General Chat

Okay, my sister may not lose pension - but she loses income!
Also, I took a year off my siblings :-(
They're 71, 70 and 68!
Sister got her state pension at 62.

I got my pension at 60 and retired two years later so then started to get my work pension too even though it was geared for men and women to retire at 65 - the retirement age there - so you received slightly less if you retired before the age of 65.

A short while later I did a very quick job for the firm my daughter worked for at the time in order to help them out and got paid for doing so.

It meant that my gross income was higher for a very short time which means I paid more tax for that period, of course.

I then did voluntary work for ten years which, of course, carried no extra tax burden.

Now, I can be as lazy or as busy as I choose to be. :-D

My retirement age is 68 so only another 32 years to go. Having worked for the company that have just made me redundant for just over 15 years I also have a small company pension which I will add to again once I get another job. Mr Owl’s job is on shaky ground at the moment too but he at least has his HGV license and the contacts to get a job tomorrow if needed. Mr Owl’s age for retirement is also 68 as he was born in 1982 and I was born in 1984.

My dad retired at 47 having planned his money so he could live comfortably till he was 100 years old. He claimed his company pension at 55. He was lucky though as that letter he wrote back at university in the 70s asking Arthur Montford the sports pundit to be rector of Glasgow university got him his first job with the Bank of England.

Old age is a scary prospect though and I hope for my generation they don’t put it up again. At 68 my grandfather was an old man but at 68 Mr Owl’s granny was still a middle aged woman who liked going on exotic holidays and having her grandsons to stay whenever they could. There is no telling how your health will have a baring on your retirement plans.

Tawny, both of my brothers retired at 50 so quite unlike my oldest sister and me - but they had much more stressful jobs than we did.

One took to retirement like a duck to water and spends most of his time golfing - but he did do voluntary work one day a week for several years and he did receive money in an advisory capacity from another source for a few years.

The other spent two years sorting out his rambling old house and garden, sold it, bought a smaller new home and returned to part-time work lecturing in his field before finally finishing st 60. He now spends much time at his allotment - and advises us about planting which is something we sorely need as we are novices.

I would still give you the same advice that I gave my granddaughter a couple of weeks ago when she was made redundant: if you need to keep your head above water and are responsible for household expenses, take what you can get as this is not the time to be choosey. Any change need not be permanent.

My dad took a non executive directorship for 10 years a couple of years after he retired. He’s now fully retired and enjoying the time with his grandchildren that he never had with his children.

I’m putting my CV together at the moment. Thankfully due to my length of service my work will give me the equivalent of six months wages and we live entirely off Mr Owl’s salary if needed.

You are lucky to be able to do that, Tawny.

Good luck when you get going.