The Retirement Thread

[screenman]

Well i wouldn't call it "packed up". More like on the lookout for something to supplement my income. No,i'm entitled to a state pension,as i've "paid into the system" for decades. Probably more in tax on beer and cigarrettes than actual P.A.Y.E contributions,but when you look at it. The amount must run into the tens of thousands at least!

You will soon get it back. I hope I can keep paying for a lot more years and I am older than you.

 

[jongooligan]

Hopefully the free bus pass at 60 will still exist when I get there. Is the winter fuel allowance thingy still set at 60?

Think it's now in line with SP age. CBA to check as I'd rather walk than get on a bus even if it was free.

 

[Venod]

Hopefully the free bus pass at 60 will still exist when I get there. Is the winter fuel allowance thingy still set at 60?

Too complicated for me to explain.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-elderly-person-bus-pass

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/eligibility

 

[midlife]

Think it's now in line with SP age. CBA to check as I'd rather walk than get on a bus even if it was free.

I think it's 60 in Scotland, Wales and NI plus in a few odd areas like Merseyside. Otherwise it's pension age, which for me is Dec 2025 iirc

 

[PaulSB]

Hopefully the free bus pass at 60 will still exist when I get there. Is the winter fuel allowance thingy still set at 60?

I’m sure the free bus pass is now at state retirement age for women. My DOB is 06-07-1954 and I’ll be 65 in 2019 but can’t get a bus pass till May 2020. This is also when I qualify for state pension and winter fuel allowance

It’s been made wonderfully complicated so it can be phased in to bring everyone to qualifying at state pension age.

Remarkably for this government it works out quite equitably.

 

[PaulSB]

I received a letter yesterday,informing me that i won't be able to claim my OAP till i'm 66 and 8 months old. I thought i'd come into the retire at 65 bracket. Pity those much younger than me. They'll be getting letters in years to come,informing them that they'll get their OAP when they reach 86 and 8 months.

I got caught as well. When I decided to retire I thought I would qualify on my 65th birthday, July 2019 but in fact I won’t till May 2020. My wife is two years younger and got hit even harder.

 

[welsh dragon]

I got caught as well. When I decided to retire I thought I would qualify on my 65th birthday, July 2019 but in fact I won’t till May 2020. My wife is two years younger and got hit even harder.

A lot of women like me have been hit really hard.

 

[Accy cyclist]

You will soon get it back.

Get what back?

 

[PaulSB]

A lot of women like me have been hit really hard.

My wife had always expected to get state pension at 60 but got pushed back to 66. Fortunately she has a small NHS pension without which retirement would have been out of the question.

I fully understand why this became a necessity for the country but there is no doubt it has been grossly unfair for many women.

 

[Dirk]

I count myself fortunate that both my wife and myself retired at 60 and we both had pretty much the same pension and lump sum entitlement. We can live quite happily on our current income. The State Pension will just be a bonus for us.
I feel for those who have to rely on the SP alone. I really don't know how you would do it.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

A lot of women like me have been hit really hard.

My Good Lady has been married twice and has brought up two families, because of that she hardly worked and what work she did do was mostly part time, this meant she didn't even get close to a full set of stamps and only gets 40% of a full pension.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I count myself fortunate that both my wife and myself retired at 60 and we both had pretty much the same pension and lump sum entitlement. We can live quite happily on our current income. The State Pension will just be a bonus for us.
I feel for those who have to rely on the SP alone. I really don't know how you would do it.

If you've only got a state pension you can apply for pension credit and that can get your council tax paid, free dental work and help with your glasses, also a small weekly payment. Plus the warm home payment to help with winter heating bills. I get a state pension plus sixty quid a month private pension and pension credit, now whilst I can pay my bills no problem there isn't a lot to spare for treats or unexpected big bills.

 

[Drago]

My Good Lady has been married twice and has brought up two families, because of that she hardly worked and what work she did do was mostly part time, this meant she didn't even get close to a full set of stamps and only gets 40% of a full pension.

In this day and age, if a company did that folk would be up in arms. The government do that and no one bats an eyelid.

 

[Dirk]

I've got to admit to being quite surprised at just how little income you need to pack in work. Once you've paid off your mortgage and cleared any debts, such as car loans, life can be relatively inexpensive.
It makes me laugh to see people, in their late 40s and mid 50s, sitting on mega hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of property in London, whinging about work stress and running around like blue arsed flies. The answer is very simple. Sell up and move somewhere cheaper, pack up work, go part time or do something totally different.
I suppose it never actually occurs to most of them.

 

[Drago]

Indeed, papa Dirkie. Many of them are working (and moaning about it) simply to pay for their avaricious lifestyles of car loans, smart phones, foreign holidays store cards, etc etc. Stop shelling out for crap like that and suddenly life isn't half so expensive.