AtHomeWithGloriaHunnifordOctober2016 - 130


men and women in 2018. After that,
it will increase every few months,
reaching 66 by 2020. The next
planned increase, towards age 67, will
start in 2026 and conclude in 2028.
Incidentally, anyone can carry on
working beyond state pension age and
still draw the pension.
To calculate your state pension age, go
to www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension

MONEY
MATTERS

While deciding at what
age you want to retire,
the most important thing to consider
is whether you have enough money
to live contentedly. You can find
out the answer to this by checking
your private or workplace pension,
state pension, pension credit, savings
and investments:
PRIVATE PENSION
You can either make monthly
or lump-sum payments to a
pension provider. They will send
you annual statements, telling you
how much your fund is worth. The
amount you get when you retire
depends on how much you have
paid in, how well the fund's
investments have done, and how
you decide for your retirement
income to be paid - for example,
as lump sums or regular payments.
WORKPLACE PENSION
This method of saving for
retirement is arranged by your
employer. A percentage of
your pay is put into the pension
scheme automatically every
payday and the employer
contributes to the pot. By 2018
employers must, by law, have

130 | NOVEMBER 2016

such a scheme in place. The
government helps swell the amount
you save by making it tax free.
When you retire, the pot will be
invested to pay your monthly
pension. Alternatively, you can
usually cash in all or part of your
workplace pension - 25% of it will
be tax-free but you'll have to pay
Income Tax on any of the rest
that you withdraw. There are
exceptions for pots under £10,000
or if you are terminally ill.

SAVINGS ACCOUNT
This can be anything from a
high-interest account to an
individual savings account (ISA).

STATE PENSION
This is a regular payment from the
government that you get when
you reach state pension age.
To receive it, you must have
paid or been credited with
National Insurance contributions.
The most you can currently
get is £119.30 per week.

Rattling around in a
huge four-bedroom,
two-bathroom house
is far from ideal when you're retired
and your family has flown the nest.
With old age often comes illness
and tiredness, and many people can't
physically keep such a huge property
in check. However, around 71% of
people over the age of 65 own their
homes outright, many still living

PENSION CREDIT
This is a government payment
that tops up your income
to a guaranteed minimum level
- currently that's an income of less
than £155.60 a week for a single
person, £237.55 for a couple.
As many as one in three people
who are eligible for Pension Credit
don't actually claim it. You should,
though, because (a) you deserve it
and (b) it gives you access to other
allowances. Visit www.ageuk.org.
uk for more information.

INVESTMENTS
Purchases of properties, land,
shares in companies, art, antiques
and other high-value assets can
be cashed in or left to gain
interest. See our feature on how
to invest wisely from pg 142.

MOVING OUT
http://www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension http://www.ageuk.org
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