Adrian Haines retired at 53 and now spends his days training and competing in athletics tournaments, enjoying what he calls “a simple life”.
The 58-year-old from Crawley was a lead material supplier in engineering for 38 years before deciding to retire in July 2022, something he is able to do as he has saved into a pension since he was 18.
The £20,000 he draws down each year is more than enough, he says.
It was personal circumstances that made Adrian consider early retirement. He was signed off from work for a number of months after developing long Covid and also lost his wife in 2020.
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“I didn’t completely plan it but I went back to work [after being off from long Covid] and I lasted two weeks. I saw my health deteriorating again and I quit on the spot and I haven’t looked back. I live a simple life,” he said.
Adrian began saving into his workplace defined benefit (DB) pension – a type of pension that gives you an annual guaranteed income for life in retirement – when he turned 18, and didn’t think too much about it as it came out of his wages each month.
He estimates when he first started working he was putting in about £15 a week into his pension and this figure grew as his earnings did.
In the last five years leading to retirement, Adrian was told about the tax efficiency of putting large sums of money into his pension and began ploughing £100 to £150 per week into his pot.
Then, in 2021, Adrian converted this into a defined contribution (DC) pension following his wife’s passing. This type of pension gives you a pot of money which you can draw cash from flexibly, and Adrian draws down £20,000 a year.
Generally, DB schemes are more generous than DC schemes so it is often not worth converting them, but there were specific circumstances which Adrian thought made it worth doing in his case.
He said: “My final salary pension had a spousal element but after my wife passed, I thought I am on my own, so what’s the point of having a spouse scheme if you have no spouse?”
When a person dies, if they had a DB pension most schemes continue to pay a certain amount to the surviving spouse, civil partner or dependents when they die, which is what Adrian’s pension had.
How to transfer a DB pension to DC – and whether it’s worth it
To transfer a DB pension to a DC, you first must get a transfer value (CETV), which tells you the cash equivalent of your DB pension benefits if you were to transfer.
It is important to note when you transfer from a DB to a DC you are no longer getting a guaranteed income for life and are instead moving your money into an invested pot of cash.
The value of your DC pot can go up or down depending on market conditions and it’s finite. It could run out, unlike a DB pension, which generally continues paying out until you die.
If the value of your DB pension is more than £30,000 you must, by law, get advice from a regulated financial adviser to do a transfer. This is to make sure you’re aware of the risks of transferring.
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon said: “The main reason that people choose to transfer their DB pension into a DC pension pot is to give more flexibility in how and when to take their pension. DB pensions provide a fixed income for life which usually increases in line with inflation, and is payable from a set date, although it’s possible for it to be paid earlier or later than this.
“DC pensions give much more flexibility, allowing people to choose to take a regular income or lump sums from age 55-57 from April 2027 – and they can vary the amount they withdraw. If they have multiple sources of income this flexibility gives more control over their total taxable income to avoid crossing a tax threshold.
“Those in poor health or with limited life expectancy is another common reason to consider a DB to DC transfer, as individuals can withdraw the money now to benefit from it immediately or pass it on to loved ones. Others may have multiple sources of income, so may not need to rely on a DB income.”
Adrian says his outgoings are minimal and does not want expensive things.
He says: “I haven’t got a mortgage, apart from my athletics and buying a bit of gear and going into competitions I don’t really spend a lot.
“I try to eat good food from supermarkets, but I’m not a spender. I don’t need to go to the shops and buy the latest gear. I pay my bills and run a car and my youngest son, who is 21, still lives with me, but the £20,000 I draw down is more than enough and any excess I put into savings. If my children need help I can dip into my pot,” he said.
He added: “I feel that a lot of people think they’re not prepared to take the plunge and retire because they’re too worried about the finances, and obviously it depends on your outgoings and how you want to live. But I’ve found that it’s easily manageable.”
After retiring, Adrian was able to focus more on his middle-distance running and regularly competes in athletics competitions.
He said: “I am an 800-metre and 1,500-metre runner and have been doing it for 18 years. When I retired, I became a full-time athlete. I compete in Masters Athletics, European championships, World championships and British championships.”
Adrian and his team achieving the world record for 4 x 800m in Nuneaton for the M55 category. They hold the outdoor and indoor record
This winter, Adrian went altitude training in South Africa and beach training in Goa and says he enjoys the social aspect of competing.
“It’s just an incredibly positive vibe, which you don’t necessarily experience in day-to-day living. You’ve got the social aspect as well, you’re meeting up with people that you haven’t seen for a year or so. I’ve won medals at the Europeans and the Worlds. I train hard and I love it,” he added.
Adrian will be going to the Golden Spike in June, a world-renowned athletics competition.
“Retiring early was the best decision I ever made. I live off a moderate lump sum pension and enjoy a simple life. But living the life with lots of exercise, travel and healthy eating,” he added.