Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Vamps]

If I take early retirement, and in theory I will have 8 working years left, can I sign on? thinking to keep my stamp up........

It would be my plan to do some form of part time work to boost my pension, but just wondered; Can I actually sign on as unemployed and get benefits? I have worked since I was 14 years of age, so due something back........

[zirk]

If I take early retirement, and in theory I will have 8 working years left, can I sign on? thinking to keep my stamp up........

It would be my plan to do some form of part time work to boost my pension, but just wondered; Can I actually sign on as unemployed and get benefits? I have worked since I was 14 years of age, so due something back........

I think it depends on a few factors, Age, how much you have paid towards your NI, how much you have in the Bank, Savings etc, Ive never signed on in my life, but seem to remember if you have more than 16k hanging around you cant claim anything, could be wrong, might be that acepting early retiment, ie, you get your pension, you have effectivly put yourself out of work, so could be some time scales inviled, beforeyou can claim anything at all.

If your PAYE, would have though your Company should be able to answer all this, if SE, and you become Self Unemployed  then CIB should be able to help somehow 

[sjr47]

Are we talking private pension or state pension ? Been looking at the same thing myself recently had  a very good non contributary final salary pension up to 8 year ago would have paid 2 thirds of my salary on retirement paid up for 24 yrs alas changed to a defined contribution one 8 yrs ago where I now pay 3% of my salary and am a bloody lot worse of !! Looked in to buying a annuity now but no where near enough pennies even with a part time job to back it up I reckon you need a pot of at least  250K these days to live comfortably in early retirement as a lot of pension defined benefits are not available belive pension rules are changing next April so gonna look again then. O well keep doing Euromillions 

[Varche]

There are two considerations here.

State old age pension. You will get that age 65 ( older for younger folk). You used to get the full amount if you had "worked" (student, signed on or employed) for 44 years I think. If you had only done say 40 years you would get 40/44ths of the amount index linked ad infinitum. That changed recently to only 30 years. However it is due to go up to 35 with the raft of changes coming through which include women age going from 60 to 65-67

Occupational pension. You need to check with your work pension but it might be number of complete years divided by 80 multiplied by your final salary. Worth getting your leaving date right to bag a full year. Many schemes allow you to take up to 25% of your "pot" as a cash sum (you can squander that on a Ferrari) with the rest paid to you as a monthly salary till death. You can exercise your right to that from age 50 but the earlier you take it the slightly lower your monthly salary will be.

I suspect that if you worked since man and boy you will derive zero benefit from signing on. Just my gut feeling. You won't be refused NHS health and you won't qualify for an cash other than maybe something like job seekers allowance for a few weeks. Your state pension wouldn't be any less than the maximum under current legislation. It could all change in the next 8 years of course.....

I talked to a friend recently and asked him why he had resigned from his job that he didn't enjoy. The trigger had been the death of his sister who went from being very active to dead in just a few months from cancer. He is managing and makes a small amount each month from photography. Another friend left the NHS under voluntary redundancy and now has three part time jobs. All of which he enjoys. He is a VIP usher for a Premier football club on home games, a specialist photographer and a delivery driver. 

You are doing the right thing with research. Yougov do some excellent websites and you could speak to them to clarify the signing on element or perhaps visit your local employment office. Then go for it!

[pscocoa]

I could retire but the things I am involved in are interesting and my wife is into grandkids big time such that plans you might have made a few years ago would not quite work out - eg living elsewhere, travel etc. I have seen this with friends who find the impact of grandkids such that you no longer wish to live away from families.

In short what will you do if you retire - if the job is getting you down then find another, if it is just the concept of being retired early then just look at all the implications.

I think the 25 per cent lump sum tax free finishes next April and is replaced by a system where everything you draw down is 25 per cent free of tax. I need to check out whether I should draw down 25 per cent before April but do not take a pension from that pot. I am sure there is a catch there and I definitely do not want an annuity.

[Entwood]

AFAIK - and no exert on this, but speaking from personal experience...  If you are drawing a pension then you have an income so are not allowed to sign on for many benefits. There is, somewhere a figure below which this rule does not apply .. it all depends on your Income (pension) and capital (savings/house value etc)

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/benefits_e/faq_index_benefits/faq_benefits_benefits_for_pensioners.htm

[Marks DTM Calib]

If you have any money in the bank then you will only get the basic job seekers allowance......if you have any form of income you get nothing.

[Vamps]

Thank you for your comments, seems a bit of a minefield, but I intend to speak with the company that looks after our pensions, seems that if I decide to retire I also need to think about an annual pension, with a lump sum or taking a full lump sum and that's it!........

I have a number of option  post retirement, I could leave it a month or two and go and work for an agency, doing the same Job, but for more money, but it is the job I need to get away from.

Lots of Jobs going that I could do, or I could do my CPC and do some HGV/PSV driving........all thing to be pondered over.........

[LC0112G]

Occupational pension. You need to check with your work pension but it might be number of complete years divided by 80 multiplied by your final salary. Worth getting your leaving date right to bag a full year. Many schemes allow you to take up to 25% of your "pot" as a cash sum (you can squander that on a Ferrari) with the rest paid to you as a monthly salary till death.

It is usually a very bad idea to take the 25% cash (Pension Commencement Lump Sum) from a Defined Benefit/Final Salary pension. The reason is that the typical commutation rate is 12:1. That means you only have to live 12 years to get the equivalent amount in additional pension payments. After that you're quids in. The average life expectancy is now pushing 85, so someone retiring early can expect to live for 30 odd years.  Also the pension in payments index linked, so will rise over time.

You can exercise your right to that from age 50 but the earlier you take it the slightly lower your monthly salary will be.

For most people, the minimum retirement age was raised to 55 a few years back. And there is usually a 5% per year early reduction in payments - so if normal scheme retirement age is 65, and you take it at 55, your monthly payment could be reduced by a whopping 50%.

There are a few exceptions - like if your family has a history of early death - but on average it's best to wait as long as possible before taking a defined benefit pension, and don't take the lump sum if you don't have to.

This is a critical decision that will affect your quality of life for the rest of your life. Do not rush into a decision, and I'd suggest you seek professional advice from an IFA. You can search for one at www.unbiased.com.

[LC0112G]

I think the 25 per cent lump sum tax free finishes next April and is replaced by a system where everything you draw down is 25 per cent free of tax. I need to check out whether I should draw down 25 per cent before April but do not take a pension from that pot. I am sure there is a catch there and I definitely do not want an annuity.

The 25% lump sum is not being ended. From next April you can choose to either have the 25% tax free as one lump on day one, or take 25% of each monthly payment tax free. You do not have to buy an annuity - you haven't had to since 2006. Google drawdown, capped drawdown and phased drawdown.

However, you should note that your current pension company does not HAVE to offer all the options legally allowed. So if you want to use one of these new pension drawdown methods then you may have to move you pension pot to a new provider that does offer these facilities.

If you are prepared to research and learn all the possibilities, then most of it can be done DIY. I would suggest keeping a close eye on the moneysavingexpert forums' pension board. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19 . However, if you can't put in the work they you would be foolish to not employ an IFA.