When do you think you'll be able to retire from paid work?

[DualityNSNO]

Retirement age in Bulgaria has been going up by a year every year it feels - my grandparents retired and got pensions when they were 57-58, now it's 68 for men IIRC and they wanna push it a bit more.

Can't wait to get my first pension in 2095, at the tender age of 102

 

[SerenityNigh]

Well?

Seems like for a lot of Yanks my age, feeling comfortable/secure enough to choose a job you prefer, especially at a lower wage, is good enough. Hard to say anything specific about actual retirement; if we're lucky then social security will still exist in ~20 years. Some get a financial windfall but that's hardly ever useful. If I could figure out a shift into a different industry/work environment I probably would, but I've been thinking that for about 10 years it seems.

 

[Littlesue]

You're lucky there's social housing available. It's like rocking horse poop in some areas.

Only because I'm old so quick turnover, its bad here for young families, would image a lot worse down here than in the North West.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Only because I'm old so quick turnover, its bad here for young families, would image a lot worse down here than in the North West.

It's pretty bad in Coventry where I am. Usually only 'vulnerable' people who get them. I live in an ex council house, which is part of the problem. They all got sold off and the stock never replaced! Private rents are quite high, surprisingly, around here.

 

[Littlesue]

It's pretty bad in Coventry where I am. Usually only 'vulnerable' people who get them. I live in an ex council house, which is part of the problem. They all got sold off and the stock never replaced! Private rents are quite high, surprisingly, around here.

Yes my son was living with his Girlfriend in Coventry but they couldn't afford to buy a house there so they bought one over in Dudley Borough, he hated Coventry though as 'it was flat and no where to walk' lol

 

[tommytowne]

…I was very lucky to be one of the ‘final salary generation’ so was able to retire on a pleasant Civil Service pension and lump sum at 59. I genuinely feel for those who’ll have to work until state pension age.

Can I ask are you made out to be some sort of pariah for having such rewards?
I finished for the first time at 62 and scraped into being able to take my state pension at 65. I'm not sure if I'm lucky or just getting what I worked 50 plus years to obtain. I know for sure even members of my family begrudge what I get.

 

[Tipp blue]

I plan on working until 70, they've recently changed rules to allow this which will also give me a higher weekley pension, I have a job that will allow this physically so if I avoid ill health I'll keep going.. work in a post primary school so I have lengthy holidays and can do the things I want during these.

 

[Eggs]

Can I ask are you made out to be some sort of pariah for having such rewards?
I finished for the first time at 62 and scraped into being able to take my state pension at 65. I'm not sure if I'm lucky or just getting what I worked 50 plus years to obtain. I know for sure even members of my family begrudge what I get.

….some of the public are definitely against what is often called ‘gold plated pensions’, but as far as the Civil Service went you had to work 40 years to fully qualify. Most CS pensions are based on partial years and low levels of seniority. I had over 40 years service and reached a relatively senior grade.

Job security was a major plus but most years there was pay stagnation, so it was swings and roundabouts. None of my family or friends begrudged the positive financial position I put myself in.

 

[Joey66]

They reckon you have to put a 1/3 of your take home pay just to have a reasonable pension in the private sector - even final salary public pensions are now averaged out on your last 3 year's pay to stop the old nepotism of someone not suitable being vastly paywise upgraded to boost their pension as I seen it happen many times & even used as an excuse to the employee for the reason they never got the job it was almost the norm .....to get a top lump sun & 3/8ths of their final pay!

 

[Joey66]

….some of the public are definitely against what is often called ‘gold plated pensions’, but as far as the Civil Service went you had to work 40 years to fully qualify. Most CS pensions are based on partial years and low levels of seniority. I had over 40 years service and reached a relatively senior grade.

Job security was a major plus but most years there was pay stagnation, so it was swings and roundabouts. None of my family or friends begrudged the positive financial position I put myself in.

Is it correct civil servants don't pay Amy % the whole working life?
I was fortunate & I paid 6% every week

 

[roydo]

….some of the public are definitely against what is often called ‘gold plated pensions’, but as far as the Civil Service went you had to work 40 years to fully qualify. Most CS pensions are based on partial years and low levels of seniority. I had over 40 years service and reached a relatively senior grade.

Job security was a major plus but most years there was pay stagnation, so it was swings and roundabouts. None of my family or friends begrudged the positive financial position I put myself in.

From my experience in the industry, the angst from non CS folk wasnt the fact you get them, it was more that many in the CS have little idea how good they are, compared to others, nor who actually pay for most of them.

See the anger at Truss getting a pension for life after 44 days. (Its an allowance actually). Its kinda the same. Personally, I havnt got an issue with it, other than when senior folk get an engineered promotion 3 years before retirement, although that is slowly being addressed into average salary rather than final. The vast, vast majority of public sector employees are not "that" well paid.

 

[Eggs]

From my experience in the industry, the angst from non CS folk wasnt the fact you get them, it was more that many in the CS have little idea how good they are, compared to others, nor who actually pay for most of them.

See the anger at Truss getting a pension for life after 44 days. (It’s an allowance actually). It’s kinda the same. Personally, I havnt got an issue with it, other than when senior folk get an engineered promotion 3 years before retirement, although that is slowly being addressed into average salary rather than final. The vast, vast majority of public sector employees are not "that" well paid.

….you were a great sounding board offering sound advice when I had choices to make with my deal (the CS can be negotiated for a higher lump sum or pension). Mine has worked out great, Mrs Eggs retired on the back of my pension when she was 58 and we froze her CS pension until she reached 60 to maximise the amount.

 

[roydo]

….you were a great sounding board offering sound advice when I had choices to make with my deal (the CS can be negotiated for a higher lump sum or pension). Mine has worked out great, Mrs Eggs retired on the back of my pension when she was 58 and we froze her CS pension until she reached 60 to maximise the amount.

Bird in the hand wasnt it? If you live to 98, chances are I would have been wrong, strictly on a £££ basis. Said the same to my old man about 10 years ago. His was a pretty large monthly increase, in return for no more increases. At the end of the day, its a bet you take when offered a deal.

Turned out I was judged to be a dependent of Nikkis, even though we were not married. The offer? £520 a year, or £11000 (taxable) lump sum. If I live to 80, I will be better off. Guess what option I took though?

 

[tommytowne]

….some of the public are definitely against what is often called ‘gold plated pensions’, but as far as the Civil Service went you had to work 40 years to fully qualify. Most CS pensions are based on partial years and low levels of seniority. I had over 40 years service and reached a relatively senior grade.

Job security was a major plus but most years there was pay stagnation, so it was swings and roundabouts. None of my family or friends begrudged the positive financial position I put myself in.

My last job was with a large insurance company based in Liverpool. When I started I was part of a final salary, non contribution scheme. How good was that! It was always suspected, later confirmed that salaries were artificially about 6% lower than market averages to fund that.
Mid nineties the pension world turned on its head and we started paying that 6%. That still wasn't enough so the final salary scheme closed and replaced with a CARE scheme. Bottom line meaning having started work the difference after almost 30 years service my expected pension fell from 50% of final salary to under 30%. Quite a hit.

 

[roydo]

My last job was with a large insurance company based in Liverpool. When I started I was part of a final salary, non contribution scheme. How good was that! It was always suspected, later confirmed that salaries were artificially about 6% lower than market averages to fund that.
Mid nineties the pension world turned on its head and we started paying that 6%. That still wasn't enough so the final salary scheme closed and replaced with a CARE scheme. Bottom line meaning having started work the difference after almost 30 years service my expected pension fell from 50% of final salary to under 30%. Quite a hit.

A little known fact. If you have a deferred FS pension, (seems you have), it will sit on the company's books as a bad thing. A future liability. At some point, they may look to get rid, and make it worth your while. And if interest start to dive, that liability becomes bigger and bigger.

I wont reveal the real figures, but similar happened to me. The transfer value to get rid rose 6 fold in 24 months to make the decision a pretty easy one to make. See the post about Nikkis pension I got. It is all about asset matching and liability management.