Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 45 total)
  • Who's got a good plan for retirement / pension?
  • Aus
    Free Member

    Prompted by jondoh’s thread below, I often worry that I have no pension or big plan for future retirement. I’m mid 40’s and consciously paying off the mortgage to reduce debt down. Beyond that…?

    So who’s got
    (a) a pension they’ve confidence in or
    (b) a foolproof retirement plan

    and when did you start it (hoping I haven’t missed the boat!

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    I have a company pension, in fact I’ve picked up lots of little private pension pots every time I switch jobs. So far as I know if I try and roll them all into one, I will get raped for transfer fees and commision, so it’s probably best to only do this just the once.

    I have no faith in private pensions though, steady Savings throughout your working life seems to makes sense in theory except if you dare to go and require any form of care in your old age, in which case those saving along with any equity built up in property will get raided too…

    TBH I’d actually rather pay a bit more tax over the course of my working life for a guaranteed liveable minimum state pension on retirement…

    Of course being 33 at present I’m of the generation that will probably have to work to about 97 to adjust for all the Bastard Baby boomers that have just pulled the ladder up after them.

    And then my reward will be “Choice” over which Tier 3 NHS service provider gets the contract to wipe dribble from my chin and ignore my pleas for water, food or access to a toilet.

    Cheers Dave, Nick and George…

    br
    Free Member

    I have a company pension, in fact I’ve picked up lots of little private pension pots every time I switch jobs. So far as I know if I try and roll them all into one, I will get raped for transfer fees and commision, so it’s probably best to only do this just the once.

    Eggs in a basket…

    I’ve done the exact opposite to you, mine are all left where they are – and if one of them goes pop at least I’ve only lost a few years.

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    binners
    Full Member

    I predict that before too long private pensions will be exposed as an enormous scam, by the banks, that will make PPI mis-selling seem like a minor trifling little affair

    StefMcDef
    Free Member

    My big plan is a lifetime of variable shift work, which is known to have a deleterious effect on life expectancy. With any luck this means I shall expire before the miserable pittance eked out by my employers’ pension plan does.

    allthegear
    Free Member

    Left my old company recently to go freelance and got a final pension statement saying I had already accumulated enough for over £10k a year on retirement. (Yes, it was a defined benefit scheme)

    Was a bit shocked! ( in a pleasant way )

    Rachel

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Eggs in a basket…

    I’ve done the exact opposite to you, mine are all left where they are – and if one of them goes pop at least I’ve only lost a few years.

    No you miss-read, I’ve done the same as you. I’ve got several little pots, I’ve left them as they are, I’m not transferring them into one as I will get diddled when I do and the pensions industry and it’s “fees structures” are supposedly being reviewed…

    The thing is, there’s not really any such thing as a job for life anymore, but you only get employer contributions if you opt into a company scheme, go it alone and you’re basically losing out on that, but then are you really going to work for the same company for the next 30-40 years?

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Actually I do have a Private stand-alone pension as one employer made us all redundant, and we each got our company pension turned into a Scottish widows jobbie.

    It’s great as you can have variable risk exposure for your investment.
    I think the scale is 1 – 10 and you pick just how lairy you want them to be with your retirement money, I might write to them and ask them to crank it up to 11 just to see what whacky schemes they invest in…

    Hmmmm….

    bumps
    Free Member

    Public sector pension. Am 41 (been in the same job since 21) and could retire now (with immediate pension, static until 55). Current compulsory retirement age 53 (or 55 if I get promoted again). Really good pension too but being changed in 2015 to something clearly cheaper and less good.

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    Current compulsory retirement age 53

    I didn’t think they could do that anymore due to the age legislation?

    Really good pension too but being changed in 2015 to something clearly cheaper and less good.

    But still a whole heap more than you would have got for the same pot with an annuity I imagine.

    Just had a quick look and for someone in good health, aged 65 now, with a 50% pension to their spouse should they outlive them, and for £100,000 you’re going to get an income of between £2200 and £2900 a year.

    Let’s put it another way. If you want a pension today that gives you £15,000 a year income in today’s money, in the private sector without a final salary scheme you will need a pot of about £520,000 (also in today’s money).

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    Best plan for retirement is to be fit and look after your own money.

    Then when the govt and the thieves in the finance industry try rip you off, you still have options.

    fourbanger
    Free Member

    Die before I stop earning is my best plan so far.

    ton
    Full Member

    no pension here. no mortgage or debt either……so i dont worry.

    dantsw13
    Full Member

    Surely the higher rate tax relief on any pension contributions makes them a no-brainer? Then take 25% of your pension pot as a tax free lump sum on retirement, and use the rest for income?

    I am lucky to have a military pension in the bank, and have a good job that pays 12% of my annual salary into a pension(6% personal contribution), and I still won’t be as comfortable as I’d like to be in retirement.

    chilled76
    Free Member

    I went into Teaching for the pension… then the Tories got in and started attacking it, it’s nowhere near the terms I signed up for now. Still decent though.

    I intend on down sizing my house too when I retire.

    hh45
    Free Member

    Surely the higher rate tax relief on any pension contributions makes them a no-brainer? Then take 25% of your pension pot as a tax free lump sum on retirement, and use the rest for income?

    I rather dislike / fear giving my money to some thieving fund manager (have you ever heard of a poor one? or seen their offices in the City and West End?) but the tax is a benefit like no other. And the more you earn the better it gets. It can also be used to keep you qualifying for Child Benefit I think.

    And if you are mid 40s like me then having it tied up until aged 55 is no great shakes. Hopefully, I will be able to take work more easily by then take a lump sum, go travelling and do some of the other stuff a full time job with only 2 weeks holiday per go makes impossible. I just hope my knees are still up for it then!

    Paying in say £4,000 per annum seems like a hopeless project but the drip drip and compound interest does work its magic (rising markets help but haven’t been that kind over the last 15 years). I’ve paid in about this on average for 15 years and now have £150,000 that is a good foundation to build on now I have paid off mortgage and can really start to pile it on.

    allthepies
    Free Member

    I thought that you could only start drawing a pension from 55 at the earliest.

    allthepies
    Free Member

    Really ? 😯

    CHB
    Full Member

    Not a vocational teacher then!

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    Already retired, so I can give little advice….

    jonba
    Free Member

    Company pension is good for defined contribution. 6% by me and 12% by them on top. So that makes it a bit of a no brainer.

    Only young and have always paid in for about 5 years. Might be 40 years before I can draw a state pension if it still exists and I’m not means tested out of it.

    Minimise debts wherever possible, save in a variety of ways and be lucky is the rest of my plan.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    2 private pensions, 1 premium bond account (you never know) and a split between regular savings and mortgage overpayment.

    Oh, and a side bet on winning the stw endomondo road challenge this month. 😉

    Mugboo
    Full Member

    I have £2000 in an Abbey thing from contracting out of serps and £5000 in a Standard Life thing from another failed attempt at a pension. I have no intention of adding to either, so should I combine the two and bang them in the riskiest portfolio they do?

    Truthfully, I wish I could just have it back and pay it off my mortgage. Any other suggestions or choices that I have missed?

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Give it to me, ill invest it for you.

    Clover
    Full Member

    I’ve got these sheep…

    belugabob
    Free Member

    I went into Teaching for the pension.

    And they wonder why our kids are poorly educated…

    TuckerUK
    Free Member

    My plan is to keep my fingers crossed that I die (or win the lottery that I don’t even play) before not having a decent pension setup becomes an issue. 😉

    takisawa2
    Full Member

    Been in my companies scheme since 95′. Have another 22yrs to go. (Hopefully). Final salary was scrapped few years ago, but I’m paying in 6% & company pays in 8% (I think).
    In limbo though, Wife just about to start training as a nurse so hopefully she can get a good 20yrs into a pension. (She has a frozen one with about 10yrs in it).

    I’ve no grand schemes planned for retirement though. Not intrested in a 5 bed detached & fancy new cars etc. If I can get my two sons through uni & into good jobs, then a good foot on the housing ladder I’ll be a happy man. If I can see out my days tinkering with cars, bikes & bits of DIY I’ll be happier still.

    composite
    Free Member

    I’m 34 and have been paying into my company pension for 9 years with 5 years of that having extra contributions. I work for a university so it’s the best pension I’m ever going to get. Not much plan past that but I have a mortgage that is being paid off steadily and that is my only debt so I feel like it’s a decent start for things later in life.

    Mugboo
    Full Member

    If I could get to it I would..

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    And they wonder why our kids are poorly educated…

    So how would you attract good candidates to teaching and then prevent them from leaving in droves within five years?

    piemonster
    Full Member

    I was planning on selling my assets and moving to a stable third world country.

    Wales or Spain probably.

    piemonster
    Full Member

    So how would you attract good candidates to teaching and then prevent them from leaving in droves within five years?

    I’d have an Education minister that’s a massively out if touch idiot that’ll help.

    Wally
    Full Member

    Just to add a bit of balance to the teacher bashing – about to go to school for a couple of days to catch up. Handy these holidays. Teachers contribute 22.1% to their pension and the very best thing I can do for the family is die in service 🙂

    Wookster
    Full Member

    piemonster – Member
    I was planning on selling my assets and moving to a stable third world country.
    Wales or Spain probably.
    POSTED 1 MINUTE AGO # REPORT-POST

    PMSL!!!

    I have a pension about 10% a year between my and Works contributions, can’t put any more in at the moment but TBH at 32 I doubt it will ever be worth anything or that Ill retire before 70. The days of retiring at 55 or 65 are well gone for people of my age. Plus it’s a target for a big hit tax wise in the future……

    piemonster
    Full Member

    I suspect the level of comfort available when I get to retirement will have as much to do with demographics on the day than any pre planning on my part.

    ThurmanMerman
    Free Member

    Early 40s here, no pension and no plans. Until very recently I’ve had no disposable income to even think about a pension.

    I’ll be paying off a mortgage until I’m 62.

    At which time I take a Golden Syringe.

    chiefinspector
    Free Member

    My brother in law is a partner in his own accountancy firm and he told me you are far better to try and build your wealth by not putting all your eggs into 1 basket. A pension is 1 way to save for retirement. Investing money on the stock market another. Take advantage of your ISA allowance each year and buying and renting property will give you an additional income if possible.

    Relying on a state pension alone is not a good idea as this will be nowhere near enough to have a decent standard of living on retirement. Alternatively, it only takes 6 numbers and all your problems are solved 🙂

    chiefinspector
    Free Member

    piemonster
    Full Member

    My brother in law is a partner in his own accountancy firm and he told me you are far better to try and build your wealth by not putting all your eggs into 1 basket. A pension is 1 way to save for retirement. Investing money on the stock market another. Take advantage of your ISA allowance each year and buying and renting property will give you an additional income if possible.

    😯

    How detached is this from the reality of what many can actually afford to do?

    Just from my little world, a lot of folks are just trying to stay afloat. There’s nothing left to invest! The buy to let option is interesting, how many can’t afford to put money away because of high property prices/rent?

    So glad I don’t have a mortgage or rent to pay.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 45 total)

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