To want to buy a second property

I do think it will be better when your kids are done school, and when you're done paying the mortgage. Maybe you can work more when the kids are finished with school. I honestly think you'll be ok.

A paid off home and some pension could be worse, and it's nice you have the option of moving somewhere cheaper down the road.

If you are able to and willing to move to a different part of the UK you will probably be able to afford a larger house, possibly even be mortgage free. You can then save more into your pensions and have the option of downsizing in the future. There are lots of nice places outside of the SE with much more affordable houses.

It's not semantics. All (state school) teachers are part of the TPS when they start teaching. No "choosing" about it at that point.
There is a process to go through in order to opt out and (I think) you are made aware of the implications of doing so.

'Join' 'choose to remain opted in'

'not join' 'choose to opt out'

semantics

I work with lots of people who have opted out of the LG pension scheme. They might describe as choosing not to join, the effect is the same, they're not in it.

You don't need to "join" the TPS. You are automatically enrolled. You have to make a conscious decision to opt out, which is why a couple of us have queried what the OP meant, as she mentioned starting to pay in 5 years ago as if it was a new thing she'd just come across. Whereas presumably she might have initial contributions form starting out as a teacher, whenever that was.

That isnt what you questioned, you questioned that he wouldnt get a good pension, hes not going to get one if he hasnt paid in for many years, plus like most of us in public service, its doubtful we can keep going until state retirement age and our work pensions dont pay out until then. I have no lump sum for example

As for why someone wouldnt join, people make all sorts of financial arrangements that seem right at the time.

I did read it but I'm questioning whether it's right. The teacher's employer contribution is not far off 30% and it's tax free. I can't think of a single reason why someone would decide they didn't want that. Surely they haven't genuinely opted out? Pensions are the most attractive part of any public sector package!

So when get to 67, have the extra money from pensions and from liv8ng in cheaper area.

Or you can move as teachers elsewhere in the country to a larger cheaper property now? Giving you more money to pay into pensions.

Absolutely the leadership scale is an agreed scale, I agree.
Headteacher salary for last year , leadership 1 starting at £53,000, with a rise for this academic year to £56,000.

We appoint with governors at L1, for a new to headship candidate, which the OP’s DH would be.
Our larger schools, which would demand a higher level on the pay scale would be advertising for candidates who are on at least their second headship. Of course this applies to executive headship posts too. Headteacher Pay Scale

They’re are 17 years til you can retire with state and work pensions. Lots of time to add to teacher’s pensions.

you have a mortgage in the SE. You can sell that and buy a much cheaper property away from SE, releasing money.

OP, you need to stop focusing on your regret of late pension contributions. Your mind is in rollercoaster mode which is very stressful.
Please take notice of the advice of the majority of people on here. Step by step

I would absolutely not buy a rental property in your situation. We do rent a house out but we bought it outright. Last year we bought a new boiler, dishwasher and washing machine for it (they just all happened to go wrong at once!) so if we'd been relying on the rent to cover a mortgage we'd have been stuffed. Also, our tenants paid a year's rent in advance and look after the house beautifully but I've heard some horror stories of non payers and tenants being destructive. It's certainly not a reliable income.

A friend of mine who has had a BTL property for nearly 20 years has sold it - she was lucky enough to have long term tenants but when they left she sold the flat. The reasons were she was not prepared to deal with voids etc (even though she had other savings to cover these ) risk of having a bad tenant and just the time and effort it took - even though she had put it the hands of a rental agent - do deal with all the day to day stuff and keeping the flat up to scratch. I think she is typical of BTL owners now AND she had savings which could have covered most eventualities. In your situation that doesn't sound like the case.

My advice would be , as others have said , check out your current pensions in forensic detail & find out if you may have more than you think you have. Consult an IFA .

One more thing I would investigate is if you have not been paying NI (is this right ? Would that not be taken from your salary at source ? ) anyhow you can buy NI contributions in retrospect to improve your state pension at retirement age. Up until the end of this tax year the years available are more generous than will be available after the new tax year - BUT BUT please do investigate this yourself as I am not a qualified financial advisor - but I have bout an NI top up this year as haven't paid enough for a full state pension.

Good luck - but I would investigate all aspects of pensions now.

The tutoring sounds like a good idea which would could put into a a top up pension

You can't afford to be a mortgaged buy-to-let landlord. Worst case scenario is tenant doesn't pay, you have to cover the mortage for the up to a year it takes to evict them, plus legal fees, plus the costs of fixing up the inevitably trashed flat.

You don't even begin to have the kind of money to take that level of risk. I'm sorry.

I'm a landlord, last Friday I paid out for a new boiler without any notice (£3500) and the upgrading of the electrics to current regulations (£1100). That's pretty much wiped out any profit for several years plus you are taxed on turnover, not profit, so you can't even offset spends now.

Take care if you do go down this route to have enough liquid funds.

You don't appear to be in a financial position to carry a second property.

Benefit of interest only is that inflation reduces the value of the principal amount. So you’re opting to pay it off at prices in say 25 years rather than todays prices. Which is how I would do it as it makes more sense financially.

But I believe this is heavily debated among BTL landlords (of which I’m not one) so I guess it’s horses for courses.

Am a landlord but wouldn't recommend it. I don't earn anything from it (it doesn't even fully repay the mortgage) but that is partially because I am a higher rate tax payer so you might be better off (though imagine you won't get great rates if you don't have much deposit) but it is a hassle. You will need to do a tax return, if there are issues then it will be a nightmare. I had to sort out emergency boiler problem there other week and luckily my DP was able to have the kids while I dealt with it all evening and that was a fairly minor issue. Friend just took over a year to reclaim her property - she wanted to live in it herself but the tenant was told by the council not to leave as he would be making himself homeless

It doesn't sound like you are anywhere close to being able to afford a second property, as you'd have to pay the mortgage even if you didn't have a tenant.

I dont agree that depends what you want out of it. Any time Ive had thoughts of getting a BTL, or airbnb option, there is no way I would do interest only. You pay off way more interest and then need a way of paying it back, you may not want to seel, perhaps you cant sell for some reason. It leaves you very vulnerable.

Not necessarily. A buy to let mortgage may be interest only - many are - or repayment, similar to a residential mortgage but usually they require a higher percentage deposit and the interest rate will probably be higher than for a residential mortgage.

To clarify: you both opted out of the teachers pension scene for the majority of your career?

Or is it a private pension you have not set up / paid into?

You be OK.

Presumably full state pension. Your D.C. will be entitled to PIP or whatever once they turn 18. Maybe Attendance Allowance.

I have 2 friends whose Dc live very happily in well supported residential living for young adults with SEND.

2 adults sharing a household on full state pension plus a small additional pension is do-able.

You have not failed your Dc: you are giving them what counts.

You don't pay off a property with a btl mortgage...it's interest only which is why the mortgages are cheap (or used to be anyway). You just buy them for the rental money and the equity but properties aren't going up that much in value anymore...they're just bobbing up and down and very slowly going up. If something happens with the economy, the prices fall and you're panicking about losing any money you've made. As far as I'm aware you need a 25 percent deposit for a btl too.

Yes, it depends on interest rates and what you want to do. I had a tracker for many years. Can't remember now how much it yielded. The investment was a modest sum to begin with anyway. The poster mentioned the amount of mortgage outstanding and I was trying to point to positives when someone is worrying about finances, highlighting that it's not a huge amount and it might be feasible to pay it off faster. She may not want to or maybe feels she cannot afford to. There can be advantages in retaining a mortgage as it could be a cheap way of borrowing should you need to in future. There are many ways of looking at it.

Don't do it. I hate being a landlord and I lost money rather than making it.