To think we are heading into a pensions disaster

Public sector pensions are wildly generous!
for example, the teachers pension: the employer (aka the tax payer) contributes 30% of gross salary. In the private sector the statutory minimum employer contribution is 3%. So teachers are getting 10x that. Plus the pension is underwritten by the taxpayer so if the fund isn’t big enough, retired teachers will still get their full pension, linked to their earnings and inflation proofed. Private sector pensions are almost universally defined contribution now too which means there’s no guarantee on future income at all.

A lot of people don’t understand how generous public sector pensions still are relative to private sector. There has been a move from final salary to average salary, but with its index linking and taxpayer guarantee it is a massive benefit.

All jobs should be advertised at “full cost” (salary plus benefits plus employer pension contributions) so that there could be a true comparison between different sectors.

Agree 100%

Because in a lot of cases the employer is contributing 20-30% a month which is an INSANE amount for any DC pension holder, and the employee is only putting in a measly 5-10% for a defined benefit for the rest of their lives, and then they’re griping that it’s not a great pension. Read the room guys! Have you any idea how poor DC schemes can be.

Some employer pensions like (I believe) the NHS pension are unfunded. This means that the money paid in by employees is not saved in a pot but used for general spending by the government. Then when today’s employees retire those pensions will have to be funded by the taxes of the workers of tomorrow, before the taxes can be used for public services for the workers of tomorrow. The population crisis will kick in here too. Only by limiting these ludicrous pension promises can we help the workers of tomorrow have any form of public services.

This! This and other similar public sector roles and their pensions, they will cripple this country, 100%

Why is everyone banging on about student finance? In the grand scheme one person (or even a hundred people) not paying pension contributions for three years doesn't matter a damn and won't make the slightest difference to this pension black hole that's opening up at our economy.

Although actually I guess the underlying reason why the PP couldn't afford both (support her child and save) is relevant to the pension problem which is that wages have been absolutely fucking terrible for seventeen years, while living costs have increased massively since brexit. The lowest three deciles of earners are in a right old pinch with this now, and they are the ones who need to be making more contributions, not less, on these shitty workplace plans. But of course they can't afford to.

Use the calculator I quoter earlier. 4% rule has been created to US retirement planning not UK one, even it's creator is changing it. Anyways, it isn't suitable to the UK system.

I’m Gen X. I’m disabled and in poor health, I don’t see myself living to any sort of retirement, never had any spare money to put into a pension, apart from the Gov one, which is minuscule because I’m only able to work part time. I came into the world with nothing, I expect I’ll go out the same way. Pointless worrying about it really, the eff all I can do about it.

The OBR have, and see it slightly differently to how you're suggesting,

In our October 2024 forecast, net public sector pension spending decreases substantially from £1.6 billion in 2024-25 to -£3.9 billion in 2029-30 as scheme receipts grow more quickly than scheme expenditure on average due to increased earnings as a result of the 2024-25 public sector pay deals and the uplift to departmental spending over the forecast period. As a share of GDP, unfunded pension payments gradually fall from 0.1 per cent in 2024-25 over the forecast period to -0.1 per cent by the forecast horizon

Why are they????

The state pension age is currently 66.

The UK state pension age will rise from 66 to 67 for men and women by 2028. The increase will begin gradually from May 6, 2026.

Pensions disaster is nothing new.

I'm Gen X and will need to work until I die. I've known this for many years and accept it.

I got my first "proper" job after PhD at 27 in an EU country. I set up good pension provisions and was well paid.

I moved back to the UK and it was difficult to transfer my pensions, so I cashed in one and left the others there. I got a good, well-paid job in the UK, but 2 maternity leaves plus working part time screwed that up.

I became self-employed about 10 years ago and with set up costs, effects of COVID and an acrimonious, expensive divorce leave me with little disposable income. I am in the red most months. I have absolutely nothing to save.

I should get half of ex-h and my pensions combined, but he has dragged his heels on financial settlement (despite having finalised divorce), but he won't agree to that and I can't keep throwing money at solicitors and court fees to make him accountable.

As far as I'm concerned, there will be no retirement.

I’d love to know more about your life.

My parents are wealthy but honestly them paying international fees for me to study in the uk was the most precious gift they ever gave me because (a) I met my DH at uni (b) it provided me with a route to settle in uk and (c) they did disinherit me when I decided to marry my dh so basically everything I have now including my son and my London flat and my life is due to that. I also helped dh pay off his student loans as I had none.

I do feel sad for other young people who don't have these opportunities. If I never went, I would probably be in a golden cage like my sister (who did get an interest free loan to buy £3.5 million condo) and socially pressured to marry a suitable boy while my parents run her life (she was saying to her new dh the wedding was fucked from start to finish). For many young people, university is their chance to fly the nest and experience rel life.

Some posters on Mumsnet are so weird about their own children when they turn 18!

And the rent in the same city now to rent a room in a shared house is £132 per week bills all in - 2025 Brighton.

So yes - my £150 a week wage in 1998 would still cover the rent 27 years later.
My loan can buy my food and other bits and bobs.

Also - during the holidays (14 weeks per year) I would work full time and earn about £400 per week so that more than gave me some extra spends.

Mum and dad kept their pensions and savings and are managing nicely.

Someone else's?? It's not some random person

If your rent is £20k you're better off having nothing at all in your pot and claiming housing benefit+ anything else you can. Unless you have absolutely loads and loads.

1998

I am in my mid-50s, and have worked for 30 years and am lucky enough to have a healthy NHS pension pot. I hope to work at least till my early 60s. I don’t feel guilty about my pension. I have done 56 hour shifts in the 90s, always worked FT and not taken a day off sick for 27 years and counting, despite having truly challenging times. I have gone above and beyond for people and still mostly enjoy my job.

My pension will be supporting both of us though. My husband‘s private pension is absolutely tiny: shockingly so.

Look up student loans max maintenance. Then look up rent in student towns.
Thats your answer

A lot of idiots would. Uni students should be paying their own way through uni, or not going. Parents shouldn’t be forfeiting their retirement to pay for someone else’s career.

I am going to be a little real here and say, I think the answer to dealing with kid's uni fees is, if you can't afford it, they don't go. Not unless they plan to be able to support mum and dad in their dotage.

There is a bigger picture with this which is that we are spending far, far too much on degrees that people don't really need for the work they will do, and a type of education many often aren't particularly suited to either. Productivity is low - well maybe because young people perfectly capable of working are being locked up in education for years.

Universities are a bubble that's going to burst, I already am seeing it among young people now, where quite a few whose parents went to university are choosing other paths. And more employers opening up to other kinds of qualifications as well.

When family members trained as nurses they couldn't as they were rostered on shift on top of classes.

Not when your rent is £20k

I did a nursing degree 12 hour shifts including nightshifts plus assignments. When we were in uni it was 9-5 Monday to Friday...I kept a job and worked as many hours as I could throughout uni because I didn't have anyone who could pay my rent bills and all the fun stuff and I didn't want to be ladled with debt....I came out with a very small personal loan which was paid off quickly because I worked my arse off before and during uni. It can be done...don't get me wrong I was knackered and so glad to end it after 3 years but it can definitely be done with a full on course. You do what you have to do.