The Retirement Thread

[Flick of the Elbow]

Good morning all, cool, sunny and breezy here.

 

[Paulus]

Good morning all.
Another sunny day here.
The bedding will be going into the washing machine as it's a good drying day.
The normal dog walking soon and there is an escape committee meeting this afternoon at the Railway Bell.
I'll catch up with the Vuelta this evening, but there will be no bike riding for me today.
Tomorrow we are off to Littlehampton on the train. With the senior railcard Southern were doing a promotion and it was only £10 return. Millie loves going on the beach and it should be a lovely day, with fish and chips for tea before we come home.

 

[screenman]

Morning all, a lovely sunny morning and 9 degrees, it feels much warmer standing by the window.

 

[numbnuts]

Morning, CT Scan today and the car can have a good run as it is 60 + miles round trip.

 

[Dirk]

Morning all
Yay! Fish Friday!
Looks like being a very nice day.
We're off to park up at Blue Anchor at 10 am and will hop aboard the open top 'Exmoor Coaster' bus for f&c lunch in Lynmouth.
Our best mates are getting on the bus in Minehead to join us.
Should be a good day out.

 

[Drago]

The Mini goes later this morning and the VW camper arrives to take its place.

 

[Dave7]

Good morning all.
Milie loves going on the beach and it should be a lovely day, with fish and chips for tea before we come home.

What is everybody else eating ?

 

[Mo1959]

👟👟

Thanks. It worked. Just 5 miles mostly walking with some gentle jogging. It’s a gorgeous morning here. A good nip in the air which I like. Makes exercising more comfortable for me.

 

[Dave7]

My cleaner just messaged me to say she will be late as her son is coughing and vomiting
I told her to forget it!!!
Last thing I want is to get the lurgy.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Well - we have the kids again

all are up so I am as well
all are fed - I think - middle one has gone from "needing" 2 sausages to wanting raspberries instead
well strawberries were first but when I said we had raspberries then he was happy with them
(he is SEN so can be strange)
but I have always had the idea that if a kid asks for something healthy then they get it - and he was getting a bit of a tummy on him!!!


oldest wanted toast in the shape of a tiger - which I did
it did require some use of imagination and she rolled her eyes but it did work (she is 11 - rolling he eyes is in preparation for teenagehood)


anyway 3 year old (nearly 4) had raspberries first (there were for him anyway) followed by porrige


so we are all sorted
SWMBO is still asleep - so all went smoothly


now I just have to get them all dressed and washed and take them out for a walk - I think it will be the Deep Dark Wood on the Fairy Path
(SPike Island for those that know this area)

School starts for the eldest 2 on Tuesday
Youngest has an hour in Nursery next week and then starts full time in a few weeks

I presume that I will be asked to pick him up - and his cousin "as I am there anyway" but that will have to wait as we are away in Scotland soon on a boat


now - one two three - yup started with 3 and still 3 here - probably the same ones
so all OK so far

 

[SpokeyDokey]

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


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.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply Paul.

It is indeed a minefield, especially trying to unravel the DWP explanatory blurb.

As you rightly say, the best thing, and something everybody must do, is to track their DWP forecast on an ongoing basis.

Mine, as you would expect it to be, was spot-on as far as I could determine. I get the full New State Pension plus around £3500 for Additional State Pension minus £1200 for a contracted out period. Overall not too bad. My only beef is that the DWP cannot, or will not, reveal how the mechanics of the contracted out deduction work. Much has been made of this online - to no avail, though!

Mrs SD, who has not paid NI for some time (she is 61) will get the full New State Pension as per her DWP forecast. She has her 35 years. Although she now has to wait until she is 67. Cest la vie. Doesn't really make much difference to our life tbh.

***

For those of you struggling to open a Gateway account to get a forecast you can use Gov' form BR19 to get a written forecast. Here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-a-state-pension-statement

 

[Mo1959]

Bloody idiot! I couldn’t have clicked the top back properly on my oat milk. Took it out of the fridge to put in my tea and gave it a good shake as usual. Ooops.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Bloody idiot! I couldn’t have clicked the top back properly on my oat milk. Took it out of the fridge to put in my tea and gave it a good shake as usual. Ooops.

Aaaaargh!

 

[welsh dragon]

I got a letter telling me I might be in line for HRP home responsibility payments, in other words I might get a bit more because I stayed at home looking after my kids before going back to work and the DWP should have credited me for that time but didn't. I went online, filled in the questionnaire and got a reference number. Now all I have to do us wait, and wait apparently. Some have been waiting over a year for an answer. I won't hold me breath then.

 

[Mo1959]

I got a letter telling me I might be in line for HRP home responsibility payments, in other words I might get a bit more because I stayed at home looking after my kids before going back to work and the DWP should have credited me for that time but didn't. I went online, filled in the questionnaire and got a reference number. Now all I have to do us wait, and wait apparently. Some have been waiting over a year for an answer. I won't hold me breath then.

You never know. It will be a nice little bonus if you do. Think how many pairs of jeans you can buy! 👖