No pension, no worries.

anyone else not got a pension? and don’t give a monkeys arse about it.

just listened to Mr vine on radio 2.
seems to me that all the folk poked up with pensions do nothing but worry about it.

in the grand scheme does it really matter?

Depends when you’re going to retire/die and what else you have ?

Depends on how much money you need when you retire I suppose 🙂

No pension, no chance of a pension, I’m past caring. Wife has one, I’d better hope she doesn’t leave me…

I didn’t think you had a choice anymore?
If you don’t pay into a pension, your employer has to enrol you on one and take 1% to pay into it

I’ve been withdrawing my pension for the last 5 years (almost). It means that working isn’t a necessity.

My dearly beloved had a lovely pension setup. The banks were allowed to shaft that.

I may be a bit thick, but it seems that everyone who pays into a pension does not seem to get what they pay in back.
is this the case?

benefit scroungers.

I may be a bit thick, but it seems that everyone who pays into a pension does not seem to get what they pay in back.
is this the case?

Not any more, you can take your pot without giving it to city sleaze bags from next April

I didn’t think you had a choice anymore?
If you don’t pay into a pension, your employer has to enrol you on one and take 1% to pay into it

I think you can still opt out.

Lets make this simple:

When you stop working you still need to eat/live etc.

So start saving. A pension is a tax efficient way of saving.

Doing nothing now will feel pretty stupid when you are a bit older.

Don’t forget, if you withdraw your pension in full next year and beyond, you will pay a voluntary tax on 75% of the fund. So instead of it going to the financial sector…it goes to Georgie boy in no 11.

Funnily enough, the countries cited by the Government as leading lights in this area (USA, Australia etc) have all started to take steps to return to compulsory annuitisation as the system failed big time. Many pensioners blew it all too quickly and simply ran out of money and were thrown back on the state as the provider of last resort.

The rules regarding automatic enrolment are that the employer has to provide a scheme to which you are automatically enroled. You may however, opt out.

When you stop working you still need to eat/live etc.

I know a few folk who have stopped working, have no private pension, and manage quite well……some even managed to save a bit of their state pension.

your employer has to enrol you on one and take 1% to pay into it

That won’t be worth much though.

Interactive Investor SIPP for me, happy enough with it as very cost efficient.

I know a few folk who have stopped working, have no private pension, and manage quite well

State pensions are rather generous at the moment – it’ll get worse.

If you’re under 45, with the exception of a lucky few, you’ll be working til you drop.

The state pension will be ancient history by then. An unaffordable pyramid scheme experiment a gilded generation got to enjoy.

A private pension may keep you in subsistence level poverty, but thats the best you can expect.

When you think about it, you should start smoking, and drink more. Maybe a drug habit? Or unprotected sex with dodgy hookers?

So instead of it going to the financial sector…it goes to Georgie boy in no 11.

Six and two threes then 🙂

Not any more, you can take your pot without giving it to city sleaze bags from next April

You always could as a drawdown pension, essentialy you put the whole lot in an acocunt and pay income tax on anything you withdraw. I’m nowhwre near close enough to retiring to know what the new rules mean.

may be a bit thick, but it seems that everyone who pays into a pension does not seem to get what they pay in back.
is this the case?

Depends how long you live, the provider is betting on you living a number of years, live less they win, live more you win.

i have a pension but there seems little/no point, and it’s increasingly hard to justify. Every year i’m told i have to work longer, put more in, to get less out.

will i be surprised when i recieve the following letter:

“dear sucker,

there’s no money left.

thanks for all the cash, now gfy”

?

no.

You’d be foolish to take it all in one go, I’m sure there are tax friendly ways of spreading it out

Governments know that not keeping pensioners warm and fed loses them the next election. It also means millions of opinionated old codgers with nothing better to do than hassle them, will.

I’m working on the basis that if I live old enough to have burned through all my assets a brick through the police station window will get me a cup of coffee and a bed for the night.

I didn’t think you had a choice anymore?
If you don’t pay into a pension, your employer has to enrol you on one and take 1% to pay into it

I think you can still opt out.[/quote]

Yep, and if you do they’ll automatically re-enrol you every 3 years (I think).

I started paying into a private pension when I was 18, not because I understood why I should, but I didn’t want to regret not doing it later on. It now provides me with some reassurance that I’m a least a little prepared for the future.

The figures being thrown around in the last couple of days have made me feel even better. I have twice the average pot at 35, which can only be a good thing.

I may be a bit thick, but it seems that everyone who pays into a pension does not seem to get what they pay in back.
is this the case?

If you’re going to live a long time, you’ll get your money back.
Otherwise, not.

Insurance companies /providers obfuscate their fees, so basically we’re paying them for losing our money for us. If you’re not paying much in, up to 20% of your pension props up parasites.

A private pension may keep you in subsistence level poverty, but thats the best you can expect.

When you think about it, you should start smoking, and drink more

This, I reckon once I have some money I’m just going to take up Motorbike racing and base jumping.

Work till you die in a job you hate, (unless you’re lucky and your job is either fun or academically interesting), have two kids, buy a death box (house), get divorced, cock stops working, brain stops working properly, end up in old peoples home.

don’t forget the ‘DNR’ tattoo…

@ton – depends how long you live.

Personally I’m told I’ve got one of the best available, an RBS Staff Final Salary one, but I can’t pay any more into it so it’ll never amount to much – I paid into that from the age of 23 to 32, but I’ve not paid into anything for the last 5 years – I’ve be meaning to look into it, but I haven’t had any real spare cash each month to pay it and private ones are expensive – I’ll start again when we set one up in work, or auto-enrolment forces us to, whichever comes first. My Wife, if we last that long is a Nurse with an NHS pensions, another good one.

As for whether you should? Consider this – whilst life expectancy in the UK is 80ish, that of course is ‘from birth’ every year you live your expectancy goes up – if you’ve made it to 30 without dying of some horrible childhood disease or topped yourself (most deaths under 30 are suicide) you’re likely to live to around 90.

So you spend the first 20 years of your life (ish) being taken care of by your parents, you probably think you’d like to retire at 65 and not wait until the Government says you should down tools at 70 or whatever – so you’ve got 45 years of work to earn all the money you want to live on for those 45 years and another 25 in retirement.

Currently the state pension is £113 a week, £450 a month – okay, you might be lucky enough to have paid off your mortgage by then – but even taking that out of the equation – how’d you fancy living off £450 a month, whilst you’re still paying council tax (£100 a month?) Gas and elec (£100 a month?) Water (£40) Food (£200 a month?).

But sod it eh? It’ll sort itself out won’t it.

A private pension may keep you in subsistence level poverty, but thats the best you can expect.

Surely that’s up to you? It’s only a savings scheme.

Plan A: I’m going to win the lottery so I am covered.

Plan B: I’ve also been paying into pension for the past 18 years (since I started working) and the past 11 years have all been final salary. (Won’t be necessary though as I will win the lottery)

Plan C: If all else fails I will have to kill my wife to reduce outgoings whilst still accessing her fund.

As you can see, I have goven this careful consideration

I have twice the average pot at 35, which can only be a good thing.

Yeah – got a link? Wondering what’s average – and even what’s recommended.

For many though it would be better to wait until got a deposit and/or paying higher rate tax.

I may be a bit thick, but it seems that everyone who pays into a pension does not seem to get what they pay in back.
is this the case?

Depends how old you are, my Granny lived to 97 so 37 years out of hers. And my Dad has now been longer (retired at 60 y/o, now 82 y/o) on his old firms’ final-salary pension than when he worked there.

And mine are currently looking at paying out a decent amount, but then I (and companies) have been paying in for 30 years now.

horrible childhood disease or topped yourself (most deaths under 30 are suicide) you’re likely to live to around 90.

15 years of which will be spent being kept alive in an old peoples home, unless big pharma invents pills which stop the various types of dementias. Which you can bet will only be on private plans in 50 years, so you’ll have to work to keep yourself alive so that you can carry on working till you die.

Educator has a point though, very soon, retired people will be in the majority.
That should give them a lot of leverage.

I’ve just turned 55 and looking to see if it’s worth taking some of my pot next year, it’s hardly growing so maybe.

I’m assuming the state pension will be gone by the time I get to that age, also assuming I’ll never be able to retire – so planning to carry on as I am, basically.

If I get too old and infirm and start being a burden on people, I’ll take up BASE jumping or something 😉

Trimix – Member

Doing nothing now will feel pretty stupid when you are a bit older.Or I could just piss off to a cheap part of the world to live where my state pension will go further! 😆

I’ve got one from my old work, and had the S2P paid into up until last year, when that stopped(I knew it was going to stop, so I don’t think a few year of paying that into a private pension would do much harm)… I’m not paying into one just now, suppose I really should do something about it, but tbh, i’m not particularly concerned about it, I’ve got some debt to pay of over the next 2 years, so i’ll get rid of that before thinking about it…. it’s not like I’m the type to save, so I’ll be working till my late 60s anyhow. When the time comes I’ll make do somehow.

I’m not overly concerned, if i’m starving, I’ve no qualms about stealing shit! 😆

Works will need to start paying a pension in a few years anyhow won’t they? so that sounds about right for when I’ll want to be paying back into one..

Okay then then STW IFA’s, serious question, what is best to do?

I have a decent pension, as does my wife. But, they are both being hammered (public sector pensions) and who knows what they will actually look like in 20 – 25yrs time.

So, if we do want to retire at a sensible age and live a good life after retirement, and we are already paying as much into our pensions as we are allowed to, what ele should we be doing to ensure we are in a good position in the future. Simple savings, ISA’s, property, investments, selling body parts….?

can I ask, why people presume that there will be no state pension in the future?
has this fact ever been published or stated anywhere.

I’m not overly consider, if i’m starving, I’ve no qualms about stealing shit!

And if you go get caught and sent to prison, then you’re sorted 😉

Tom_W1987 – Member

horrible childhood disease or topped yourself (most deaths under 30 are suicide) you’re likely to live to around 90.

15 years of which will be spent being kept alive in an old peoples home

Yeah, my Wife’s Gran has been in one for the last 4 years (although she was 90 before they wheeled her in) it costs her family £45k a year to keep her there! The local Council put up £100 ish a week towards it (which is the level they fund local authority places at) but they’ll want a % of her house for that when she dies.

can I ask, why people presume that there will be no state pension in the future?

There were 22 workers for every pensioner when the scheme was set up. It’s something like 3 now. It’s a giant Ponzi scheme, NI payments now aren’t saving for your future, they’re paying pensioners today. There is no state pension pot.