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Questions about retirement thro illhealth

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jjaanniiccee
jjaanniiccee Community member Posts: 4 Listener
in Benefits and financial support
Hi all at this present moment im recovering from a shunt operation for hydrocephalus, i worked all of my life until becoming ill and was i total shock when i was duagnosed in feb 2017  i went on to have an etv which started to fail shortly after the op i have now gone ahead and had the shunt put in i have already put my form in to p i p and am having my face to face assesment tomorrow i am wondering due to the large volume of people i find having been refused p i p whether i should take early retirement at the ripe old age of 59 any advice will be appreciated 
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  • Liam_Alumni
    Liam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 1,101 Pioneering
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    Hi @jjaanniiccee,

    Welcome to Scope's online community! It's great to have you here.

    I've moved your post into our Talk about PIP/DLA category, so other members of our community can advise.
    Liam
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  • CockneyRebel
    CockneyRebel Community member Posts: 5,209 Disability Gamechanger
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    Hi
    PIP is a non means tested benefit so does not impact on your income.
    Check the effect of early retirement on Private pension if you have one and also your state pension if you have enough contributions.
    I took early retirement a few years ago at 58 and unless you like daytime TV you need a plan. If you are used to an active life this is even more important. At first it was great doing nothing a few weeks later I was bored out of my brain and my condition worstened. I missed the "structure" of going out to work. We all have dreams of things we want to do when we retire but now you have to think whether you dreams are practical given your health. Depending on what you want to do you will be starting 6 or 7 years early and before your state pension kicks in. Can you get ESA ? As you are claiming PIP be prepared to have to fight for your award.
    Be all you can be, make  every day count. Namaste
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  • Matilda
    Matilda Community member Posts: 2,593 Disability Gamechanger
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    @jjaanniiccee

    You might want to re-post in Ask a benefits advisor category.
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  • Liam_Alumni
    Liam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 1,101 Pioneering
    edited July 2017
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    Thanks, @Matilda.

    @jjaanniiccee, this has now been moved into the benefits advisor group, where @BenefitsTrainingCo may be able to advise further.
    Liam
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  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
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    jjaanniiccee,

    Taking early retirement doesn't really help with the benefits situation. If you're not working due to ill health, the relevant benefit would be ESA (employment and support allowance). That is because you are under state pension age. PIP, on the other hand, can be paid in or out of work.

    If you take early retirement and get what's called contributory ESA (because you've been working until very recently, it will be based on your national insurance), then I'd also watch out for any health insurance or private pension payments you get via your employer, or any personal pension payments. That's because these can reduce the amount of ESA you get.

    Are you getting Statutory Sick Pay from your employer at the moment? This has probably ended or is close to ending as it only lasts for 28 weeks. So this may be the time to claim ESA anyway, but that doesn't mean you have to retire. I would probably keep your options open for now.

    The broad answer to your question is that it depends on your finances. As CockneyRebel points out, you can't get your state pension for a while, and any private/occupational pension you get would almost certainly affect your ESA.

    Meanwhile, how did your PIP assessment go?  I would definitely advise you to continue with the PIP process because that benefit can only increase your income, whatever you decide to do.

    Will
    The Benefits Training Co:

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