kintyred
You really have to be very careful before making sweeping assumptions like you have done in your last couple of posts. Everything depends on personal circumstances. For example, you state:
"If you intend to work beyond 55, leaving a few days before your 55th birthday makes a lot of sense. It will reduce your pension by about £10000 pa....which means that you'll only lose £5800ish after tax and NI. That's£58000 over ten years."
But what if you reinvest that £10000 a year into another pension fund? That would be tax free and potentially grow at 8 to 10% a year - even today. After 10 years that would be worth more than your £110k gratuity at age 65.
My advice would be to think hard and maybe seek individual advice - don't just follow the flow.