What age can I retire at?

[Brendan Burgess]

I have been working in my current job for the last six years and have been paying into a pension scheme for the last three years or so. I will be finished paying my mortgage off by the time I'm 54. I don't plan to work until I am 65. Can I take early retirement and claim from this contributory pension or do I have to wait until I am 65 to claim this pension? I am not in any those professions were you could definitly retire early.

 

[Meritas]

It depends on the rules of your specific pension scheme. Have a look in your scheme booklet or if you don't have one request it from the scheme administrator, pension consultant or trustees. Most scheme wording goes as follows: "retirement prior to normal retirement age is permitted subject ot employer consent". From the Revenue perspective one can retire early from an occupational scheme after age 50 subject to limits on the level of the benefits based on your years of service.