• We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from all at Golf Monthly. Thank you for sharing your 2025 with us!

Retirement

I had a phone conversation with Government backed Pensionwise on Friday . It’s a free 1hour chat with a pension expert ( won’t give any financial advice) . If you are not pension savvy like me it’s well worth going . One thing I did learn is there are certain Annuities where they can be left to a named person. I thought your pension died with you but not always the case.

Well worth doing this... tells you options and will help you understand the landscape better.
 
Just logged in to HMRC to check if the national insurance year 2024/5 was logged - and it is - so now completed the 35 years and have full projected £12,014/year payable from 2037. I knew the job was done but nice to see it in black abd white as it was not updated a few weeks ago!!

Just got to boost the private ones a bit more albeit setting new highs. Now within touching distance (2.5%) of the first target for size of pot - if and when hit there is the main target next (+ circa 10% extra) and then on to stretch one (an extra circa 40%), which will be a lot more ambitious.

Non pension investments - 25% extra needed from target

I find muself dwelling on these targets/ issues a lot more than a few years ago as i can comtemplate a quadruppling or more of my annual golf play, which at 25 to 30 games/year max is way off what i would like and work is defo getting in the way of achieving this!!
 
Just logged in to HMRC to check if the national insurance year 2024/5 was logged - and it is - so now completed the 35 years and have full projected £12,014/year payable from 2037. I knew the job was done but nice to see it in black abd white as it was not updated a few weeks ago!!

Just got to boost the private ones a bit more albeit setting new highs. Now within touching distance (2.5%) of the first target for size of pot - if and when hit there is the main target next (+ circa 10% extra) and then on to stretch one (an extra circa 40%), which will be a lot more ambitious.

Non pension investments - 25% extra needed from target

I find muself dwelling on these targets/ issues a lot more than a few years ago as i can comtemplate a quadruppling or more of my annual golf play, which at 25 to 30 games/year max is way off what i would like and work is defo getting in the way of achieving this!!
But if you are still employed you will still be paying NI up until 2037 .. unless of course you go to an Arab country and pay very low taxes ..
 
I find muself dwelling on these targets/ issues a lot more than a few years ago as i can comtemplate a quadruppling or more of my annual golf play, which at 25 to 30 games/year max is way off what i would like and work is defo getting in the way of achieving this!!
It doesnt help.

I retired at Christmas and have trebled the amount I play....and my game has gone backwards!!!
 
But if you are still employed you will still be paying NI up until 2037 .. unless of course you go to an Arab country and pay very low taxes ..
true - be nice if it stopped - although if i access the pension, which i could do from August, there is no national insurance payable on that income. No way i am waiting until 2037!
 
Just logged in to HMRC to check if the national insurance year 2024/5 was logged - and it is - so now completed the 35 years and have full projected £12,014/year payable from 2037. I knew the job was done but nice to see it in black abd white as it was not updated a few weeks ago!!

Just got to boost the private ones a bit more albeit setting new highs. Now within touching distance (2.5%) of the first target for size of pot - if and when hit there is the main target next (+ circa 10% extra) and then on to stretch one (an extra circa 40%), which will be a lot more ambitious.

Non pension investments - 25% extra needed from target

I find muself dwelling on these targets/ issues a lot more than a few years ago as i can comtemplate a quadruppling or more of my annual golf play, which at 25 to 30 games/year max is way off what i would like and work is defo getting in the way of achieving this!!

Our financial advisor asked a pertinent question when we were planning for retirement. What you want to do at 65 you won’t be capable of at 75. That’s the raw version but the gist nails it for me. When I retired in Feb 2018 I played golf twice a week. By 2022 I couldn’t play due to arthritis.

Even going away for a few days means trying to sleep in a bed or sit on a sofa that isn’t comfortable.

Having a lovely pot behind you doesn’t guarantee your health.

Retire as soon as you can as tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for any of us.
 
Our financial advisor asked a pertinent question when we were planning for retirement. What you want to do at 65 you won’t be capable of at 75. That’s the raw version but the gist nails it for me. When I retired in Feb 2018 I played golf twice a week. By 2022 I couldn’t play due to arthritis.

Even going away for a few days means trying to sleep in a bed or sit on a sofa that isn’t comfortable.

Having a lovely pot behind you doesn’t guarantee your health.

Retire as soon as you can as tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for any of us.
I think you have summed up our situation.. I think I need 2 years more NI contributions, I need to set up a trust for the boy so he has something that no one can take from him but also we need him to remember us as the individuals we are .. not the corporate drones we are 8-10 hours Monday to Friday.
 
I think you have summed up our situation.. I think I need 2 years more NI contributions, I need to set up a trust for the boy so he has something that no one can take from him but also we need him to remember us as the individuals we are .. not the corporate drones we are 8-10 hours Monday to Friday.

Will 2 years NI contributions make that much difference? Would those 2 years be better spent with the family, even if it’s a part time job maintaining your NI contributions, but being there to take them to school/pick them up.

One of our friends works 2 days a week and tops up the salary with a draw down. She’s actually better off than when she was working full time AND she has time to be a grandma.
 
Will 2 years NI contributions make that much difference? Would those 2 years be better spent with the family, even if it’s a part time job maintaining your NI contributions, but being there to take them to school/pick them up.

One of our friends works 2 days a week and tops up the salary with a draw down. She’s actually better off than when she was working full time AND she has time to be a grandma.
Currently I am in a very good position. I work from home. I work European hours so I start at 6 am and I am paid by the hour and 40hrs max a week. So I can do all the household stuff and pick ups. The Swedes are fantastic to work for, they are sympathetic and supportive.
I try to have lunch with my wife and we do pop out for a nice lunch if I can squeeze the calendar. She knows I am about, my son thinks work is sitting in the back room 🤣.
But all good stuff comes to an end ☹️ so if I can carry on for another 2 yrs like this and keep the balance that would be awesome… a normal work situation would be hell.
 
I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of my retirement trying to sort out the investments that my mother-in-law had put into trust 20yrs ago. Complete nightmare working with the Halifax/Scottish Widows/Clerical and Medical...all I want is something from them that states the nature of the three trusts and the status at the time of her death of the investment that is held in each.

So for. instance if the Trust is a BARE Trust - is all of the investment out of scope of her estate; if it is a Loan Trust or Gift Trust, is there an element of the current value of the investment that must be declared as part of my MiLs estate. They should know - after all - the Trusts and Investments were all set up by the Halifax on the advice of a Halifax Advisor. It's proving to be a nightmare.
 
Last edited:
Will 2 years NI contributions make that much difference? Would those 2 years be better spent with the family, even if it’s a part time job maintaining your NI contributions, but being there to take them to school/pick them up.

One of our friends works 2 days a week and tops up the salary with a draw down. She’s actually better off than when she was working full time AND she has time to be a grandma.

By 58 I plan to have 40 years both NI and in my pension (which is the max) by 60 latest I want to be retired so I can actually enjoy retirement

Sod working forever
 
Our financial advisor asked a pertinent question when we were planning for retirement. What you want to do at 65 you won’t be capable of at 75. That’s the raw version but the gist nails it for me. When I retired in Feb 2018 I played golf twice a week. By 2022 I couldn’t play due to arthritis.

Even going away for a few days means trying to sleep in a bed or sit on a sofa that isn’t comfortable.

Having a lovely pot behind you doesn’t guarantee your health.

Retire as soon as you can as tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for any of us.
...and don't be too cautious spending what you have sooner rather than later.

It's all very well having a pot of funds for such as travel and holidays - but if you physically or otherwise can't travel as you once did then the pot of money isn't much use for that.

I'm actually pretty much of a mind to run down my pension fund and retirement savings over the next 25yrs - certainly doing whatever we want over the next 10-15 - leaving enough for any period beyond that for care - up to my centenary perhaps. But I'm not planning to leave a load of money to my children at the end - we'll support them over the next 20yrs as they might need as part of running down my funds. If we still have the house they can share the proceeds from that. But I'm for us spending the rest. And if I don't spend it then HMRC can have their IHT share - quite happy for that to be the case.
 
Our financial advisor asked a pertinent question when we were planning for retirement. What you want to do at 65 you won’t be capable of at 75. That’s the raw version but the gist nails it for me. When I retired in Feb 2018 I played golf twice a week. By 2022 I couldn’t play due to arthritis.

Even going away for a few days means trying to sleep in a bed or sit on a sofa that isn’t comfortable.

Having a lovely pot behind you doesn’t guarantee your health.

Retire as soon as you can as tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for any of us.

Some solid advice Brian. I think pulling the trigger and when is a very personal and hard decision to make. I can access private pension from Aug and it is now in a good place so that has certainly eased the stress but i don't plan on retiring at 55. However, i am very much in the wind down to retirement phase and am letting bosses know that is my priority and saying 1 want to be able to retire at 60 and am saving like mad for it. I have been worried about redundancy over the years and it has caused a lot of stress, especially after an expensive divorce in 2018 putting me in a much more vulnerable position financially. I have been saving like mad for past 7 years to rectify. I have been made redundant twice and both times caused extreme anxiety and depression - 9 mongths looking for a job from start of 2008 in bad financial markets and then getting a job but having to commute to Dublin for 3.5 years - and it was a week before Lehman Brothers collapsed - and my role than in Marketing/ Finacial Communications was on fire! Hopefully the stress of this happening again is now significantly eased and tbh a good redundancy even this year or especially in 2-5y would be more than welcommed as should be a good payoff after 17 years service!! I wold never get another similar job as a fund manager but if i did go in next 5 years i would have to think if i wanted a less stressful complete career chaneg job, maybe part time
 
One of the joy's of retirement is listening to all the lads on the flight back from Turkey today, who were talking about having to go back to work tomorrow.
I've been retired for a bit over seven years now, we were discussing this a couple of days ago in my golfing group and I got asked if I ever missed my work, thinking about it i probably did, for a couple of hours at least
 
When people ask me, "Did you enjoy your work?", I usually answer, "I can't remember, but I know that I enjoy not working."

If asked, "Do you miss your work?" the answer is, "No."
I don't miss going to school for 13 years either.

Done all that, don't need to do it again.
 
One question I get often asked now that I'm in retirement is "Don't you miss the camaraderie of your work colleagues - the 'chats around the water-cooler'"

My answer to them is simply No. For the least ten years or so of my working life I mainly worked from home with project colleagues spread around Europe, the US and sometimes the far east...indeed on some projects I could be the only UK-based member of the team. I did occasionally head into UK Head Office in London or Global HO in Paris (for a few days) and meet senior folks and some team members - but not often. Quite frankly I didn't build any inter-personal relationships with other team members. So when it came to leaving there was not much at all for me to miss.
 
Top