Retirement is no longer the cliff-edge it once was. In the past people tended to work until a retirement age set by their employer or the State. But you can now usually work for as long as you want and you don’t have to retire all in one go.

You might choose to retire gradually or to carry on working for longer perhaps moving to part-time work before you stop completely. When you give up work you’re likely to lose your main source of income so you need to make sure you’ll have enough income from other sources before you retire. It’s hard to know off the top of your head how much income you’ll need but there are several things you can do and think about which can help you decide when you can afford to retire

For most staff the minimum pension age is 55.  This is the earliest age at which you can retire and draw your pension.  Some longer serving staff may have a protected pension age of 50.  If you think this may apply to you and you would like confirmation please contact pensions@imperial.ac.uk. 

If you are considering retirement, please take time to read the College’s Retirement Pension procedure.  Your Annual Membership Statement will give you an idea of how much pension you have built up, you can also use the pension scheme modellers below to get a better idea of how much your pension and lump sum might be. For example, if you retire early your pension will be reduced to take into account the longer period it will be paid. If you would like any other pensions estimates or other pension information please contact pensions@imperial.ac.uk.

What you need to know