[smudgie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Well, you can... you can have a private pension or retirement plan and then retire whenever you want. They can't "force you to work until 70" - all they can do is withhold the state pension. That's all that's meant by "retirement age", really.

What is a bit of a sham, is that you can't opt OUT of having a state pension and have your NI contributions reduced accordingly (to invest however you want).

This is true.
Hubby has retired early, a year earlier than we planned due to redundancy (bit of luck really as he received 12 months wages and only had to pay tax on anything over £35K)

I have mixed feelings on the being able to opt out.
People would more than likely opt out but then not bother to invest the money for their retirement. But if it was on condition that they did invest privately I could see it working. Plus it would encourage people to invest a bit more for a better deal.