Pension

[Woody Guthrie]

It's that old crystal ball problem, it really depends on what the future holds for you.leaving your pension in until NRA will in the long term give you better returns but quality of life is different at 55 than it is at 65. You have to factor in what those extra 10 years at work will do to your body. It would be interesting to know what the average lifespan of a postie actually is.

[RobertT]

It's that old crystal ball problem, it really depends on what the future holds for you.leaving your pension in until NRA will in the long term give you better returns but quality of life is different at 55 than it is at 65. You have to factor in what those extra 10 years at work will do to your body. It would be interesting to know what the average lifespan of a postie actually is.

This thread is more about taking your pension early and continuing to work, hence facing a double whammy of a 5% per year reduction in pension and paying income tax on it too!

And it seems to me that many of those people are also forcing themselves to work for longer than they would if taking their pension at NRA. So potentially a triple whammy.
But each to their own.

Taking your pension early and retiring is for a different thread, I think.

[Woody Guthrie]

I can't really get my head around the reasons for taking your pension early AND continuing to work. It seems like the worst of both worlds to me.

[RobertT]

Totally agree, but there's plenty of our colleagues who do take theirs early and seem more than happy to do so.

[Fatboyslim]

It's that old crystal ball problem, it really depends on what the future holds for you.leaving your pension in until NRA will in the long term give you better returns but quality of life is different at 55 than it is at 65. You have to factor in what those extra 10 years at work will do to your body. It would be interesting to know what the average lifespan of a postie actually is.

I once remember reading an article from a POSSS leaflet. Going back to the 90’s here..

It quoted. The average pension drawn by someone retiring at 60 was 12 years. Retiring at 65 the average was 3 years. Shocking at the time - and that was a period of 2.5 hour delivery spans with a modest second delivery. Now chuck in 5-6 hour spans. I reckon the pension scheme will do very well in the future. I still say - walking 10-15 miles a day for upwards of 40 years. You will be either in a wheelchair or not with us. Harsh but true.

I took my pension early at 55. But, fully retired. Before I left upwards of 80% had drawn both at 55. Foolhardy. Makes no sense. As the taxman is salivating at the extra income. Unless you are struggling fitness wise with the job and you need to buy down your hours then use pension to top-up your wages...I know of several who did this.

Good luck whatever you decide on.

[RobertT]

A quick look at the annual reports for both the RMSPS and the RMPP, will tell you there are actually a healthy number of RM pensioners out there.

RMSPS: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... ssible.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RMPP: https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... v4.1_0.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[k979aaa]

The biggest problem with the RMPP is turnover of staff one the job is not conducive for the longevity of the human body nor the reward at the end offsets that retirement was 60 when I started now 67 and in ten years? or 20 maybe 75 years old this is no job for old men!

[Fatboyslim]

A quick look at the annual reports for both the RMSPS and the RMPP, will tell you there are actually a healthy number of RM pensioners out there.

RMSPS: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... ssible.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RMPP: https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... v4.1_0.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Had a quick trawl through the figures. What I couldn't find was there any way to differentiate between members and spouses. My argument being, yes there are in excess of 300,000 members. But, how many are widow & widowers? Thats the point I'm trying to make. The job as we know it now is a killer. You only have to follow some threads on here. Once these new ways of working have been established for many years will the figures begin to settle down.

I do know several retired colleagues, I did 35+ years after all. But, in hindsight - I know of more widows. Do the widows/widowers appear on the figures. I presume they do. So, what appears to look good on paper might not present the healthy image the working for RM portrays? Only my thoughts...

[RobertT]

Whether you think working for RM is a killer or not, is a matter for debate. Personally I don't think so!

You can argue that a certain amount of physical exercise is good for you, but walking 10-15 miles a day is too far. That is certainly no good for the joints, knees, back, etc. But they're not life threatening conditions!

In practice I don't believe that being a postie is generally any better or worse for your health than any other job. Except perhaps the obvious ones like coal miner, etc. Things will ultimately come down to lifestyle, diet & family health history to a large degree.


The way I understand the figures for the RMSPS accounts, which represents a much bigger membership than the RMPP, is that male RM pensioners will on average, reach 105% of average life expectancy(on page 12). So actually higher than most of the population, on average!!!
While females will hit the average.

I'm not too sure how often life expectancy figures are compiled and published, but these figures from 2014 seem to be what the RMSPS is basing things on(although I could be wrong).

An example from the above link would be:

A 65 year old man in the UK would be expected to live for another 19.2 years.
But a 65 year old RM pensioner would live for another 5% longer – or just under 1 year.

That's my reading of it anyway.

[deltaforce]

20 years is what they base a lot of their calculations on, I believe.

[Schiff]

Generally, taking your pension early along with the associated reductions and still continuing to work is regarded as a bad move.

It is almost always a bad move to do this. There are, however, a few exceptions.

I know someone who used their pension to buy their council house at a large discount. The lump sum paid for part of the purchase price with the pension income being used to pay off the mortgage in just a few years. This saved them from paying rent throughout their retirement years.

[Fulpostie]

I've got a deferred plan C pension that was started back in 1990 and finished paying into in 2004,I'm 55 this June and was thinking about taking it early,is anyone able to give some figures on what i would get ?

[RobertT]

I've got a deferred plan C pension that was started back in 1990 and finished paying into in 2004,I'm 55 this June and was thinking about taking it early,is anyone able to give some figures on what i would get ?

Virtually impossible to say, especially with so little info!

But you should have been getting a deferred pension statement each year since you left RM. To give a rough idea, simply take 5% off those figures for each year you want to take it before Normal Retirement Age(60), so that's 25% for taking it at 55.

You will also be able to contact the pensions people in the next few months to get a more accurate estimate. With service between those dates all your pension will be in the RMSPS and therefore you'll be dealing with Capita.

For more info look at the plan websites:

Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme
Royal Mail Pension Plan

[lordthornber]

Fulpostie, I've sent you a private message.