triple in the afternoon
This Tuesday I was painting fence panels & gardening most of the day.
This Wednesday I had a easy day,I was going to mess around with the XT600,but my mate's had Covid & I don't want to catch it so that got postponed until next week as there's no time pressure due to being retired.
Thurs I'll do some cycling either outdoors or on Zwift.
Friday either more cycling or out on one of the motorbikes

[Dodgy69]

I suppose in the summer months it's easy to find things to do, maybe harder in the winter. Think I'd have an hour at the swimming baths aswel. A bit of routine may help, just to keep lazyness at bay and get you off your arse.

[weeksy]

But that and other things are not 'doing things' are they? They're more passing time because you've fuck all else to do?
I mean you don't sit at work daydreaming about missed opportunities for 30 mins in the local pool.

Luke going for a long walk, sure it's nice, it's great but it's not "don't know how I had the time to go to work" busy

[Dodgy69]

I think that's what retirement is, spending your day leisurely doing the thing's you enjoy.

[weeksy]

I think that's what retirement is, spending your day leisurely doing the thing's you enjoy.

Aye, but some seem to phrase things differently like they're 'busy' but busy doesn't seem the correct term to me

[Count Steer]

There is another permutation. Take the work pension at your preferred time and defer the state pension when you reach the age. It used to be a pretty good deal if you deferred for a year, dunno how good it is now though*. Obvs it depends on health etc as it takes a while to claw back but over a few years it's

*Just checked. It increases by 1% for every five weeks, so 10.4% for a year.

I think you'll find that depends on when you were born. If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the annual uplift when deferring the state pension is 10.4%. After that date it drops to 5.8%. Being an old git, I was able to take advantage of that kind offer, and deferred my state pension for 5 years and 8 months. As a result I effectively doubled my state pension...

You are correct, I knew it had reduced but didn't delve deep enough. I wonder if the 5.8% will go up as interest rates have risen? (The 10.4% really was ).

The other + about it is the increase in pension payment passes to the spouse if the deferrer dies - increasing the likelihood that it pays off. I suppose it's a bit like putting the deferred amount in an annuity.