Whether you’re just starting to think about your retirement or are about to retire, there’s lots to consider. #Listening and Acting on colleague feedback, to help you feel confident and comfortable about your retirement choices, we’ve pulled together lots of useful information about retirement and pensions on this page.
What are my retirement options at Anchor?
1. Traditional Retirement – choose a date to retire and work as usual up to that date
2. Phased Retirement – choose a date to retire in the future and adjust your working pattern in the run up to that date (i.e. reduced hours in your existing role)
3. Semi-Retirement – reduce hours and/or role responsibilities as part of a longer-term plan to wind down to retirement without a set date in mind (this may include a change of role/grade).
Everybody’s idea of retirement will be different and if the above options do not work for you, please discuss your requirements with your manager and all reasonable requests for retirement plans will be considered.
Retirement will mean different things to us all – from having more spare time for the activities you love to volunteering or setting up your own social enterprise. Whatever it is you want to do in your retirement the flexible Anchor retirement options are here to help support your dream .
Deciding to retire is a big decision and worth discussing with friends and family, as well as professionals. When you’re planning for retirement, it’s important to think not just about how you’ll support yourself financially but what you’ll do with your time, how to stay active and social too.
AgeUK have a helpful article on preparing emotionally for retirement and if you’re worried about retiring you can call the Colleague Advice Line anytime, confidentially and free on 0800 316 9337.
As an Anchor colleague you will be auto-enrolled into the Anchor pension scheme, provided by Legal and General. Remember, you may be entitled to the State Pension, and might have pension pots from previous employers.
You may be able to move your other pension pots into your Anchor pension scheme – details of one provider who can arrange this for you is available here.
The amount of money you need to save for retirement varies from individual to individual and depends on the type of retirement you want. As well as the one available through the Anchor pension scheme portal, there are several free online pension calculators, which can help you work out how much you need to save and if you are on track – see ‘Getting Help With Your Retirement Plans’.
There are lots of tools to help you predict how much your pension pots might be worth in the future – there are links at the bottom of this page. But how much do you need to save for the retirement you want?
Take a look at the Retirement Living Standards website to work out exactly what sort of lifestyle you want, once you stop work.
The age at which you can access your pension can vary, so check the details of all you pension schemes. After your 55th birthday (this will change to 57 from 2028) you’ll be allowed to release money from your personal or workplace pension. For defined benefit schemes (sometime known as final salary or average salary pensions) you may be able to take your pension early at a reduced rate but you will need to speak to your scheme administrator.
You may be able increase your state pension entitlement by delaying (deferring) it. Read more on the Government website.
Early pension release, or pension unlocking, means withdrawing money from your pension before the minimum age of 55 (57 from 2028). This is an option scammers are increasingly targeting but as early pension release has such a costly penalty, no reputable pension provider would let you withdraw a pension early. Read more about the dangers of pension scams here.
Check what other financial support you may be entitled to when you retire on the Government website or have a chat with the our Be Wise team on 0800 023 4477.
Providing homes where people can love living in later life is what we do, so why not take a look at our website and see if a move to one of our properties would suit your retirement?
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