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Thread: Early retirement

  1. #501
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    Yup exactly. Time and taxes the two biggest influences upon your wealth.

  2. #502
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    You can lead a horse ........

  3. #503
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    Agreed I could have taken it out, but there was no point in me doing it as I had no need for the money - debt free and all of that . Consequently money would have just sat in my account earning me next to nothing. Plus any earnings would easily be easy eaten up by inflation, currently running at about 1.5% higher, than any interest I might expect. So lose lose.

    Had I had a mortgage to pay, or interests rates were above 4% then I would used my allowance.
    Sorry Andy, you clearly don’t get it at all. You’ve essentially turned what would have been tax free money, into probably taxable money in the future. Keep saying you didn’t need it is irrelevant (you could have put it in the same funds as your pension is in via an ISA or other vehicle). Whoever advised you to miss out on it has done a poor job and if you didn’t take advice, you should have in all honesty. Posters are just trying to help you.

  4. #504
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    Agreed I could have taken it out, but there was no point in me doing it as I had no need for the money - debt free and all of that . Consequently money would have just sat in my account earning me next to nothing. Plus any earnings would easily be easy eaten up by inflation, currently running at about 1.5% higher, than any interest I might expect. So lose lose.

    Had I had a mortgage to pay, or interests rates were above 4% then I would used my allowance.
    You're not allowing for the 12.5k tax allowance and not listening to what the other guys are saying. You have now effectively missed out on 50k of income being tax free over four years.

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  5. #505
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  6. #506
    Just out of interest, I have no pension as of such bar property. What type of monthly income do you guys aim to achieve via your pensions upon the appropriate drawdown age? Cheers..will

  7. #507
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    Quote Originally Posted by Devonian View Post
    Sorry Andy, you clearly don’t get it at all. You’ve essentially turned what would have been tax free money, into probably taxable money in the future. Keep saying you didn’t need it is irrelevant (you could have put it in the same funds as your pension is in via an ISA or other vehicle). Whoever advised you to miss out on it has done a poor job and if you didn’t take advice, you should have in all honesty. Posters are just trying to help you.
    I have no job and therefore no income. I retired 3 years ago. So the only money I would have would be from the SIPP, cash reserves or flogging assets.

    You cannot draw down from the SIPP and then put the back into your SIPP, especially when you expect HMRC to then give you an additional 20%. Trust me it was discussed and ruled out. Plus I was already on the limit of my LTA hence putting an extra 40k would have opened that element up to 55% tax.

    I have using the same IFA for nearly 20 years, so forgive me if I put more trust in his POV than a few people on an Internet forum.

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  8. #508
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    I have no job and therefore no income. I retired 3 years ago. So the only money I would have would be from the SIPP, cash reserves or flogging assets.

    You cannot draw down from the SIPP and then put the back into your SIPP, especially when you expect HMRC to then give you an additional 20%. Trust me it was discussed and ruled out. Plus I was already on the limit of my LTA hence putting an extra 40k would have opened that element up to 55% tax.

    I have using the same IFA for nearly 20 years, so forgive me if I put more trust in his POV than a few people on an Internet forum.
    Sack your IFA. This really is not that difficult, as downer explained above. Suggest you take more advice on Monday morning. You are missing out.
    Last edited by Skyman; 25th April 2020 at 20:53.

  9. #509
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    Surely this is simple to understand?

  10. #510
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    Not for the hard of understanding.

  11. #511
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    Andy, you are confusing income from your pension with contributions to your pension. This is a fundamental misunderstanding.

    Your one shot at redemption would have been to tell us you had some other taxable income during the last three years and that, therefore, your personal income tax allowance was already fully utilised.

    But you just told us you didn’t....


    Anyway, I give up. Hopefully, someone other than Andy will read, understand and benefit from all the explanations that have been made.

  12. #512
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    I have no job and therefore no income. I retired 3 years ago. So the only money I would have would be from the SIPP, cash reserves or flogging assets.

    You cannot draw down from the SIPP and then put the back into your SIPP, especially when you expect HMRC to then give you an additional 20%. Trust me it was discussed and ruled out. Plus I was already on the limit of my LTA hence putting an extra 40k would have opened that element up to 55% tax.

    I have using the same IFA for nearly 20 years, so forgive me if I put more trust in his POV than a few people on an Internet forum.
    Andy, every year you get to earn 12,500 without paying a penny of tax on it from earned income.

    Money coming out your pension after the initial 25% tax free is treated as earned income.

    You will have to take money out of your pension eventually and when you do it will incur income tax at the normal rate.

    You can invest money in exactly the same funds your pension is currently in within an ISA. The 1% you have talked about is cash ISA, you can have a stocks and shares ISA with exactly the same funds as your pension.

    You could have taken 12,500 each year out of the pension and put it into the ISA, without paying a penny of tax, and would have exactly the same potential of gains etc as if it was in your pension.

    So in future you'll likely have to pay tax on the £37,500 you didn't take out over the past three years, which could have been tax free for life within the ISA.

    Enjoy the retirement either way.

  13. #513
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    Quote Originally Posted by downer View Post
    Hopefully, someone other than Andy will read, understand and benefit from all the explanations that have been made.
    I for one have benefitted from this thread. I plan to retire next year and was going to live off savings as long as I could before drawing down my pension. That would have been a big mistake! I'll start drawing down up to my personal allowance and top up with savings. Thanks!

  14. #514
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    Quote Originally Posted by Top Cat View Post
    I for one have benefitted from this thread. I plan to retire next year and was going to live off savings as long as I could before drawing down my pension. That would have been a big mistake! I'll start drawing down up to my personal allowance and top up with savings. Thanks!
    If you have a spouse it’s worth looking at pension planning for them as well as that means there’s 25k of allowances that can be utilised annually between two of you - that’s quite a bit of tax free usable income. Historically many families have had the pension for the bread winner, but that has changed drastically over recent years. Even if a spouse doesn’t have an income they can still pay £2,880 net into a pension which grossed up is £3,600. Do that for a number of years and there’s a lot of annual income allowances that can be taken out free of tax. With the state pension age increasing (and probably even more so in light of our current situation) that’s a lot of years of efficient retirement planning that can be had if retiring early. Obviously take advice as there may be reasons like higher rate tax relief, or reducing income to say 50k for child benefit etc for keeping pension planning to one person. I will say though, that the majority of people who can afford to utilise pension allowances for couples tend to as it’s a bit of a no brainer.

  15. #515
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    Andy clearly hasn’t got the first clue about this. But I just can’t believe a legitimate IFA would have screwed this up... it really is the first line of “pension planning for dummies 101”. No doubt he was advised of this no-brainer tax efficiency and ignored it (don’t need the money / I know best etc etc).

    I guess we should all be thanking you really - the state sure needs the extra tax money!!!

  16. #516
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    Devonian, thanks for the spouse info. Very useful. My wife plans to carry on working part time up to her personal allowance but something to look into when she does give up!

  17. #517
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    I received a small inheritance a couple of years ago. There's about 70k. At the moment it's sitting in premium bonds between Mrs D and myself. I'm planning on taking advice when this is over as i'm not really itk about finance.

  18. #518
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    Quote Originally Posted by anton863 View Post
    Andy, every year you get to earn 12,500 without paying a penny of tax on it from earned income.

    Money coming out your pension after the initial 25% tax free is treated as earned income.

    You will have to take money out of your pension eventually and when you do it will incur income tax at the normal rate.

    You can invest money in exactly the same funds your pension is currently in within an ISA. The 1% you have talked about is cash ISA, you can have a stocks and shares ISA with exactly the same funds as your pension.

    You could have taken 12,500 each year out of the pension and put it into the ISA, without paying a penny of tax, and would have exactly the same potential of gains etc as if it was in your pension.


    So in future you'll likely have to pay tax on the £37,500 you didn't take out over the past three years, which could have been tax free for life within the ISA.

    Enjoy the retirement either way.
    Honesty I get it. I could have taken out £12,500 from my SIPP (generating about 4% growth) and placed it in a ISA generating 1%, in order to save a bit of tax in approx 13 year time, when my Tax Free allowance will run out, based upon my current spending predictions.

    What I could not have done is put that money back into my SIPP as some luminaries suggested. Plus the profits made on investments outside of an ISA would be subject to tax.

    But just a couple of other points.
    1) People are assuming I have not already maxed my ISA allowance.
    2) My son starts uni this year and not having an income in 2018/19 means he can apply for the maximum grant/loans available.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  19. #519
    Interesting discussion. Can I ask a dumb question
    Is it therefore tax efficient to draw down the whole 25% tax free element + £12.5k in the first year of retirement? If I took the 25% over more than one tax year wouldn’t I be losing the tax free allowance for each of those years.
    I’m probably missing something obvious here

    Thanks

    Casper

  20. #520
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    Early retirement

    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    Not really. I could have taken my tax free allowance, but then what? Put it in a ISA and got a very small return on it or left it in my SIPP and hoped for a better than 1% return.

    Actually given the crash in the market in March I should have simply converted it all to cash.
    Most isas on a platform will be able to invest in the same holdings as your sipp so investment performance should be broadly the same - you would have had 4 yrs allowance in isas that you could draw tax free flexible income from when it suited you. It was a missed opportunity I’m afraid.

    Edit. I see you mention your isa allowance being fully used already, so you should automatically seek to put it into other tax free investments.

    It’s difficult to give you definitive advice without a full factfind which your current IFA will have. If you have used your isas then has your wife used hers?
    Last edited by RustyBin5; 27th April 2020 at 07:34.

  21. #521
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    Quote Originally Posted by Casper View Post
    Interesting discussion. Can I ask a dumb question
    Is it therefore tax efficient to draw down the whole 25% tax free element + £12.5k in the first year of retirement? If I took the 25% over more than one tax year wouldn’t I be losing the tax free allowance for each of those years.
    I’m probably missing something obvious here

    Thanks

    Casper
    I am sure the experts will be along soon, however once you start to crystallise your SIPP, take what you actually need. Therefore I am taking my full tax allowance from my 75% taxed pot, and whatever else I need from my tax free pot.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
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  22. #522
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    After reading about the complexities of pensions on this thread I have to say I'm glad for the relative simplicity of the NHS and Teachers Pension schemes. I haven't the biggest of pensions, but the only decision I had to make when I retired at 58 was whether to start taking a reduced pension early or wait until my normal retirement age. I took the money!

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  23. #523
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonRA View Post
    After reading about the complexities of pensions on this thread I have to say I'm glad for the relative simplicity of the NHS and Teachers Pension schemes. I haven't the biggest of pensions, but the only decision I had to make when I retired at 58 was whether to start taking a reduced pension early or wait until my normal retirement age. I took the money!

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    My wife started taking her nhs pension last summer at 55. She agonized over taking it early to start with, but I pointed out that although she'll only get 75% or whatever it worked out at she'd have it for five years longer. She doesn't regret taking it at all once the decision was made.

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  24. #524
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ruggertech View Post
    My wife started taking her nhs pension last summer at 55. She agonized over taking it early to start with, but I pointed out that although she'll only get 75% or whatever it worked out at she'd have it for five years longer. She doesn't regret taking it at all once the decision was made.

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    My thinking too - plus I didn't want to lose my tax free allowance.

  25. #525
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonRA View Post
    My thinking too - plus I didn't want to lose my tax free allowance.
    And the allowance of course

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  26. #526
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    Honesty I get it. I could have taken out £12,500 from my SIPP (generating about 4% growth) and placed it in a ISA generating 1%, in order to save a bit of tax in approx 13 year time, when my Tax Free allowance will run out, based upon my current spending predictions.

    What I could not have done is put that money back into my SIPP as some luminaries suggested. Plus the profits made on investments outside of an ISA would be subject to tax.

    But just a couple of other points.
    1) People are assuming I have not already maxed my ISA allowance.
    2) My son starts uni this year and not having an income in 2018/19 means he can apply for the maximum grant/loans available.
    I don't know where you are getting the 1% vs 4% figure. I explained that part already.

    I'm done anyway. Enjoy your day.

  27. #527
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andyg View Post
    2) My son starts uni this year and not having an income in 2018/19 means he can apply for the maximum grant/loans available.
    I believe he will still get the max if you declare £12500

  28. #528
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    Quote Originally Posted by craig1912 View Post
    I believe he will still get the max if you declare £12500
    Yep, the maximum grant is available provided total household income is less than £25k pa.

  29. #529
    Work is looking to reduce office staff by 1 in 4 by November, and EoI (Expression of Interest) for voluntary redundancy opens shortly.

    I’m fully paid up long serving employee so can walk away with 2 years salary plus 3 months notice, plus start my very good final salary pension at 55 with only a 15% reduction.

    I paid off the mortgage but have a couple of kids to get through university. I know they can take the debt.

    I’m sorely tempted, but actually enjoy my job and it is pretty stress free (I’m a professional engineer with no pesky line managerial responsibility crap).

    Also lockdown had not given me a warm fuzzy feeling of spending long winters without work. I always envisaged I would keep my hand in by doing a little consultancy work, but Covid has put paid to that.

    I’m 51 and it feels a little early to retire, but I’m sorely tempted.

  30. #530
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    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    Work is looking to reduce office staff by 1 in 4 by November, and EoI (Expression of Interest) for voluntary redundancy opens shortly.

    I’m fully paid up long serving employee so can walk away with 2 years salary plus 3 months notice, plus start my very good final salary pension at 55 with only a 15% reduction.

    I paid off the mortgage but have a couple of kids to get through university. I know they can take the debt.

    I’m sorely tempted, but actually enjoy my job and it is pretty stress free (I’m a professional engineer with no pesky line managerial responsibility crap).

    Also lockdown had not given me a warm fuzzy feeling of spending long winters without work. I always envisaged I would keep my hand in by doing a little consultancy work, but Covid has put paid to that.

    I’m 51 and it feels a little early to retire, but I’m sorely tempted.
    If you enjoy your work - if I were you, I’d keep working a bit longer - could you bear to sit home for the rest of your life?

  31. #531

    Early retirement

    Quote Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK) View Post
    If you enjoy your work - if I were you, I’d keep working a bit longer - could you bear to sit home for the rest of your life?
    I’m OK to work longer, but we have been told that our redundancy terms versus our peers is first quartile, and we have been served the required 12 month notice that the redundancy terms will be revised for the worse.

    Effectively they are providing encouragement saying these are the best terms you will ever get, and they are set to get worse.

  32. #532
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    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    I’m OK to work longer, but we have been told that our redundancy terms versus our peers is first quartile, and we have been served the required 12 month notice that the redundancy terms will be revised for the worse.

    Effectively they are providing encouragement saying these are the best terms you will ever get, and they are set to get worse.
    Do it.

  33. #533
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    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    Work is looking to reduce office staff by 1 in 4 by November, and EoI (Expression of Interest) for voluntary redundancy opens shortly.

    I’m fully paid up long serving employee so can walk away with 2 years salary plus 3 months notice, plus start my very good final salary pension at 55 with only a 15% reduction.

    I paid off the mortgage but have a couple of kids to get through university. I know they can take the debt.

    I’m sorely tempted, but actually enjoy my job and it is pretty stress free (I’m a professional engineer with no pesky line managerial responsibility crap).

    Also lockdown had not given me a warm fuzzy feeling of spending long winters without work. I always envisaged I would keep my hand in by doing a little consultancy work, but Covid has put paid to that.

    I’m 51 and it feels a little early to retire, but I’m sorely tempted.
    Take the money. You can always work somewhere else. Great situation to be in :)

  34. #534
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    Im retiring next week, as it goes!

    I am 60 now , I cant wait! Ive been doing shift work for the last 28 years (train driver)...so I cant wait to finish....I will get nowhere near, some of the figures being bandied about on this thread...but importantly, what I do get will be fine for me!

    The major benefit , ( for me!) is being able to do what I want, when I want, not have to worry about going to work and all that entails at stupid o clock, and of course finishing at stupid o clock!

    I "intended", to spend September to December in Thailand, then home for Christmas, then back to Thailand from January until early April.......

    Of course! Covid has put paid to my September trip this year...hopefully though, I will be able to get out there for the new year.

    No matter how much money you may have/will get etc...

    There is only one thing you cant buy.



    That of course is time.

  35. #535
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    Excellent - good luck you!

  36. #536
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    Quote Originally Posted by ryanb741 View Post
    Take the money. You can always work somewhere else. Great situation to be in :)
    +1

    Time and freedom of choice are invaluable.
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  37. #537

    Early retirement

    Quote Originally Posted by valleywatch View Post
    Im retiring next week, as it goes!

    I am 60 now , I cant wait! Ive been doing shift work for the last 28 years (train driver)...so I cant wait to finish....I will get nowhere near, some of the figures being bandied about on this thread...but importantly, what I do get will be fine for me!

    The major benefit , ( for me!) is being able to do what I want, when I want, not have to worry about going to work and all that entails at stupid o clock, and of course finishing at stupid o clock!

    I "intended", to spend September to December in Thailand, then home for Christmas, then back to Thailand from January until early April.......

    Of course! Covid has put paid to my September trip this year...hopefully though, I will be able to get out there for the new year.

    No matter how much money you may have/will get etc...

    There is only one thing you cant buy.



    That of course is time.
    Congratulations, you sound (deservedly) well chuffed.

    Wintering in Thailand sounds like a plan and a way to get through the tiresome U.K. winters.

  38. #538
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    Early retirement

    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    I always envisaged I would keep my hand in by doing a little consultancy work, but Covid has put paid to that.

    I’m 51 and it feels a little early to retire, but I’m sorely tempted.
    I’ would take the money. Two reasons:

    1) when the redundancies start there seldom is only one round of people being let go, so you’re still at risk. The redundancy packages tend to be less and less generous though the more rounds there are.

    2) could you not do some form of freelance/consultancy, still enjoy your type of work in one form or another? Covid will not be around forever hopefully...

  39. #539
    noTAGlove, we work for the same company! reimagine your future...

  40. #540
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    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    Congratulations, you sound (deservedly) well chuffed.

    Wintering in Thailand sounds like a plan and a way to get through the tiresome U.K. winters.
    Echoed by me - I wish you a long and happy retirement

  41. #541

    Early retirement

    Quote Originally Posted by JuanKing View Post
    reimagine your future...
    Lol.

    Are you tempted?

  42. #542
    Don't know yet tbh. Still small amount of mortgage left and a 7 year old but the numbers work so could effectively chuck it in and be fine until I can access the dB pension which will be converted to CETV and drawn down. Only 47.5 but a health scare in 2017 has focused my mind. I am looking at permanent home working so want that approved then need to model the differentials between various scenarios. You?

  43. #543
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    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    Work is looking to reduce office staff by 1 in 4 by November, and EoI (Expression of Interest) for voluntary redundancy opens shortly.

    I’m fully paid up long serving employee so can walk away with 2 years salary plus 3 months notice, plus start my very good final salary pension at 55 with only a 15% reduction.

    I paid off the mortgage but have a couple of kids to get through university. I know they can take the debt.

    I’m sorely tempted, but actually enjoy my job and it is pretty stress free (I’m a professional engineer with no pesky line managerial responsibility crap).

    Also lockdown had not given me a warm fuzzy feeling of spending long winters without work. I always envisaged I would keep my hand in by doing a little consultancy work, but Covid has put paid to that.

    I’m 51 and it feels a little early to retire, but I’m sorely tempted.
    If you bail now, just four years short of full retirement, on a job you actually enjoy, you should consult a psychiatrist! For the next 30 to 40 years, you will kick yourself for giving up that 15% retirement pension each year. Further, a 51 year-old guy is young...since you enjoy your job you obviously like the mental challenges it presents you. How are you going to fulfill that need for the next 10 or 15 years?

    It seems clear that you should keep enjoying your job and profession, and start planning for how you will successfully transition into retirement at 55, perhaps with consulting that you could line up before you retire, or some other interesting endeavor.

  44. #544
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    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    Work is looking to reduce office staff by 1 in 4 by November, and EoI (Expression of Interest) for voluntary redundancy opens shortly.

    I’m fully paid up long serving employee so can walk away with 2 years salary plus 3 months notice, plus start my very good final salary pension at 55 with only a 15% reduction.

    I paid off the mortgage but have a couple of kids to get through university. I know they can take the debt.

    I’m sorely tempted, but actually enjoy my job and it is pretty stress free (I’m a professional engineer with no pesky line managerial responsibility crap).

    Also lockdown had not given me a warm fuzzy feeling of spending long winters without work. I always envisaged I would keep my hand in by doing a little consultancy work, but Covid has put paid to that.

    I’m 51 and it feels a little early to retire, but I’m sorely tempted.
    What were your retirement plans ahead of this? Were you contemplating going at 55 anyway (in which case this feels like a no brainer). Or were you always planning to continue in your current job on into your 60s?

    We don't have all the details you do of course, but it feels like from a purely financial view it may lean towards being a very good offer. I know the redundancy offers at Rolls Royce for the engineers going now are not that good at all.

    I know the industry isn't exactly flourishing at the moment for another job or consultancy work but you've got a few years to see if anything suits you. And worst case scenario is you use some extra saving for the other two years ahead of retirement, which doesn't sound too onerous.

  45. #545
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by valleywatch View Post
    Im retiring next week, as it goes!

    I am 60 now , I cant wait! Ive been doing shift work for the last 28 years (train driver)...so I cant wait to finish....I will get nowhere near, some of the figures being bandied about on this thread...but importantly, what I do get will be fine for me!

    The major benefit , ( for me!) is being able to do what I want, when I want, not have to worry about going to work and all that entails at stupid o clock, and of course finishing at stupid o clock!

    I "intended", to spend September to December in Thailand, then home for Christmas, then back to Thailand from January until early April.......

    Of course! Covid has put paid to my September trip this year...hopefully though, I will be able to get out there for the new year.

    No matter how much money you may have/will get etc...

    There is only one thing you cant buy.



    That of course is time.
    Happy retirement!

    I have circa 3-years to go until I pull the trigger. Not long but also not soon enough as it’s definitely lost the novelty value, work that is.

    Out of interest has COVID-19 impacted anyone’s plans or are they still on track?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  46. #546
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Don't forget that if you stay and they cut 25% of staff they're not going to cut 25% of the workload. I wouldn't want to be waiting for that mess to come down the pipe. Poo rolls downhill.

  47. #547
    Quote Originally Posted by JuanKing View Post
    Don't know yet tbh. Still small amount of mortgage left and a 7 year old but the numbers work so could effectively chuck it in and be fine until I can access the dB pension which will be converted to CETV and drawn down. Only 47.5 but a health scare in 2017 has focused my mind. I am looking at permanent home working so want that approved then need to model the differentials between various scenarios. You?
    I was the same age as you back in 2016 when the last round of redundancies happened, so can understand your position, and that it may be a little early for you. It was for me back then.

    Similarly I had a big (c) health scare back in 2006, but that now is not fresh in my mind and doesn’t seem to be influencing my decision.

    I’m a level G so have until September to make my final decision, so will give it more thought over the next few weeks and maybe scupper my <my profile>, lol.

    Obviously, no guarantee they will agree you taking the package, and that my biggest worry, if I put my heart and soul into to leaving.

  48. #548
    Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
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    Devon
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    5,134
    Quote Originally Posted by noTAGlove View Post
    Work is looking to reduce office staff by 1 in 4 by November, and EoI (Expression of Interest) for voluntary redundancy opens shortly.

    I’m fully paid up long serving employee so can walk away with 2 years salary plus 3 months notice, plus start my very good final salary pension at 55 with only a 15% reduction.

    I paid off the mortgage but have a couple of kids to get through university. I know they can take the debt.

    I’m sorely tempted, but actually enjoy my job and it is pretty stress free (I’m a professional engineer with no pesky line managerial responsibility crap).

    Also lockdown had not given me a warm fuzzy feeling of spending long winters without work. I always envisaged I would keep my hand in by doing a little consultancy work, but Covid has put paid to that.

    I’m 51 and it feels a little early to retire, but I’m sorely tempted.
    When the banks got rid of loads of staff at age 50 (back when they could get their pensions at 50), they then realised they had overdone redundancies and within a year many of them were working for other banks on similar money than before, yet had had their TFLS and redundancy pay and were also getting their pensions. Many of them did really well. Any chance that your industry could pick up again in the future and your level of experience would be in demand again?

    Two years salary is an excellent pay off, would that go on living until 55 or would you look for other work?

    I reduced my workload at around 47 (due to a scare as well) and have been doing less and less - 3 to 4 days a week and 8 weeks holidays, with the intention now I’ve hit 50 to do 2 to 3 days max. Lockdown has proven to me I’m just not ready. I missed work. I know that this environment has been strange but I kind of realised I need to keep my mind focused on work.

    Quote Originally Posted by valleywatch View Post
    Im retiring next week, as it goes!

    I am 60 now , I cant wait! Ive been doing shift work for the last 28 years (train driver)...so I cant wait to finish....I will get nowhere near, some of the figures being bandied about on this thread...but importantly, what I do get will be fine for me!

    The major benefit , ( for me!) is being able to do what I want, when I want, not have to worry about going to work and all that entails at stupid o clock, and of course finishing at stupid o clock!

    I "intended", to spend September to December in Thailand, then home for Christmas, then back to Thailand from January until early April.......

    Of course! Covid has put paid to my September trip this year...hopefully though, I will be able to get out there for the new year.

    No matter how much money you may have/will get etc...

    There is only one thing you cant buy.



    That of course is time.
    Well deserved, enjoy every minute :-)

  49. #549
    For me it depends if I can get home working approved, if I can then will probably stay on if I can't then will most likely EOI. It's a good test to see if they approve the remote working implies they want to keep me hence got some longevity. If it's not approved then need to decide on whether to EOI or not. It's tough as we don't know what roles could be or even if we want to work in the new organisation. I'm a subsurface professional but currently in digital advising (grade G too) so have until September to decide whether to EOI or not. Yes a c diagnosis and 4 months in Ari has changed my outlook somewhat. I've got 15 years service so the package is not unsubstantial. How long you got there?

  50. #550
    Quote Originally Posted by pacifichrono View Post
    If you bail now, just four years short of full retirement, on a job you actually enjoy, you should consult a psychiatrist! For the next 30 to 40 years, you will kick yourself for giving up that 15% retirement pension each year. Further, a 51 year-old guy is young...since you enjoy your job you obviously like the mental challenges it presents you. How are you going to fulfill that need for the next 10 or 15 years?

    It seems clear that you should keep enjoying your job and profession, and start planning for how you will successfully transition into retirement at 55, perhaps with consulting that you could line up before you retire, or some other interesting endeavor.
    You seem to be on my wavelength with respect to my attitude to work.

    Yes, I really enjoy my job and the challenges it presents. It is the bureaucratical crap and management bullsh1t that really riles me now I am in my 50s, like it didn’t do when I was in my 40s.

    Actually, full retirement at unreduced pension is age 60 for me. I am 8 and a bit years away from that.

    If you are termed a good leaver (that comes with redundancy) it means you can take a reduced pension at 55 (15% discount). Those privileges do are not available if you are a bad leaver, i.e. if I leave without being made redundant.

    Hence the reason why redundancy is so attractive.

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