The Retirement Thread

[screenman]

You'll not sleep tonight now.

You were right.

 

[Drago]

I have risen! 1st!

 

[Mo1959]

Morning. A cool 8 degrees here but looks like a nice dry day.

Bit later this morning as my bed was so cosy.

 

[Chief Broom]

Morning folks quite parky and getting autumnal, the rowans are looking good with their berries. A rest day for my creaky legs but will be out tomorrow. Have to walk down the shops to get a local newspaper for an old dear who lives across the way, think she scans the obituaries to see who she knows has snuffed it

 

[PaulSB]

Many years ago I checked and I was told that I had full contributions as I had 40 years - so no problems with pension

SInce then I have checked again - just to see - and found out that I was behind and would NOT get a full pensions
because I have not contributed since I retired so I am supposed to pay that as well

Oh - and another thing

My wife wants to check he pension stuff
but to do so she needs to log onto the government gateway
which she can;t as she doesn;t have the necessary documentation
She has a passport and she has an NHS pension and all the details
but that is not enough

apparently she has to ring the help line and they can talk her through it but she has tried that once and got nowhere
it does seem to take some effort and determination to get it all sorted at times



Things are not always how they appear - best to check - then check again

I can't recall what's needed to get a gateway account but I do recall it was a PIA.

Sorry Paul. This is not my understanding.

With some exceptions, if you have 35 FULL years of NI contributions you will receive the FULL New State Pension.

There is also no 'value' judgement made other than accounting for any SERPS/S2P.

I know this has been discussed a number of times on the Board with similar responses but...

... if you have any links to what you believe to be correct perhaps you could share them.

No, I don't have any links. I'm happy to accept my understanding is wrong and yours is correct. This transition period is throwing up many, many different scenarios. I think, well hope, I've always been clear my remarks are based on my experience. I look after the household finances, Mrs P has no interest, and with us both retiring had to carefully monitor what would happen when and keep our financial position up to date. With Mrs P's SP I would check .gov.uk from time to time, at least annually, to see her position. This always showed 41 years of contributions, the "missing" years, each of these was post her retirement at 60. Other than checking the .gov.uk website to check the forecast "value"** I was unable to find any intelligible, understandable information. Your earlier link was very good.

Mrs P was contracted out of SERPS/S2P with the NHS. I also contracted out, for a period, to Standard Life. At retirement I received the full SP despite retiring 4 years before my SP date and receive ADS despite being contracted out. I imagine the ADS is reduced. Overall I feel we and most of the people we know are in a crossover period and we each have different experiences. I know several women who retired early from the NHS and all found themselves having to purchase additional years to get the full SP.

It's a minefield. My overall advice to anyone would be to treat everything one reads with great caution. Please don't think I'm dismissing your link. Set up a .gov.uk account (which is useful for many things) and check what the DWP are offering. Sure as eggs are eggs the only figure of any relevance is what the DWP say one will be paid.

**By value I didn't mean "value judgement" but "value" in monetary terms, how much Mrs P would be paid and what would be its cash value.

In Mrs P's case buying the additional years proved a very sound investment. When we made decision the payback period (return of capital after the initial purchase) was, I think, 39 months. With the recent huge leap in SP that reduced to around 26 months. The return on investment would be hard to beat.

 

[Mo1959]

Morning folks quite parky and getting autumnal, the rowans are looking good with their berries. A rest day for my creaky legs but will be out tomorrow. Have to walk down the shops to get a local newspaper for an old dear who lives across the way, think she scans the obituaries to see who she knows has snuffed it

My dad used to do that too. I think it’s mainly the over 70s that still seem to like getting a paper. Last time I checked they were getting really expensive and not worth it. I’ll just stick to checking the BBC website. I can just read the lies there.

 

[Dave7]

Blimey, I thought you were a lot younger than 68, same age as me.

Sorry...... Technical error there.
I am nearly 78.....not 68.
Born 1947.

 

[Mo1959]

Someone give me a kick please. Still sitting on this iPad on a beautiful morning. Really must get out.

 

[BoldonLad]

Sorry...... Technical error there.
I am nearly 78.....not 68.
Born 1947.

Good vintage 1947 😊

 

[PaulSB]

Good morning. The sky looks beautiful and the forecast is good. We have #2 granddaughter for the day. This is the first trial run for when she starts coming weekly. As #1 small person she loves to be outside watching trees, flowers and listening to the sounds. I predict much pram pushing. #2 learned to walk on Monday!!! Cue panic stations. 😲

I've washed the duvet cover and wrestled with the clean one........the duvet cover won and I left it to Mrs P. She won!!! Waiting to see if I'm successful in the ballot to enter today's pre-sale of Oasis tickets........life is just too exciting. I'm going to hang the duvet cover, that'll learn it................on the line.

Take care and behave

 

[PaulSB]

Someone give me a kick please. Still sitting on this iPad on a beautiful morning. Really must get out.

👟👟

 

[Dave7]

Hello the house!!!
A normal Friday beckons with the addition of dew on the grass.
Cleaner is due at 10. I go to the pub with my friend/neighbour at 1300. Will then get stuck into a novel I am reading (by Peter Robinson) which tbh is proving hard work.
Have you seen the long term forecast? 8 days of rain

 

[Dave7]

Someone give me a kick please. Still sitting on this iPad on a beautiful morning. Really must get out.

Everyone, please form an orderly queue.

 

[welsh dragon]

Cooooeee. A chilly 9 deg here but it's supposed to be another nice day here.

Stay safe peeps

 

[welsh dragon]

And as usual the reason I couldn't get the bag out of the vacuum cleaner was user error. DER