Retirement

Retirement is a big event in our lives, for some people is will be a great time. But for some people it can also feel like we’ve lost part of our identity.

When it comes to retiring there’s often quite a few questions we would like answers to, which is why we’ve put together the most popular ones here for you.

Question: What age can I retire at? And can my boss/employer force me to retire at a certain age?

Answer: You can retire at any time you wish, there is no limit to when you can or can’t retire. Your employer cannot legally force you to retire at a certain age anymore; Age UK’s campaign caused the ‘Default Retirement Age’ law to be scrapped in 2011, which means you can continue working if you want/need to.

Your employer can however force/ask you to retire under the law when a valid reason has been given, for example:

·         If the job has, by another law, had an age limit set.

·         If your job requires you to have specific physical abilities and mental abilities.

Should you be forced to retire by your employer then they will have to give you some notice and they will also have to follow fair procedure.

Employers will still have the right to make dismissals and redundancies if you’re not completing your job roles/duties to the correct standard. These decisions must be based off criteria, regardless of age.

 

Question: Have I got to tell my boss/employer about my retirement plans?

Answer: In short no. You do not have to tell your employer about your retirement plans if you do not wish to; however, some employers will ask about your plans as they will be interested in when you plan on leaving the business.

Retiring takes a few months or more of planning, research and discussions. Everyone take this at their own pace and that is okay, it’s a big life event that will cause a lot of changes. For more information about what lifestyle changes you may come across, visit the Age UK website.

 

Question: If I continue to work, will I still get a State Pension?

Answer: You can claim your State Pension when your reach your ‘State Pension Age’. This is determined from your date of birth and your gender. You can find out your State Pension Age here on the GOV.uk website.

When you are getting closer to your State Pension Age you will be given the option to either claim your State Pension payments or delay them. You can still claim your State Pension whilst you’re working; however, some people like to delay their payments until after they have finished working as this means they often won’t have to pay income tax on it.

You can also have a workplace/private pension scheme. This can have a different age as to when you can start receiving it, this can also be whilst you’re still working. Every workplace/private pension scheme will differ from one another so you should ask your employer about how your pension is affected if/when your work arrangements change or if you continue to work past your State Pension age.

 

Question: Have I got to continue paying tax if I continue to work past my State Pension Age?

Answer: Once you’ve worked past your State Pension age you will no longer have to pay National Insurance; some employers will need some proof of age so they can stop National Insurance tax from being deducted from your pay.

Depending on your income, there is a chance you will have to continue to pay income tax on your total income. Your total income will include your State Pension, workplace/private pension and your workplace salary. Some people like to delay their State Pension until they have finished working in order to possibly pay less tax.

 

For more information about retirement, you can visit GOV.uk and Age UK.

*Some information gathered from www.nhs.uk and www.ageuk.org.uk/.