retiring

[osgoody1970]

I know you can take your pension at 55, but can you retire at 55? if you are financially able to?

[WHITEANT]

If u wish ,but wont get state pension till 65

[97gaz]

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[baldrick]

I know you can take your pension at 55, but can you retire at 55? if you are financially able to?

If you mean can you stop working, yes you can if you can afford to live on your pension. But if it is more than Job Seekers Allowance you won't get any state benefits until you reach 66 for Retirement Pension - that is if the Government hasn't changed the rules by then.

[capricorn]

You can take it at 55 but you will loose out. Do you want to retire for health reasons or just fed-up with the job?

There is not a lot out there for over 55s, how do you plan to spend the next 11 yrs?

The pension can be taken in several ways, lump sum & monthly pension in varying proportions.

When I took my pension at 60 the pension pot was performing badly, the benefits increased by an amount less than what I paid in!!!

SPEAK TO PO PENSIONS in Chesterfield.

Are there any better performing pensions you can transfer to?

Moving jobs or sticking with RM?

Get more advice and don't be hasty.

Best of luck.

[osgoody1970]

just sounding out possibilities, 35 year pensionable service in, just do not think I will be able to do this delivery job much longer, its killing me!!!!

[RobertT]

You can retire / stop working at any age as long as you can afford to, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re 18 or 80.

With 35 years service mainly in section B (I assume) your pension will not be worth any more by transferring it so don’t even consider that. You’ll be getting an index linked income for life which is extremely valuable. But bear in mind a 5% per year reduction will apply so a 25% loss for taking it at 55. That will apply to both the lump sum and the monthly pension.

It sounds as if you have the 35 years of NI contributions needed to get the full state pension when the time comes, assuming no more government changes. But I should get a state pension forecast to be sure. https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You might find your spending in retirement is a bit different from now. So you might not have some of the costs you have now, like commuting for example, but you will have to do something with all that free time, which one way or another will probably cost money. So make sure you take everything into account and budget for every eventuality.

Good luck.