I'd quite like the 7% interest those rascals are getting
Not unreasonable if investing in unit trusts or similar
"Please remember the value of an investment may fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. You may get back less than you invest."
not exactly what you want for your long-term savings...
[i]Moshi, whats your point? That I shouldn't trust my own kids with safeguarding my cash in the future?
No, just seemed an odd way of trying to eek out a state pension when you clearly have your own savings to get by on. Why put the burden on your kids to look after you?[/i]
We are both missing each others point here. What burden wouldthere be on my own kids o hand over some cash that I have handed to them earlier in life out of a svings account?
I am no eeking out a state pension. I am getting some return on the tax I have paid for my entire working life. I am also protecting money I have also paid tax on whilst earnng it. It is no different than paying an accountant to save a business paying tax by using tax allowances.
It will all be done legally as my wife works a a solicitors and we have taken advice and will continu to do so.
not exactly what you want for your long-term savings...
Seriously? Where's your money?
It will all be done legally as my wife works a a solicitors and we have taken advice and will continu to do so.
Serious question - I was under the impression that you can only make gifts of £3k cash per year to someone, and above that the gifts are taxed? I looked into this when my mum got cancer and we were worried about having to sell her house to pay for care.
Some very selfish and short-sighted views being offered here. It's possible that your retired life could be as long as your working one and yet you expect the tax payer to pick up the bill for you being too selfish to save for it?
The Daily Mail are definitely wrong - its not the immigrants we need to worry about but the country's future pensioners!
I retired early and bloody glad I have a pension, its been a second life. I now have the time and some cash to enjoy those things I couldnt because of lack of time. Your a fool if you think you can ignore your pension situation. Or rather you will be back on here bemonaing the fact.
My father is now 66 and still working (he can't afford not to). My FIL retired at 56 after saving all his life.
I'm somewhere in between their respective behaviours. My pension funds are patchy, but I do save (not enough cash IMO - it's mainly in shares).
The mortgage will be gone by 50, though I'd like it to be well before then (ideally if the share scheme I'm in comes to fruition in a few years).
My fear is not so much retirement (I'll be more like 66 than 56) but the dangers of long term illness preventing me from accruing enough in time.
The Daily Mail are definitely wrong - its not the immigrants we need to worry about but the country's future pensioners!
Hey!
I resemble that remark
@55 I have very little chance of saving enough to keep me in old age so I'll be relying on the youngsters to get their wallets out 🙂
I started my first private pension when I was about 22 and paid into that for 8 years, unfortunately, the company owner somehow got access to the pot and stole it. I paid nothing into another one until I was 34
If public sector pensions and state pensions are going to collapse (as per earlier "Ponzi scheme" comments) then the country is screwed anyway. The economy needs people to have money to spend to function, if a large and increasing section is impoverished - living on subsistence benefits - then who is going to be buying goods and services?
The answer is not easy - extending working life to 70 and beyond seems like the only option, but that relies on an steady increase in healthy life expectancy. I think we all need a change in mind-set (I'm not as old as my name suggests) and give up any ideas of early retirement, and structure our working lives so we can enjoy life now rather than banking on a long and healthy retirement. I also think that a reassessment of working patterns to allow people to reverse their careers in later life, shedding responsibility and reducing wages if they wish.
There is always a false sense of believing that things will always be as they are, but the welfare state and even widespread occupational pensions are historically recent - if we want to maintain these we need to really rethink the how society operates
Not collapse necessarily, although that could happen. But the obvious demographics and dodgy structure of state pensions makes it pretty certain that current arrangements cannot be sustained. Unions should be advising people about this not organising futile strikes.
I am glad that ton/OP has a slightly romanticised view of how this plays out - I do not share his confidence and would rather prepare for a different scenario. One reason why my MTB is seven years old!
I do hope that you are right though ton!
Wouldn't it be better if we could all work more flexibly, in the future?
That way instead of retiring outright we could go down to fewer hours once our mortgages are paid off and our kids are gone.
Wouldn't it be better if we could all work more flexibly, in the future?
Is that 'flexible' as in the zero hours contract, min wage style 'flexibility' so beloved of the Tories?
Obviously not - flexibility as desired by the employee, not the other way round.
That way instead of retiring outright we could go down to fewer hours once our mortgages are paid off and our kids are gone.
Aren't "young people" getting on the property ladder later these days and with student loans and the like to pay off the day of paying off the mortage gets later and later too.And their kids will probably be at home in their 40s if current trends continue 😐
Yeah that needs fixing too 🙂
I have no interest in lining the pockets of bankers or pension advisors for some false sense of security for my pension only for it to stop when I croak.
I'll sort my own plan out.
How're you going to do that without lining the pockets of bankers?
I'll sort my own plan out.
You mean a SIPP?
olddog speaks sense
I think we all need a change in mind-set (I'm not as old as my name suggests) and give up any ideas of early retirement,
I dont agree, what is true is that that there is no norm and we all come at this from different routes with have differnet expectations. This seems obvious from the replies on this post from those that have succesfully saved and planned for their retirement and others that are somewhere else on the spectrum of provision for old age.
The state will/might deliver some sort of pension and what the individual may can provide for themselves. Short answwer is you can do something for yourself and the state my/will chip in some amount at some time. The bit you can rely on in my experience is the bit you do for yourself.
How're you going to do that without lining the pockets of bankers?
this type of attitude is a symptom of the 'problem' lots of people seem to have with pensions. too many people don't want to take any interest in or responsibility for their own futures.
if you're not planning your future finances for yourself, not in control of where your hard earned £ is invested, not trying to maximize the returns you're getting, not trying to minimize costs, not working out how much you need and the best way to get it then there's really no hope for you.
his type of attitude is a symptom of the 'problem' lots of people seem to have with pensions. too many people don't want to take any interest in or responsibility for their own futures.
Yeah you've not answered my question though. How exactly?
I don't see it as not taking responsibility - I see it as paying for a service. I'm paying someone to make money for me. I could invest my own money directly, I suppose, but to do so effectively would require me to become an expert in investment which I'm not prepared to do - my time is better spent elsewhere.
there's really no hope for you
Oh **** off. Don't talk such bollocks. No hope? I'm going to be destitute because I used a managed fund? Really? You're talking arse.
+1 djambo (except for the last four words 😉 )
How exactly?
Vanguard index funds in a SIIP (extremely cheap, minimizing banker pocket lining) are where 99% of people should look IMHO.
I don't see it as not taking responsibility - I see it as paying for a service. I'm paying someone to make money for me.
Can you honestly tell me you know how many % points you're paying a year for your pension to be fully managed by some kind man thats going to make you lots of money?
Lets assume you have £100k invested for 20 years and get a return of 6% per year. If your paying 2.5% in fees (this is probably conservative for most people with actively managed funds) you'll end up with £198k at the end. Get your fees down to 0.32% per year (currently what i pay) and with the same £100k you'll end up with £301k. Thats over a £100k extra for the sake of 30 minutes spent reading your pension fund prospectus, checking the fees and switching the funds your money gets diverted in to.
You're talking arse
Still think so?
there's really no hope for you
soz, maybe a little harsh 😉
No pension here ,never been able to afford one ,so will die poor
State pension will be 156 a week soon x 2 for the other half + a rental flat and either part time self employer work or I will pay a grunt to do what I currently do and earn a bit from the profit
Can you honestly tell me you know how many % points you're paying a year for your pension to be fully managed by some kind man thats going to make you lots of money?
Yes, our company fund costs 0.6% per annum and it's doing very well.
I'm 27. I reckon ill be working til I'm 80. But I could live to 95 so that's fine. I don't have savings but look at all those years. More than triple what ive lived so far. Good on Ton.
No retirement, no pension, no worries.
Edit: I haven't wasted my life not enjoying work, which will help if I'm at it for 40 years.
42 here and no pension to worry about, nae savings to worry about, and nae mortgage to worry about either - i have a council house (now housing association) as there's no way i could ever get a mortgage on my 50 pence more than minimum wage earnings.
Not fussed…….I have two nice bikes and top notch bike packing gear so as long as i can pedal a bike i'll amuse myself and when i finally can't wipe my own arse or need help to live i'll decide to try base jumping.
I used to have a pension managed by an IFA. I don't know if it was him examining the funds the money went into - he sent me things to sign about my risk profile and what areas I wanted to go into, but I don't know how much this cost.
If I were to manage my own funds like you do - how much time to I have to spend understanding what I'm reading? Bearing in mind I absolutely hate dealing with this shit and even the basics are a real chore.
Now though I have a pension through the very large company I work for. I don't know much about that tbh. However, they do match my contributions - I don't know if they would do that if I had a private pension.
Molgrips, it's most likely a stake holder defined contribution scheme, so fees are capped at 1%. If it's a large company, they'll have haggled for a better rate, say between 0.5% and 0.75%, even our tiny company (100ish people) gets 0.6%.
For people with mortgages with super low interest rates right now, wouldn't overpaying that be more prudent, then once mortgage paid off early, put that £600-£1000 a month your not paying into a pension pot?
People shouldn't be scared of the word pension. It is just an extremely tax efficient form of investment locked up until 55 (at the moment) 20% immediate up lift for a basic rate taxpayer, cheers thanks very much I'll take that. Even more important for higher and additional rate taxpayers.
Something is better than nothing.
This is a fairly interesting thread. Like a lot of people, I'm doing something, but I have little idea what it will ultimately amount to in the end. I cling onto the hope that it may make some sort of meaningful difference.
My current scenario:
Age: 34
Pension: shared contribution 5%
Started paying pension at: 28
Pension currently worth: around £32k
I really have little idea what I'm doing, I was scared into starting a pension by an advisor and I'm really glad I did. The fees are less than 1%.
I'm 33.
Mortgage is paid off. No kids.
Pay a lot into my pension - 17% of my wages. My employer puts in 7% (the max they will when matching an employee's contributions) and also does it on a salary sacrifice scheme and puts in all the employers NI contributions too so there's a few extra pounds chucked in each month.
I reckon I'll be fine unless the pension scheme collapses. Which is a possibility.
I'll also likely have a large inheritance too - my parents did well from the property price rises. I don't view that money as 'mine' - it's theirs and I have no claim to it, but they've made it clear they want it to go to my sister and I when they die. However they may need it to pay for old-age care.
I think I'll be OK. I don't trust that there will be any state pension at all when I am older and the world can suck my cock if they think I'm working past 65. I am sacrificing now to make sure that doesn't happen. When I hit pension age I reckon the state pension will be some kind of food stamps.
The two relevant facts are:
1) Pensioners are the biggest voting block in the country. Which is whey their benefits are triple-super-ultra-awesome-locked
2) We just have too many people who are living too long. People whose life is extended in to piss soaked incoherence. It will all coming crashing down when the equatorial regions become uninhabitable and huge waves of migrants swamp the western world.
My answer is to buy a £10k bothy in what will become the Scottish Riveria.
I honestly believe that wilderness land in a northern, yet still arable area will be the greatest thing you can ever pass on to your great grandchildren.
How come these people are selfish spongers but those saving in pension schemes are being 'tax efficient'. Surely it all comes out of the same pot.Some very selfish and short-sighted views being offered here. It's possible that your retired life could be as long as your working one and yet you expect the tax payer to pick up the bill for you being too selfish to save for it?
I think this is an interesting thread. Basically some of us are willing to accept a hand to mouth existance, some aren't. Tbh I don't think either matters as long as we are happy. Its unlikely any of us will starve.
if I live to 116! 😆 hahhahaha 😆cheers_drive - MemberIt's possible that your retired life couldif be as long as your working one
Both my folks died before they could enjoy their retirement. Mum died at just over 65, having had about 6 terrible years with leukemia prior to that. Dad died of a stroke before he reached 65.
What money I had put away in ISA's took a huge hit with the last melt-down and they've only just recovered to the pre-recession amounts. The money in my current pension scheme nose-dived last August, wiping out most of the growth from the previous 5 or so years.
Makes me wonder whether it's even worth saving for this mythical 'retirement' thing...
No 'pension' for me.
Lucky to be n the position whereby I have property and very rich in-laws with only 2 kids (wife & bro in law).
My wife also has a pretty good pension.
We know we aren't going to live out our years in the lap of luxury but are happy enough that we can live as we do now, which is fairly simply albeit with very nice bikes. Not sure how much I will care about having carbon crank arms when I'm in my 90's...
I'm 33.
Mortgage is paid off. No kids.
Pay a lot into my pension - 17% of my wages. My employer puts in 7% (the max they will when matching an employee's contributions) and also does it on a salary sacrifice scheme and puts in all the employers NI contributions too so there's a few extra pounds chucked in each month.
Yep, you sound made unless you have some sort of [i]life shock[/i] along the way. How does one pay off their mortgage by 33? (earliest realistically for me is 45-50, if I tackle the mortgage aggressively)
In terms of dying before you can take your pension, it depends on the scheme (I think final salary schemes - your beneficiaries lose out? or maybe not?). In my case I [i]think[/i] my wife and child would get my pension, as well as death in service from my employer. The life insurance / critical illness covers the remainder of the mortgage.
Can you honestly tell me you know how many % points you're paying a year for your pension to be fully managed by some kind man thats going to make you lots of money?
0.35% in a company fund. I know because the Ifa bloke that does our annual review (paid by the company) loves to remind us how cheap the fees are.
Currently paying 5% while the company pays 10%. I might up my percentage at some point next yr, but got a few other potential costs on the horizon so currently saving for that.
Don't think I will be well off in my retirement, but should be comfortable.
Would love to pay the mortgage off early, but struggling to find any spare cash to do that at the mo...
Yep, you sound made unless you have some sort of life shock along the way. How does one pay off their mortgage by 33?
By not having kids by the sounds of it.
(earliest realistically for me is 45-50, if I tackle the mortgage aggressively)
I paid my mortgage off a couple of weeks back, at age 46. It's a nice feeling owning the Edinburgh house outright, however I'm likely to become a mortgage payer again (and with a substantially larger mortgage sadly) soon as I'm looking to buy a property in London to replace renting one here. It is tempting to say stuff it and stick with renting in London but given the way the house prices are rising here it seems like it'd be an investment opportunity lost.
My wife and I both pay into pensions - at current values they wouldn't be huge come retirement time however with both kids now left school we can save more now than we did previously. I still expect most of our retirement fund will depend on the equity in our properties though.
To those worried about managing their own pensions, it's quite simple really - buy Unit Trusts which have their own managers. The trick is to find the right funds but that's no real issue as there's plenty of free advice out there e.g. http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/wealth-150
Also, this is good info as to the cheapest places to have your SIPP - and ISA too:
I switch from HL to II.
