to not have a pension?

[HidinginaHardHat]

I am under 30 and face the prospect of having to work until I am at least 70. I cannot afford to put into a pension - my family needs the money NOW not in 40+ years time.

I know I am not alone in my age bracket to not have a pension and now with all the uproar about pension upheaval I do think I am doing the right thing.

So. AIBU?

[Crosshair]

yanbu

[Columbia999]

Think ahead. I had to retire at 57 on ill health grounds and although I always moaned and groaned at the amount of money I had to put in my work pension, I'm VERY glad of it now, because I would be in the shit without it. It's always worth paying into a pension fund.

[MotherPanda]

Of course YANBU, but you might want to think about when you will want to start saving for one - I'm 21 and have a pension as my employer pays in equal to 10% of my salary, so it would be silly of me to refuse that sort of money away.

The more you save, the more you will have to live off when you do want to retire, or would you be happy with just a state pension (if they are still around in 40 years!)?

Rather than actually saving into a pension fund, you could start up a high interest savings account and pay in a little bit when you can. This way, even if state retirment age is 70 - you could afford to retire at say 60 or whatever, by living off your savings. Its another way to think about it.

Does your employer offer to pay anything into a pension for you?

[suzikettles]

It's a gamble. By not having a pension you are betting that:

a) You die before or shortly after retirement
b) You continue to live in good enough health that you can work into retirement age (eg post 70 for someone of your age)

If you lose the bet and do have a long period of retirement but are not in good enough health to take up part time work to get extra cash then you're relying on

a) State pension being enough to live on (not likely)
b) There still being enough of a Welfare State that you won't be in some sort of Poorhouse/starve/live in a garret and beg the butcher for dog meat (could happen..)
c) Some other asset - eg house/investment/children will give you extra to live on.

I dunno. Even paying into a pension is a gamble as many poor souls have discovered. I try not to think about it too much.

[Journey]

It is well worth starting now (although I appreciate you're saying you can't afford it). Putting money into a pension when you're under 30 is invaluable. Someone starting when they are in their 40s will have to put in masses amount of money to catch up with someone putting in a modest/manageable amount in their 20s. I can't remember the exact figures but if you speak to an independent financial advisor the figures will give you a wake up call. It's quite scary!

[janey68]

You may feel you cant afford to pay into a pension- but quite honestly can you afford NOT to? What do you expect to live on when you no longer work?what standard of living will you want? Will you be content to perhaps have to sell your family home, downsize to something much smaller and perhaps somewhere not nearly so pleasant, and never be able to go on holiday, eat out etc? Realistically, there's not going to be much in the way of a state pension in the future - so think about what you want.