Boost Your Pension By 52%!

An alternative would be to take the pension and invest it yourself. The calculations in the article do not take account of that.

How about deffering your state pension & collecting it in the form of pension credit if your circumstances allow it. So infact getting it twice.
Also on the point of dying while deffering I think your Spouse collects but if single your children etc don't.

You fail to emphasis the income tax payable on the extra pension, althoughn that may not matter if total income is less than the personal allowance.
But the major disadvantage is thta if you die during the deferrel period, the whole amount deferrred is lost and gone forever.
Your legatees will not like this.
By the way, make sure your pension is paid weekly. That has immense cash flow advantages.

Please be clear here the deffered lumpsum/pension goes to your spouse, not gone forever, if your single however it does get lost.

I'm suprised the state pension is so low. I don't know how a person can live on 90 or 140 GBP per week.

I think we should treat older people better, as in many cases they can't just go out and get a job like young people.

Staying in work longer is an ideal solution. The govt should tax older people less every year that they work over the usual retirement age.

Whilst I partially agree with DionRinaldi, I don't see why I and millions of other working people should finance increased pensions for other people as well as trying to finance our own. If people wanted to be well off in their old age, they should have funded it while they were working. Too late to start bleating about it now.

Everything I have read on this subject recommends taking the money now and saving it elsewhere. And when my time comes to collect the pittance they call a State Pension that is what I will do.

Some good points already raised, but it's not just a matter of whether you die young or live to a ripe old age. In the normal course of events you will be able to do more between 65 - 75 than 75 - 85. The early years of retirement are when you are most likely to travel, follow interests or buy capital items to equip yourself for the change in lifestyle - new car, caravan, boat etc. I love trekking in wilderness areas, and it frightens me witless to think that the day will come when I will no longer be able to do it. These things do not creep up on you gradually - normally something happens to the health and fitness of either yourself or your spouse and suddenly it's over. So, take the money at the first opportunity and use it to do what you want. If you don't need it now, stash it so that you have it for when you do want it - and if you die prematurely it's still there for the benefit fo your spouse and children. If you don't draw it and you die prematurely, you have been "wearing a hair shirt" for nothing.

some very good points already made, but its interesting to look at the crossover points when you start to make more money than you would have had you taken your pension earlier.

One would have thought that it would be the same no mater if you defer one year or 5 years but it isnt.

it always takes 11 years to get your money back so if you are female and 60 now and defer just 1 year you must wait until you are 71 to be better off, But if you are female and defer for 5 years you must wait until you are 76 before being in pocket.

similarly if you are a man and defer those 5 years you must wait until you are 81 before seeing a profit.

and all thats wihout taking into account what you could have been earning in interest had you taken the money and put it into a savings account.

so unless you have a long history of aged ancestors it doesnt look that attractive at all.

Junebjh
"You cannot receive Pension Credit if you are deliberately depriving yourself of income eg State Pension. It will be taken into account asd 'notional income' whether you actually receive it or not. Quite right too dagear. I hate greed."
I agree it SHOULD be but are sure you know what your talking about.
I was only pointing out a loop hole my recently deciesed father had found without telling me or my mother.
BUT when I dealt with his affairs I found he'd deffered for over 2 years while claiming pension credit I was amazed myself that they let this happen but they said it was fine & paid my mother a lump sum then transfered my fathers state pension to my mother.
Obviously a loop hole that should be closed!!!

I have defered my state pension because I am still working and I would lose out on the tax by taking it now. I plan to take the lump sum in 53 weeks time. We are all different and most people can not afford to put off their state pension. I thought about taking extra weekly pension but for me the lump sum works best. It's the same with a private pension, should you take the flat payment or go for the yearly increase. It all depends how long YOU THINK you will live for.

Twonko, I would normally agree that everyone should try and save whilst working and that people are responsible for their own welfare, but life was different for people years ago. Many had fought in one or two world wars (hardly a time for "saving") and quite a few were caught out by governments and other people who enticed them into putting their money into pension schemes that were then raided - and there was no legal come back in those days - pension raiding had never been experienced before. They were also told that the state pension was good and would rise well if they contributed to it (and remember people who have a state pension did CONTRIBUTE). We now all know better. It's a bit like cigarettes. Years ago people were told they were calming and even sophisticated (look at old films to see how alluring the heroine looks whilst smoking). The health issues were well hidden by the companies concerned. So I don't mind if a few of my pennies of tax goes to help someone when they are old and maybe infirm. It will be my turn (and yours) one day. Let's just not give it to the young and able bodied who don't want to work. I know of many who go from educational course to educational course (they receive money for attending them on top of their dole payments), and never intend to work. They can then get all the other entitlements that go with being unemployed. Let's give the pensioners a reasonable income. After all they have worked for about 40 years plus if they get what is now the pittance that they call a FULL state pension. My father died one month after retirement and my late husband 18 months after being made redundant at the age of 52. Perhaps that is something to think about when deciding whether to defer your pension. Yousanem has got it right. The government actuaries will have worked out what is best for the government.

I think this article has been an eye-opener for a lot of people who didnt even realise how incredibly paltry the state pension truly is. We pay pensioners 11% of the average wage now. All the Governments that have allowed this to happen should hang their heads in shame.

What it does serve as is a wake up call to us all. Get yourself investing in other things (pensions, property etc) because the percentage rate will keep falling.

Just a point to think about here. Who has guaranteed us that the state pension is going on ad infinitum? I dont think any of us with more than 15 years to go till we reach retirement age should bank on that. Politicians are already saying that there will be too many retired and not enough paying in for it to continue. God help anyone that is relying solely on the state pension.

On financial advice I deferred my pension at 60, deciding to take it 65 as I continued working. I opted to take it at start of new tax year, BIG mistake, I was taxed at 20% whereas had I taken it prior to 6 April I would only have been taxed at 10%! My 'foolish' error but I know I would not have saved it even though on a decent salary in higher tax bracket. Lesson to learn, perhaps the bird in the hand is better.

My wife has a reduced Pension, which will be increased when I take my Pension. If I deferr taking my pension, she won't be able to take the increased amount until I do take mine. Will her pension also be increased by the same percentage that mine is, or would she be entitled to a Lump Sum Payment if I defer for 12 months, or would the increase in her Pension when I take mine, be the same irrespective of when I take my Pension?
Obviously this could mean that our total Pension Income would actually be less if I defer taking my Pension.

But what if the spouse receives a full pension in their own right? Will they receive the extra?