Careers
Retirement
Introduction
Retirement, for many people, offers a long-awaited opportunity to adopt a more leisurely lifestyle, pursue personal interests or perhaps travel. Whatever your intentions, to enjoy your retirement to the full it is important to make the right decisions as early as possible about how to save for your pension.
There are a wide range of pension plans available to supplement the UK State Pension. These include occupational pensions, personal pensions, pensions for the self-employed, contracted-out pensions and stakeholder pensions.
In today's working world, where a lifetime's employment with a single employer has become a rarity, it is important to consider carefully which pension arrangements are right for you.
Basic impartial information about pensions and a series of explanatory booklets are available from the UK Government's Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) pension guide service. If you are already in a pensions scheme, it may still be helpful to peruse these booklets and consider, for example, whether you are claiming all the tax relief to which you are entitled, or whether you wish to make additional voluntary contributions to your pension plan.
Commercial pension providers will be happy to provide you with illustrations of various pension arrangements that they offer; many also offer home visits from their local representative.
If you wish to take independent financial advice on the merits of various schemes and what best suits your particular needs, you may wish to consult either the advisers available through Membership Services or an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The Association of Independent Financial Advisers represents many IFAs and provides a route to find your local IFA. If you are close to retirement or already retired, you may also wish to take financial advice on investment planning from sources such as these.
How to Get a State Pension Forecast
You become eligible for State Pension when you reach the appropriate retirement age. This is currently 65 for men and 60 for women, but is being increased gradually for women from 2010, so that by 2020 the state pension age for both men and women will be 65. Women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1955 will have a specified date when they can claim their state pension (check it here). Women born before this period qualify at age 60, those born after it qualify at age 65.
If you decide to take early retirement, you may need to pay extra contributions to ensure that you get your full Basic Retirement pension.
A forecast of your retirement pension is available if:
- you live in the UK
- you are more than four months away from state retirement pension age.
The forecast will indicate the amount of state pension you have earned already and give an estimate of what you can expect at state pension age if you continue in a similar way. To get a pension forecast, fill in form BR19 from a social security office, contact the Retirement Pension Forecast and Advice Unit (tel 0191 218 7585) or apply on-line.
The Pensions Advisory Service (OPAS) is an independent and voluntary organisation that gives free help and advice to members of the public who have a problem concerning either a company or a personal pension scheme. Advice is available to anyone who believes he or she has pension rights, i.e. working members of pension schemes, pensioners, those with deferred pensions from previous employment and dependants.
OPAS also publishes leaflets covering topics such as how to get information about your pension, early retirement through ill health, transferring a pension to another scheme, and tackling problems with your personal pension scheme. Further information is at the OPAS homepage.
You can trace company pensions you have lost track of by writing to The Pensions Tracing Service, Tyneview Park, Whitley Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA. Include the name of the company you worked for, its last known address, and provide copies of any correspondance you had with them. The service is free.
Retirement Benefits and Services
Information about benefits and service for pensioners is available from The Pensions Service of the Department of Work and Pensions.Topics include visiting or living abroad, long-term illness and disability, and caring for others.
Instiute of Physics Retired Members
The London and South-East and South Central Branches of the Institute of Physics have a Retired Members Section which meets regularly and visits places of interest. Click here to see if your local Branch has similar events.
For some individuals, retiring from one career presents an opportunity to embark on something different, perhaps as a consultant or trying out a business idea. Guidance on how to start up a business or become self-employed is available here. Or why not request a copy of the Institute's professional brief Start your own - and ensure it prospers.
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