Online course · United Kingdom
Plan the years after work, before anyone sells you a product.
The Later Life Ledger is Ocubyelyx’s retirement planning course. Eight modules, about 32 hours, written for adults who want to understand the State Pension, a workplace pot, and the tax around both. You study from home. We teach from Wishaw.
Education only. Ocubyelyx is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not tell you what to do with your own pension.
- Modules
- 8
- State Pension through later life
- Study time
- 32h
- Self-paced, over six to eight weeks
- Fee
- £240
- Once. Twelve months of access.
- Rates used
- 26/27
- Published tax-year figures
What you can do when you finish
You will not leave with a product, a transfer form, or a promise about your future income. You will leave with a map of the moving parts, written in your own notes.
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An income map
State Pension, workplace schemes, personal pensions, ISAs and cash, each labelled with what you know and what you still have to ask.
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An NI checklist
How to read a State Pension forecast, what a gap year means, and why 35 years is not always the whole story if you were contracted out.
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A taking-income comparison
Annuity, flexi-access drawdown and UFPLS, including the lump sum allowance, written so you can see the tax, not just the headline.
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Questions for an adviser
A one-page brief you can take to a regulated adviser or to a free MoneyHelper appointment, so the hour is spent on your facts.
Eight modules, in order
Open the full syllabus-
01
The shape of a UK retirement income
Three pots most people actually have, and why the house you live in is not a pension.
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02
State Pension and the National Insurance record
New and basic State Pension, forecasts, gaps, and Pension Credit as a safety net rather than a tactic.
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03
Workplace pensions and auto-enrolment
The 2026/27 qualifying band, defined benefit and defined contribution, and lost pots.
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04
Personal pensions, SIPPs and tax relief
Relief at source, net pay, salary sacrifice, and the extra step for Scottish taxpayers.
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05
Allowances and the ceilings
Annual allowance, taper, the money purchase annual allowance, and the lump sum allowances.
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06
Taking money from a pension
Annuity, drawdown and UFPLS, the minimum pension age, and emergency tax on a first withdrawal.
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07
The tax year you retire
Personal allowance, ISAs, Scottish income tax on pension income, and the order people often get wrong.
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08
Later life, care, and the edge of this course
Care in Scotland and elsewhere, powers of attorney, scams, and the brief you take to a regulated adviser.
Who it is for, and who should look elsewhere
The course is for UK residents, usually in their forties, fifties or sixties, who have at least one pension and a feeling that the paperwork has got ahead of them. Employees, self-employed people and people already drawing a small income all appear in the worked examples.
It is not for anyone who wants us to say “transfer this scheme” or “buy this annuity”. Defined benefit transfers over the advice threshold need a regulated adviser. We will show you that gate. We will not walk you through it.
Read the full fit noteFigures the lessons use
The rules pageThese are published 2026/27 rates, checked on 28 October 2026. They are teaching numbers. Confirm them on GOV.UK before you act, and expect a one-page correction from us if a Budget changes a figure you are studying.
| Item | 2026/27 published figure | Where it sits in the course |
|---|---|---|
| Full new State Pension | £241.30 a week | Module 2 |
| Full basic State Pension | £184.90 a week | Module 2 |
| Pension Credit standard minimum guarantee | £238.00 single, £363.25 couple, a week | Module 2 |
| Auto-enrolment qualifying earnings | £6,240 to £50,270; trigger £10,000 | Module 3 |
| Minimum auto-enrolment contributions | 8% total, of which the employer pays at least 3% | Module 3 |
| Annual allowance | £60,000, tapering to £10,000 | Module 5 |
| Money purchase annual allowance | £10,000 once flexible access is triggered | Module 5 |
| Lump sum and death benefit allowance | £1,073,100 | Module 5 |
Taught from a terrace in Wishaw, not from a call centre
Lessons are written by Amina Calder and checked against the published rate card before each tax year. If you write to us, a person at 150 Shankly Dr replies. The monthly clinic is a question session about the lessons. It is not an advice appointment.