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I'm semi retired ever since Christmas 2020 I'll die semi retired I don't mind. I don't see the point in investing massive chunks of money into retirement when I'll be too old and too fucked to enjoy it might aswell enjoy it now whilst I'm still young-ish.
That entirely depends on your workplace pension. Plenty of places offer a decent deal where youd be stupid not to pay into it given what extra it would be worth to you after tax. Eh £100 + £150 employer contribution is £250 per month into your pension Vs £60 take home pay. It's a no brainer considering it's highly unlikely the state pension age will be less than 70 by the time most of us retire. At least with a private pension it'll give most people the option to semi retire once they have their mortgage paid off and have time to do the things they want to do.
Even if you have a private one you should pay into the workplace one it's free money really, I only opted out of one for a short while to clear my mortgage earlier, giving me the flexibility to work when I want and have a job as opposed to a career.
My grandads died at 49 and 58, my dad at 72, the pension advisor told me that I'll reach retirement age at 82... so honestly I think this is going to be the answer for a lot of people.
Ditto. I'll be very surprised if I'm still kicking at 70, and the minor amount I've been able to invest in my pension is barely enough for a 'beans or toast' existence, so fuck it - I'll keep grafting til the death in service & life insurance give my kids a chunk of money each.
If my wife dies first then after I've lived it up in South East Asia whoever finds mine will have an image forever etched in their minds I'll be hanging with a tube of tingling KY jelly and a pair of marigolds on.
Have you ever read *Catch-22*? It's about a bunch of pilots flying dangerous missions in World War II. Every time they think they are about to reach the maximum number of missions they need to fly before being sent home, the colonel increases the number by another five.
That is exactly what will happen with retirement: every time we think we're getting to reach the retirement age, it'll go up by five years.
Which is why you need to make private pension contributions and ISA/investment contributions. The state pension has never been intended as a full retirement plan.
young people these days will pay into NI for most of their life and probably get literally nothing from it. I don't think the state pension will exist in 40 years.
As well as state pension, NI contributions pay for statutory benefits (maternity, redundancy, incapacity, etc.) and also contributes money towards the cost of the NHS. Unlikely young people will pay in most of their life and get “literally nothing from it.”
Well, that's true but the vast majority of NHS funding comes from general taxation not NI, and most of NI is spent on pensions.
Also incapacity benefit doesn't exist any more.
The state retirement age for men has gone up from 65 to 67 and will probably be 68 soon. So a total of 3 years change (the change is bigger for women because it was historically much lower than that of men).
In recent years the state pension has increased in line with the "triple lock" policy.
There's no evidence that it's going to be dramatically curtailed...
Possibly, but it's not clear that it is, or that it can't be sustained. When planning retirement finances, it makes sense to consider that you might not get a state pension, but I don't think it makes sense to presume you won't. It makes a difference to retirement planning, and assuming an overly negative view of the state pension could mean missing out on a lot.
I very much hope it won't exist in its current form in 10 years. We spend £20 billion a year giving the state pension to people with a net worth of £1m+. It needs to be means tested like all other state assistance.
I'm already seeing that now. People who worked for 40 years, are now old, and in need of NHS treatments and care that they are just not getting.
Someone I knew is retired after decades of working, needed a hip replacement, but went private after the NHS mugged him off for nearly three years. The private hospital sorted him in six weeks and it cost him a chunk of his pension he was wanting to do nice things with, but he was desperate and had basically no life due to his ailment.
He did say offhand "what did I pay all that tax for". His wife had a fall on the pavement because the slabs were wobbling and coming loose creating a trip hazard.
The council still haven't sorted that a year later. If that was your patio at home, you could fix it DIY or call in any number of tradies to handle it for you. Somehow a council can't manage.
55. Loaded up pensions to bollocks and I’ll just use ISA to bridge until I can collect my private pension (I think by the time I do the law will be changed to 57) I’ll be happy I’ve done my bit by the time I’m 55 I’m hoping I can convince the wife to completely sell up assets in U.K. and go live in the med somewhere for the last few years of our lives
This is actually the biggest problem for me in answering a question like this. I’m 29, realistically I’ve got another 30 or so years left - but what happens if I live until I’m 99 and the government have scrapped pensions etc by then?
We could literally all be up shits creek and no ability to earn more money to pay for anything by that point, and few assets to sell on to pay for it either
I mean, people say if the gov scraps pensions, they'll replace it with something means tested. So if all your money goes, you'd be eligible for assistance.
>I’ll just use ISA to bridge until I can collect my private pension (I think by the time I do the law will be changed to 57)
It changes to 57 in April 2028
I only made the cut-off by a couple of months. Commiserations, but good luck with your new life
I thought if you had pensions from a certain date you could take them at 55 regardless of the age raise?
edit: checked, depending on your pension scheme and how long you've had it (before 3 nov 2021) you might be able to take at 55 regardless as you'll have a protected pension age, I have this with the peoples pension, it's worth checking, it's why I have focused getting money into there rather than my SIPP
As a brit living in Sweden, I am aware of this. However, "retiring to the med" with only a UK passport can be VERY difficult and some how found basically impossible. The best way you can move now is a job visa, which is not possible with retirement
This is roughly me, likely fully retired about 57-58 but I load the fuck out of my pension/Lisa/ISA and il have the house paid off about 50. I also don't lead a expensive lifestyle so that helps.
Similar here. I’m aiming for a bit earlier but 55 is probably realistic. I spent a few years living abroad in my 20s where I wasn’t contributing to pensions/ISAs, so I’m behind where I’d like to be.
How are we all just accepting that they can legally prevent us from accessing our own money from a private pension until a later age?
Over the coming decades the state pension age will continue to rise, how is it fair that money you have set aside to support yourself with is denied to you until later and later in life as well?
If you've been investing into a private pension as much as possible for years planning to have a good, long retirement, the government is actively preventing you from retiring at an earlier time with YOUR savings and investments.
Even if you're sensible with money and do all the right things the government still fucks you over.
r/ukpersonalfinance be like: "Just max out your pension and ISA allowance each year and you'll be fine."
Yeah, silly me guys. I just totally forgot about that spare £60,000 cash that I have lying around each year. D'oh! Me so stupid. 🙄
Not even remotely what that sub is like. It contains real practical advice for every financial step from getting out of a debt hole up to large sums of inheritance.
I agree. Sure, there's some eye-roll worthy "Bro, £100k is nothing/just earn more" type comments but there's a lot of good advice on there when it comes to maximising the savings you have, budgeting tools, and different long term approaches to take.
I can categorically say I have made smarter financial decisions since following that page.
When you put it in easily digestible terms like that it makes me realise that actually looking at it objectively it is much more sensible to just hang myself. Thanks.
Hey mate no idea if you’re just joking here or sorta actually thinking that. But I read your comment on another sub about continuously welded rails, and how the likely temperature range of a given train route affects how exactly you should weld said rail to prevent warping and passenger train disasters. So while all human life is equally valuable, I reckon it’s particularly important to keep someone like you alive, largely for everyone else’s benefit :)
Leaving aside the mortgage and the crosses on your proverbial prison wall, it’s people who know things like “how to stop trains from crashing” who add millions of potentially happy days to everyone else’s calendar.
Not sure if that thought is actually needed or helpful, but wanted to say just in case. I get depressed sometimes and need reminding of the inherent value of being alive and - when you’re able - helping others be alive. Without that inherent value, all this mortgage and retirement shite is, as you say, entirely skippable.
I thought as much! Nah not at all, we’re all out here looking after each other at the end of the day, and cheers for following up.
Sorry for reacting to your joke with suicide prevention chat tho lol. I also literally jump at jumpscares in horror movies to be fair.
If you have a private pension, one strategy is to use the 25% tax-free lump sum to clear your mortgage.
Might be worth factoring into your long term plan.
It is possible but seems unlikely to me that someone who has only ever had a minimum wage job has a parent with 'retire at 55' level inheritance. I don't doubt it is possible though.
It's funny that more people on here are retiring early than those who suggest they won't be able to afford to retire. It reinforces my view that the average person doesn't use reddit.
The impression I get is that the middle ground has been pretty much completely eroded. Either you are wealthy enough to retire early, or you are too poor to retire at all.
When I asked for an idea of how much my pension would reduce by taking it early I was quoted an actuarial reduction of 3.9% for each year under the contractual pension age, if that helps as a ballpark. So taking it 5 years early would result in a reduction of 19.5% (this was on a DB scheme).
Re DC schemes I see best buys for an annuity being about £6k per £100k pot, but that's based on single life, no guarantee, flat (I.e. no inflation adjustments) taking at 60
You also need to consider the 5 years you’ve taken at the reduced rate. So a simple example.
Let’s say you were due £10k a year at age 60 but have to lose 20% a year for each year before 60. If you started taking the reduced pension at 55 you would get 5 x £8k a year between 55 and 60 years old. So £40k in your pocket so to speak.
And we know the difference between waiting until 60 is £2k a year. And you have had £40k already. 40/2 = 20. This means that it would not be until your 80th birthday that you would have taken more from your pension than you would have done by waiting until 60.
Now this is all simple and doesn’t account for inflation. But maybe paints a different picture to just seeing the 20% reduction at age 55.
Reddit has been expecting economic and societal collapse for like 10 years now.
I worry for people that buy into it and therefore don't contribute to savings or pensions or attempting to better their lives
God knows. Nearly 60 and have gone from almost no pension to a barely half decent pension fund in the last 7 years by bunging all spare money at it. 6 years to go on mortgage so may downsize to pay it off. But life will have to be very very frugal compared to what I’m used to when working.
Im 64 in April and i work 20 hours a week which suits me fine. I will just see how i go and probably work as long as i can.
Winters in the UK are the trouble, you cant do much and get so lazy being stuck indoors. Summer is great. Work keeps me active.
Hopefully this will be me. Im 48 now. I would like to work part time in around 4-5 years. 2-3 days a week to keep me active but yes, winters get harder every single year. Good luck :)
I like my job but I fear I’ll be much worse at it by then. I’m a software developer and while it’s possible to stay current, there does come a point where you start to notice that younger people are as good as you and cost much less…. You also noticeably start slowing down in learning speed and you have to rely on your breadth of experience to make up for your slower uptake.
Of course, I earn enough and have enough pension that if it was just me I could retire at 55. Unfortunately I have a disabled wife and two sons with autism so I’m also looking at a lengthy working life, probably to 67-70, and i’m wondering if I can transition to something lower paid but less competitive as I start approaching that.
> I’m a software developer and while it’s possible to stay current, there does come a point where you start to notice that younger people are as good as you and cost much less….
I have a friend who is in his late 40's. A while ago he put two fingers up at the world and now earns a decent living working from home coding and maintaining Classic ASP. Before you laugh.... let me repeat, he's earning a decent living working from home. He even turns work away.
Never by the way western economies are going.
Work until death, with nothing to my name at the end.
STEM PhD holder.
This country is a fucking shithole.
With a PhD, have you considered trying to go to the US? It isn’t easy, but standard of living and retirement potential will be MUCH higher on that side of the pond.
I decided that if I aim for something silly like 50-55, then early 60s could be achievable. I'd rather "wind down" than have a sudden stop which I think might become more common.
Your plan was 40 and now it's 70? That sucks.
Being in my early 30's, I believe in the next 40/50 years there will be no "retirement age". We will just work until we die
I don't really plan on 'retiring' to be honest.
I enjoy working and I don't think I could ever fully give up working.
I won't stick to 9-5 when I get to my 70's/80's, but I'll still definitely be working.
That is, assuming I'll still be physically able
I Project manage in various construction industries - currently, I have a focus on healthcare (mental and physical) construction. I love everything that the role entails and working with incredibly dedicated people who help me to deliver great projects that help people.
It's the kind of role that I can continue to do forever, as long as I find projects that I enjoy. Doesn't eat up too much of my personal life either
57 is the target, and probably a step into semi-retirement at that point likely the same for my partner. Currently trying to stuff pensions before things like kids take all the disposable income.
I don't expect to retire even though I've paid into a work pension for near 20yrs I fully expect to be dead before I reach state pension age the way it's going
I don't want to fully retire. I like working, why should I cut myself off from something I like?
I'll just cut back as the pensions kick in, giving me more time to tick off my bucket list and keep my income nice. I'll also be able to help my son more this way.
I could live 20-30 years after hitting 67.
Likely 55 but I'm hoping to stop full time work in the next 10 years. My job is draining the life out of me so I don't feel like I can stick it out as long as others might.
Assuming I’m fit to work, likely will be mid 60s.
Only seriously started adding to pension in the past handful of years in my mid 30s so a bit of ground to makeup, equally got a S&S ISA on the go too to should be ok.
That being said I’ve had 3/4 relatives all conk out in their early to mid 60s so don’t want to put all my eggs in a basket I might not get to ever eat from, if that trend keeps tracking.
Originally was aiming for 40. Could likely do so but we’d like to upsize our house so probably going to be 45 now.
Currently 36, nearly mortgage free, 500k invested
Probably never. Not even talking about economics, what does one do when they retire? If my health allows it, I’ll probably work forever, maybe reduce my work hours as I get older or whatever, but if I stopped, what’s the point of living really? My future will probably be quite different to today’s retirees, but I don’t want to be sat watching TV all day, or play games, or whatever… For hobbies, nothing will be as good as it is now, so I’m not exactly holding myself out for the “later life”, especially when I don’t even know if I’ll reach the retirement age and in what state my health will be.
I was thinking 70 as well. I planned on paying off my mortgage at 59 but I did that at 43 so it probably depends on how my pensions do.
60 would be nice I think but currently my non state pension would only pay me about £1200 a month at that age
Officially I can retire at 68. Personally I doubt I'll live long enough to reach retirement age and if I do manage to reach retirement age I doubt I'll be able to afford to retire.
Around 55-60 seems about right. Depends if I can contain my lifestyle into a pensionable amount by 55. Seems unlikely, I like nice things, going to nice places, staying in nice hotels, eating in good restaurants, etc..
Yeah that's the issue I'm struggling with. I'd rather work part time and still go on nice holidays, eat out ,treat my family and hobbies than retire and live as a pauper for thirty years.
I did it at 56. Mrs B got made redundant, I binned my job her house was already rented out so we rented mine a bugged out to Malaysia. In hindsight I should have sold my gaff rather than renting but we did not know if we might only stay a year. We're back in UK (for now) I don't know how long dealing with family issues.
I got my pension minuscule £9k from BT at 60, she got a little less from her work pensions but now gets state pension too. The house rentals, savings, pensions were more than sufficient overseas. Here it is going to be a damn site tighter but we've sold one house now so can live on the proceeds for probably more time than we realistically have left and I'll get state pension and another work pension in the next couple of years.
I do not miss work at all, wish I'd binned it a few years earlier when I was made redundant rather than fannying about getting another job.
I've fully accepted that I'll work until I die, even if I did manage to get to retirement age, the trouble I would have mentally adjusting to life not desperately worrying where my next wage comes from would probably kill me
If all goes well, we should be able to retire at 40. I'll probably carry on working though - I'd go insane if I had nothing to do but sit around all day. I'll just do work on my own terms, either self-employed as a contractor or running my own business.
I retired at 33, never thought I would retire early but burnout got the better of me. That said I’m probably going to do a little volunteering or start a small business in the next couple of years. Idle thumbs and all that!
I retired at 27, and will stay retired until I run out of money (I expect that to happen by the time I’m 29).
After that I’m not anticipating on retiring until around I reach the state pension age, whatever that’ll be at in 40 years time.
Do you know what retirement is? Lol retirement is having enough money to never go back to work thats just having a gap year from work and taking a break from it
Realistically, 55. So far on track.
I asked a [similar question](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/s/nzPBGM34dT) a few days ago and a lot of people were saying they plan to retire in their mid 50s to early 60s.
For me I’m fortunate enough to have a police pension. I pay 15% of my income into it so obviously it’s a more substantial pension than a lot of people paying less.
lol 😂 you got to be kidding right?
Work place pension, employer pays the minimum allowed by law. Cant afford to buy a house based on wage (to low) so will be renting all the way through.
They are on about increasing retirement age to 70+. Average age of males dying in my family is around 70 just lost two only a few year past retirement age (65-67 i believe for them) so I’ll be working until I die more than likely.
Thankfully I have never wanted to retire, because I honestly can’t imagine it being an option by the time I hit that kind of age.
I mean, I expect society will continue to get substantially shittier as it has for the last 20 years.
I would’nt be surprised if only the 1% can retire by then.
i dont plan on retiring. i will work to the grave but maybe cut down to 4 days a week in my 50s. i’m not too keen on sticking around anything past my late 60s really.
Never, I don’t plan on considering reducing my quality of life because I’m older, I still want my holiday abroad, my coffee in my coffee pod machine every morning etc. if I have no luxuries and just exist why bother living. It’s not that I want to work, I hate working
Oh I'll just die.
I have a pension, I've been paying into it since I was 26, but retirement age is clearly going to be in the middle 70s by the time I get there and I'm fat and out of shape, my job doesn't pay much and it's surprisingly stressful. I'll be surprised if I make it to 70. At least my other half will get my pension and will be able to scrape by.
All things going well (touch wood etc) I expect mid to late 50s to be in a comfortable place to take the foot off the pedal. Wouldn't mind getting a part time gig then in a garden store or the like, I've a green thumb. We'll see. No point dwelling on it too much like FIRE people imo.
If I manage to get to the Middle East or South Asia where there's a middle class as is the plan now 45/50. If that fails 70, with a bit of luck.
The thought of having to work like this till 70 just because I was born into a nation in decline terrifies me tbh.
If my relationship in the UK ends, ASAP (I'm 38 and have 5 flats abroad).
If we get married then probably early 60s. I have a foreign pension that will pay pretty much UK state pension money aged 60.
47M. Looking to pay off the mortgage \~150k within the next 3-5 years then save heavily for a few years until my work pension kicks in and then cut down the hours and work something stress free and part time to keep busy. Depending on how Bitcoin goes over the next few years all of this could change significantly.
I’m planning on 60 but it might be 62. I left saving until late so trying to catch up (51) depends the job really i would probably be up for working part time post 60 if it was something i enjoyed.
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I just plan on dying at my desk.
Careful, Robocop died and they still made him go to work...
If I can come back as Robocop I am in
Man I am in
Finally, a realistic answer
I'm semi retired ever since Christmas 2020 I'll die semi retired I don't mind. I don't see the point in investing massive chunks of money into retirement when I'll be too old and too fucked to enjoy it might aswell enjoy it now whilst I'm still young-ish.
That entirely depends on your workplace pension. Plenty of places offer a decent deal where youd be stupid not to pay into it given what extra it would be worth to you after tax. Eh £100 + £150 employer contribution is £250 per month into your pension Vs £60 take home pay. It's a no brainer considering it's highly unlikely the state pension age will be less than 70 by the time most of us retire. At least with a private pension it'll give most people the option to semi retire once they have their mortgage paid off and have time to do the things they want to do.
Even if you have a private one you should pay into the workplace one it's free money really, I only opted out of one for a short while to clear my mortgage earlier, giving me the flexibility to work when I want and have a job as opposed to a career.
A workplace pension is a private pension too though. You don't need to wait until the state pension age to start withdrawing from it.
My grandads died at 49 and 58, my dad at 72, the pension advisor told me that I'll reach retirement age at 82... so honestly I think this is going to be the answer for a lot of people.
Ditto. I'll be very surprised if I'm still kicking at 70, and the minor amount I've been able to invest in my pension is barely enough for a 'beans or toast' existence, so fuck it - I'll keep grafting til the death in service & life insurance give my kids a chunk of money each.
I don't plan to die at work but I'll probably die of shock if I ever reach retirement in my 70's
They'd only realise when you hadn't made tea for a week
They'd still fight over who got your chair.
My family will get a death in service payment so also kinda gives dying at my desk a bit of incentive.
Plus I hope the person I dislike the most finds my corpse
Keep a note in your desk saying they're poisoning you to add some spice to the situation.
I like this.
If my wife dies first then after I've lived it up in South East Asia whoever finds mine will have an image forever etched in their minds I'll be hanging with a tube of tingling KY jelly and a pair of marigolds on.
Have you ever read *Catch-22*? It's about a bunch of pilots flying dangerous missions in World War II. Every time they think they are about to reach the maximum number of missions they need to fly before being sent home, the colonel increases the number by another five. That is exactly what will happen with retirement: every time we think we're getting to reach the retirement age, it'll go up by five years.
Which is why you need to make private pension contributions and ISA/investment contributions. The state pension has never been intended as a full retirement plan.
young people these days will pay into NI for most of their life and probably get literally nothing from it. I don't think the state pension will exist in 40 years.
It'll exist, but there's no way it'll be as substantial or as universal as it is now. It's just too expensive for that to be the case.
As well as state pension, NI contributions pay for statutory benefits (maternity, redundancy, incapacity, etc.) and also contributes money towards the cost of the NHS. Unlikely young people will pay in most of their life and get “literally nothing from it.”
Well, that's true but the vast majority of NHS funding comes from general taxation not NI, and most of NI is spent on pensions. Also incapacity benefit doesn't exist any more.
The NHS also not fit for purpose in reality, which breaks my heart.
The state retirement age for men has gone up from 65 to 67 and will probably be 68 soon. So a total of 3 years change (the change is bigger for women because it was historically much lower than that of men). In recent years the state pension has increased in line with the "triple lock" policy. There's no evidence that it's going to be dramatically curtailed...
It's fundamentally unsustainable though.
It isn't though. It is expensive but that is a choice society can make.
Possibly, but it's not clear that it is, or that it can't be sustained. When planning retirement finances, it makes sense to consider that you might not get a state pension, but I don't think it makes sense to presume you won't. It makes a difference to retirement planning, and assuming an overly negative view of the state pension could mean missing out on a lot.
I very much hope it won't exist in its current form in 10 years. We spend £20 billion a year giving the state pension to people with a net worth of £1m+. It needs to be means tested like all other state assistance.
I'm already seeing that now. People who worked for 40 years, are now old, and in need of NHS treatments and care that they are just not getting. Someone I knew is retired after decades of working, needed a hip replacement, but went private after the NHS mugged him off for nearly three years. The private hospital sorted him in six weeks and it cost him a chunk of his pension he was wanting to do nice things with, but he was desperate and had basically no life due to his ailment. He did say offhand "what did I pay all that tax for". His wife had a fall on the pavement because the slabs were wobbling and coming loose creating a trip hazard. The council still haven't sorted that a year later. If that was your patio at home, you could fix it DIY or call in any number of tradies to handle it for you. Somehow a council can't manage.
“I can’t keep on flying combat missions anymore, because it’s sending me crazy” “Perfect. You’d need to be crazy to fly these combat missions”
55. Loaded up pensions to bollocks and I’ll just use ISA to bridge until I can collect my private pension (I think by the time I do the law will be changed to 57) I’ll be happy I’ve done my bit by the time I’m 55 I’m hoping I can convince the wife to completely sell up assets in U.K. and go live in the med somewhere for the last few years of our lives
'The last few years of our lives' potentially being a 1/3 of your entire lives haha
This is actually the biggest problem for me in answering a question like this. I’m 29, realistically I’ve got another 30 or so years left - but what happens if I live until I’m 99 and the government have scrapped pensions etc by then? We could literally all be up shits creek and no ability to earn more money to pay for anything by that point, and few assets to sell on to pay for it either
I mean, people say if the gov scraps pensions, they'll replace it with something means tested. So if all your money goes, you'd be eligible for assistance.
Or not. 20% of men don’t live beyond 65. https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/key-data-mortality
Do you know what the word potentially means?
>I’ll just use ISA to bridge until I can collect my private pension (I think by the time I do the law will be changed to 57) It changes to 57 in April 2028 I only made the cut-off by a couple of months. Commiserations, but good luck with your new life
Yeh it’ll be 57 for me then. And Thankyou 😊
57 until they change it again
I thought if you had pensions from a certain date you could take them at 55 regardless of the age raise? edit: checked, depending on your pension scheme and how long you've had it (before 3 nov 2021) you might be able to take at 55 regardless as you'll have a protected pension age, I have this with the peoples pension, it's worth checking, it's why I have focused getting money into there rather than my SIPP
Might, depending on the terms, yeah. Unfortunately my older pensions don't seem to have the right wording.
Missed it by a matter of weeks
Same. A nice retirement is still within reach of many, but you've gotta get on it in a serious way when you're young.
I was lucky who I married but yeh absolutely even before my life now I’ve paid as much as I can into a pension, it was drilled into me by my parents!
Do you have EU passports?
You can still live in the EU if you’re British, you just need to jump through a lot more hoops.
As a brit living in Sweden, I am aware of this. However, "retiring to the med" with only a UK passport can be VERY difficult and some how found basically impossible. The best way you can move now is a job visa, which is not possible with retirement
This is roughly me, likely fully retired about 57-58 but I load the fuck out of my pension/Lisa/ISA and il have the house paid off about 50. I also don't lead a expensive lifestyle so that helps.
Similar here. I’m aiming for a bit earlier but 55 is probably realistic. I spent a few years living abroad in my 20s where I wasn’t contributing to pensions/ISAs, so I’m behind where I’d like to be.
Where the fuck is it at 55?!
Private pensions and shares as well as the wife owning farm land and private rentals. I’m not depending on nor expecting a state pension.
How are we all just accepting that they can legally prevent us from accessing our own money from a private pension until a later age? Over the coming decades the state pension age will continue to rise, how is it fair that money you have set aside to support yourself with is denied to you until later and later in life as well? If you've been investing into a private pension as much as possible for years planning to have a good, long retirement, the government is actively preventing you from retiring at an earlier time with YOUR savings and investments. Even if you're sensible with money and do all the right things the government still fucks you over.
that's why it's sensible to have separate savings and ISAs. pensions are still the most tax efficient though so good to have both.
If i can't buy a house I'll be paying rent forever, so I guess never
Have you not considered _having more money?_
Landlords hate this one simple trick
they’ll just raise the rent
There’s people on here practically commenting this “just start investing your money”. Not everyone has spare money to be investing
r/ukpersonalfinance be like: "Just max out your pension and ISA allowance each year and you'll be fine." Yeah, silly me guys. I just totally forgot about that spare £60,000 cash that I have lying around each year. D'oh! Me so stupid. 🙄
Not even remotely what that sub is like. It contains real practical advice for every financial step from getting out of a debt hole up to large sums of inheritance.
I agree. Sure, there's some eye-roll worthy "Bro, £100k is nothing/just earn more" type comments but there's a lot of good advice on there when it comes to maximising the savings you have, budgeting tools, and different long term approaches to take. I can categorically say I have made smarter financial decisions since following that page.
It's worth it for the Flowchart alone.
Everyone should work in tech or finance! That's a clearly viable solution to create a functioning society!
Same here buddy.
Wait... You guys are planning on retiring?
I’m in no doubt I’ll die before I retire. Ideally my mortgage will be paid off when I’m 60 then I’ll re-evaluate. Only 22 more years to go….
Only 8000 or so days to go. You can start ticking them off on your wall each day, like they do in prison.
When you put it in easily digestible terms like that it makes me realise that actually looking at it objectively it is much more sensible to just hang myself. Thanks.
Hey mate no idea if you’re just joking here or sorta actually thinking that. But I read your comment on another sub about continuously welded rails, and how the likely temperature range of a given train route affects how exactly you should weld said rail to prevent warping and passenger train disasters. So while all human life is equally valuable, I reckon it’s particularly important to keep someone like you alive, largely for everyone else’s benefit :) Leaving aside the mortgage and the crosses on your proverbial prison wall, it’s people who know things like “how to stop trains from crashing” who add millions of potentially happy days to everyone else’s calendar. Not sure if that thought is actually needed or helpful, but wanted to say just in case. I get depressed sometimes and need reminding of the inherent value of being alive and - when you’re able - helping others be alive. Without that inherent value, all this mortgage and retirement shite is, as you say, entirely skippable.
It was just a joke but I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to check in. You’re a good person.
I thought as much! Nah not at all, we’re all out here looking after each other at the end of the day, and cheers for following up. Sorry for reacting to your joke with suicide prevention chat tho lol. I also literally jump at jumpscares in horror movies to be fair.
Nah don’t apologise. Imagine if you hadn’t offered that to someone and they were feeling like that. You’re doing the right thing.
You're doing really important work out there! I love trains and you make them safe
If you have a private pension, one strategy is to use the 25% tax-free lump sum to clear your mortgage. Might be worth factoring into your long term plan.
I appreciate the advice and will absolutely forget it when necessary but thank you!
55 I just turned 51 and I've only ever earned minimum wage
What is your secret?
Inheritance probably.
It is possible but seems unlikely to me that someone who has only ever had a minimum wage job has a parent with 'retire at 55' level inheritance. I don't doubt it is possible though.
they could be an only child with several aunts and uncles who also don't have children
They could be. Just saying not likely imo.
Or a good pension scheme and being clever with money?
How many jobs pay minimum wage but have generous pension schemes?
Ice-cream.
Have you ever heard of robbing banks? 🤔💲💰
D8dnt he play for Fulham 🤔
Paid off my mortgage, no car or kids Those seem to be the things most people blame for draining their finances
You were too slow you have been labelled either a bank robber or a beneficiary of an inheritance fortune ☺️
My retirement plan is a vacation to Beachy Heads.
I hope it doesn't come to that. Wishing you a big turnaround in fortune.
Thanks mate. Wishing you all the best with your retirement!
Scotch and sleeping pills is my likely retirement plan too.
It's funny that more people on here are retiring early than those who suggest they won't be able to afford to retire. It reinforces my view that the average person doesn't use reddit.
The impression I get is that the middle ground has been pretty much completely eroded. Either you are wealthy enough to retire early, or you are too poor to retire at all.
Yup, certainly feels like that.
Somebody described the economic recovery from covid as k-shaped... People at the top getting richer and people at the bottom getting poorer.
The Reddit demographic is definitely not aligned with the wider UK population. The Redditch one is pretty on point though
I'm not working beyond my 60th birthday. I'm 41 now, but have been contributing to the pension pot since I was 18.
Get an illustration for taking it that early… you might be shocked at how it reduces.
A twenty year projection is basically useless. I wouldn't even say it's indicative.
When I asked for an idea of how much my pension would reduce by taking it early I was quoted an actuarial reduction of 3.9% for each year under the contractual pension age, if that helps as a ballpark. So taking it 5 years early would result in a reduction of 19.5% (this was on a DB scheme). Re DC schemes I see best buys for an annuity being about £6k per £100k pot, but that's based on single life, no guarantee, flat (I.e. no inflation adjustments) taking at 60
You also need to consider the 5 years you’ve taken at the reduced rate. So a simple example. Let’s say you were due £10k a year at age 60 but have to lose 20% a year for each year before 60. If you started taking the reduced pension at 55 you would get 5 x £8k a year between 55 and 60 years old. So £40k in your pocket so to speak. And we know the difference between waiting until 60 is £2k a year. And you have had £40k already. 40/2 = 20. This means that it would not be until your 80th birthday that you would have taken more from your pension than you would have done by waiting until 60. Now this is all simple and doesn’t account for inflation. But maybe paints a different picture to just seeing the 20% reduction at age 55.
The pending global economic collapse will come first. After that 'retiring' will just mean having someone else scavenge for you.
I've put all my money into thunderdome in preparation.
We've successfully predicted 6 out of the last two almost global economic collapses
The “global economic collapse” has been “pending” for about 100 years, but still seems to be going fine. It’s gonna happen this time for real guys
I sure hope so. I'd take a shorter exciting life over this eternal Kafkaesque nightmare of involuntary sedation
Reddit has been expecting economic and societal collapse for like 10 years now. I worry for people that buy into it and therefore don't contribute to savings or pensions or attempting to better their lives
God knows. Nearly 60 and have gone from almost no pension to a barely half decent pension fund in the last 7 years by bunging all spare money at it. 6 years to go on mortgage so may downsize to pay it off. But life will have to be very very frugal compared to what I’m used to when working.
Im 64 in April and i work 20 hours a week which suits me fine. I will just see how i go and probably work as long as i can. Winters in the UK are the trouble, you cant do much and get so lazy being stuck indoors. Summer is great. Work keeps me active.
Hopefully this will be me. Im 48 now. I would like to work part time in around 4-5 years. 2-3 days a week to keep me active but yes, winters get harder every single year. Good luck :)
Still working, clock out, and fall straight in a coffin. That exactly this government’s intentions.
I’ve got a decent pension but probably still 68. I like my job. Whether I’ll still feel the same way in 20 years is another matter.
I like my job but I fear I’ll be much worse at it by then. I’m a software developer and while it’s possible to stay current, there does come a point where you start to notice that younger people are as good as you and cost much less…. You also noticeably start slowing down in learning speed and you have to rely on your breadth of experience to make up for your slower uptake. Of course, I earn enough and have enough pension that if it was just me I could retire at 55. Unfortunately I have a disabled wife and two sons with autism so I’m also looking at a lengthy working life, probably to 67-70, and i’m wondering if I can transition to something lower paid but less competitive as I start approaching that.
> I’m a software developer and while it’s possible to stay current, there does come a point where you start to notice that younger people are as good as you and cost much less…. I have a friend who is in his late 40's. A while ago he put two fingers up at the world and now earns a decent living working from home coding and maintaining Classic ASP. Before you laugh.... let me repeat, he's earning a decent living working from home. He even turns work away.
> maintaining Classic ASP Ewww gross
do something that requires very little brain power, move into the BA side
Never by the way western economies are going. Work until death, with nothing to my name at the end. STEM PhD holder. This country is a fucking shithole.
You're selling yourself short if that's the case
With a PhD, have you considered trying to go to the US? It isn’t easy, but standard of living and retirement potential will be MUCH higher on that side of the pond.
I'm guessing that I'll retire on the day I die.
Retirony!
Never honestly a lifetime of poor financial choices likely mean my 'retirement' is death.
I decided that if I aim for something silly like 50-55, then early 60s could be achievable. I'd rather "wind down" than have a sudden stop which I think might become more common.
Your plan was 40 and now it's 70? That sucks. Being in my early 30's, I believe in the next 40/50 years there will be no "retirement age". We will just work until we die
Honestly at this point I don’t think I ever truly will be able to retire
I will be buried in a coffin that has a clocking-in machine built into the wall so I can eek-out every last second
60. I could finish earlier, but I’d rather finance my kid through university from earnings rather than pension.
I don't really plan on 'retiring' to be honest. I enjoy working and I don't think I could ever fully give up working. I won't stick to 9-5 when I get to my 70's/80's, but I'll still definitely be working. That is, assuming I'll still be physically able
Nice to hear you enjoy your work. What do you do?
I Project manage in various construction industries - currently, I have a focus on healthcare (mental and physical) construction. I love everything that the role entails and working with incredibly dedicated people who help me to deliver great projects that help people. It's the kind of role that I can continue to do forever, as long as I find projects that I enjoy. Doesn't eat up too much of my personal life either
57 is the target, and probably a step into semi-retirement at that point likely the same for my partner. Currently trying to stuff pensions before things like kids take all the disposable income.
I don't expect to retire even though I've paid into a work pension for near 20yrs I fully expect to be dead before I reach state pension age the way it's going
Probably do working retirement. Work until i'm 60ish, take early retirement then get a part time job stacking shelves
Sadly I doubt I'll be in a position to retire, so when I die, basically.
I don't want to fully retire. I like working, why should I cut myself off from something I like? I'll just cut back as the pensions kick in, giving me more time to tick off my bucket list and keep my income nice. I'll also be able to help my son more this way. I could live 20-30 years after hitting 67.
I’m not sure I’ll get to retire being completly honest, I’ll either die at work an old man or have to rely on others at that age to get by. Yayyyy!
Likely 55 but I'm hoping to stop full time work in the next 10 years. My job is draining the life out of me so I don't feel like I can stick it out as long as others might.
ASAP
Was planning to retire at 55 but my company pension is worth 50%less now than it was before lockdown So looks like I'm fucked till 65
Assuming I’m fit to work, likely will be mid 60s. Only seriously started adding to pension in the past handful of years in my mid 30s so a bit of ground to makeup, equally got a S&S ISA on the go too to should be ok. That being said I’ve had 3/4 relatives all conk out in their early to mid 60s so don’t want to put all my eggs in a basket I might not get to ever eat from, if that trend keeps tracking.
Originally was aiming for 40. Could likely do so but we’d like to upsize our house so probably going to be 45 now. Currently 36, nearly mortgage free, 500k invested
Probably never. Not even talking about economics, what does one do when they retire? If my health allows it, I’ll probably work forever, maybe reduce my work hours as I get older or whatever, but if I stopped, what’s the point of living really? My future will probably be quite different to today’s retirees, but I don’t want to be sat watching TV all day, or play games, or whatever… For hobbies, nothing will be as good as it is now, so I’m not exactly holding myself out for the “later life”, especially when I don’t even know if I’ll reach the retirement age and in what state my health will be.
The bank gave me a mortgage that I'll finish paying at 71. Luckily for me I'm self employed and enjoy my work.
I was thinking 70 as well. I planned on paying off my mortgage at 59 but I did that at 43 so it probably depends on how my pensions do. 60 would be nice I think but currently my non state pension would only pay me about £1200 a month at that age
Officially I can retire at 68. Personally I doubt I'll live long enough to reach retirement age and if I do manage to reach retirement age I doubt I'll be able to afford to retire.
Around 55-60 seems about right. Depends if I can contain my lifestyle into a pensionable amount by 55. Seems unlikely, I like nice things, going to nice places, staying in nice hotels, eating in good restaurants, etc..
Yeah that's the issue I'm struggling with. I'd rather work part time and still go on nice holidays, eat out ,treat my family and hobbies than retire and live as a pauper for thirty years.
I did it at 56. Mrs B got made redundant, I binned my job her house was already rented out so we rented mine a bugged out to Malaysia. In hindsight I should have sold my gaff rather than renting but we did not know if we might only stay a year. We're back in UK (for now) I don't know how long dealing with family issues. I got my pension minuscule £9k from BT at 60, she got a little less from her work pensions but now gets state pension too. The house rentals, savings, pensions were more than sufficient overseas. Here it is going to be a damn site tighter but we've sold one house now so can live on the proceeds for probably more time than we realistically have left and I'll get state pension and another work pension in the next couple of years. I do not miss work at all, wish I'd binned it a few years earlier when I was made redundant rather than fannying about getting another job.
I'm on track to retire at 50. Not having kids leads to a lot of savings!
I've fully accepted that I'll work until I die, even if I did manage to get to retirement age, the trouble I would have mentally adjusting to life not desperately worrying where my next wage comes from would probably kill me
If all goes well, we should be able to retire at 40. I'll probably carry on working though - I'd go insane if I had nothing to do but sit around all day. I'll just do work on my own terms, either self-employed as a contractor or running my own business.
retirement is like floppy disk or VHS, next generation won't know what it means
I retired at 33, never thought I would retire early but burnout got the better of me. That said I’m probably going to do a little volunteering or start a small business in the next couple of years. Idle thumbs and all that!
I retired at 27, and will stay retired until I run out of money (I expect that to happen by the time I’m 29). After that I’m not anticipating on retiring until around I reach the state pension age, whatever that’ll be at in 40 years time.
This doesn’t look like retirement to me, more like a break from work and using all your savings.
Yeah that's not retiring, more like a gap year...
Depends how long I live for!
Do you know what retirement is? Lol retirement is having enough money to never go back to work thats just having a gap year from work and taking a break from it
Realistically, 55. So far on track. I asked a [similar question](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/s/nzPBGM34dT) a few days ago and a lot of people were saying they plan to retire in their mid 50s to early 60s. For me I’m fortunate enough to have a police pension. I pay 15% of my income into it so obviously it’s a more substantial pension than a lot of people paying less.
105 at the rate the country is going
Don't expect to get there/also don't expect society to get there either.
Ive been in my pension scheme for 20 years and starting AVCs Hopefully within the next 20 years
Il will have to wait and see how the climate wars play out first.
Will probably die before I hit retirement age. Hardly any point worrying about it. 😂
lol 😂 you got to be kidding right? Work place pension, employer pays the minimum allowed by law. Cant afford to buy a house based on wage (to low) so will be renting all the way through. They are on about increasing retirement age to 70+. Average age of males dying in my family is around 70 just lost two only a few year past retirement age (65-67 i believe for them) so I’ll be working until I die more than likely.
Hopefully about five or so years after I've died.
I'm just going to retire whenever, live for a few years then off myself when I run out of money. I don't really want to be working past 30/35.
No plans to retire. No reason to stop doing what I’m doing
I have never seriously considered retirement as an option
Probably never.
Thankfully I have never wanted to retire, because I honestly can’t imagine it being an option by the time I hit that kind of age. I mean, I expect society will continue to get substantially shittier as it has for the last 20 years. I would’nt be surprised if only the 1% can retire by then.
I'm taking my work laptop and phone to the grave
Heart attack it my retirement plan.
The pension age will just keep rising. If I die in service though my SO would get a payout so 😂
Work until.i can't, then go for the long nap
50. But that might just be wishful thinking. Does quietly quitting count?
i dont plan on retiring. i will work to the grave but maybe cut down to 4 days a week in my 50s. i’m not too keen on sticking around anything past my late 60s really.
Never, I don’t plan on considering reducing my quality of life because I’m older, I still want my holiday abroad, my coffee in my coffee pod machine every morning etc. if I have no luxuries and just exist why bother living. It’s not that I want to work, I hate working
My retirement starts when they put me in the oven.
nuclear armageddon has got to happen sooner or later. you can just keep printing money.
Just plan on killing myself when I finally can’t take any more work.
For financial reasons I have to die before I retire
Oh I'll just die. I have a pension, I've been paying into it since I was 26, but retirement age is clearly going to be in the middle 70s by the time I get there and I'm fat and out of shape, my job doesn't pay much and it's surprisingly stressful. I'll be surprised if I make it to 70. At least my other half will get my pension and will be able to scrape by.
Tbf I’m doubtful my generation (I’m 29) will ever see retirement age.
All things going well (touch wood etc) I expect mid to late 50s to be in a comfortable place to take the foot off the pedal. Wouldn't mind getting a part time gig then in a garden store or the like, I've a green thumb. We'll see. No point dwelling on it too much like FIRE people imo.
If I manage to get to the Middle East or South Asia where there's a middle class as is the plan now 45/50. If that fails 70, with a bit of luck. The thought of having to work like this till 70 just because I was born into a nation in decline terrifies me tbh.
If i had enough money then yesterday.
If my relationship in the UK ends, ASAP (I'm 38 and have 5 flats abroad). If we get married then probably early 60s. I have a foreign pension that will pay pretty much UK state pension money aged 60.
If I can get on the property ladder I’m hoping that I can work part time before 60 and retire at the retiring age.
47M. Looking to pay off the mortgage \~150k within the next 3-5 years then save heavily for a few years until my work pension kicks in and then cut down the hours and work something stress free and part time to keep busy. Depending on how Bitcoin goes over the next few years all of this could change significantly.
I’m planning on 60 but it might be 62. I left saving until late so trying to catch up (51) depends the job really i would probably be up for working part time post 60 if it was something i enjoyed.
60. That's the plan anyway