Find out more about flexible retirement

12 Jun 2020

If you’re thinking of reducing your working hours and are at least 55 years old you may want to consider flexible retirement

Following the announcement of a range of voluntary measures for staff the University’s Pensions Team has had some enquiries from colleagues asking about flexible retirement, which is where you can begin to take some of your pension benefits whilst you’re still working, so long as you’re at least 55 years of age.

University Head of Pensions Heather Mawson explains how this works: “With flexible retirement you wouldn’t have to retire or stop working altogether before accessing some of your pension benefits and this might be a useful option if you’re thinking of reducing your working hours on a permanent basis.

“Because you would have to reduce your working hours on a permanent basis you can’t apply for flexible retirement through these voluntary staff measures as these only apply on a temporary basis,” she added.

Instead you would have apply for a permanent flexible working arrangement – you can find out more about flexible working and flexible retirement on StaffNet:

Heather goes on to explain: “If after you’ve read more you would like to apply for a flexible working arrangement you should speak with your line manager to see if they will support you in principle.

“It’s also worth considering that different pension schemes have different rules about flexible retirement so you should check out your pension scheme’s website to find further information. You can also speak to the Pensions Team who can provide confidential support to you by providing pension statements based on the scenarios you are considering for retirement. You can contact the team at pensions@manchester.ac.uk”.

Before making a decision you should consider the future impact of any early retirement pension income that you receive to ensure that you have enough money when you decide to completely give up work and to take into account any other pension benefits and State Pension that you will receive.

The University cannot give you any financial or pensions advice so you may wish to speak with an independent financial advisor before making any decisions.