Anyone else with virtually no pension?

[Yogapoga123]

Cheery post for the weekend

I’m 49, and have pretty much zero in my pension pot. Wonderingly if it’s now really too late to start - there seems little point at my age unless you can afford to squirrel away £400+ a moth. Which I can’t!

I’ve never earned enough to put anything significant away. Anyone else in a similar boat?

Thanks tigerbear - that’s good to know the Prnsion Advisory service was helpful. I’m planning to look at their website properly this weekend. I don’t realise they could offer appointments, presumably phone advice?

Raininsummer, this is actually a great idea! A couple of friends and I talk about this as our only option but it could be pretty good! Actually I’d love to set up something like a communal housing community, women over 60, you get your own space but share social stuff if you want to and muck in with cooking and DIY etc. Anyone in?!

Sadly the only women’s group I’ve heard talk about housing together are the sort who all have houses to sell and money to fund it. If you have no assets the best we could do is persuade council to house us all on some sink estate together.

Maybe it would work if some women had houses to sell (I have, it's my only asset) and others paid rent to live there (hopefully funded by housing benefit or whatever they will call it then). I think it's a cool and fairly workable idea. Banish loneliness, insecurity and save on costs.

Even the full state pension is barely enough to cover bills and utiltities and that is if there is no mortgate or rent to pay. It is a scary calculation to tot up bills and these days it includes internet/Sky tv/mobile phone etc which a couple of decades ago were not expenses for most people. Things like Xmas and birthdays, holidays and home improvements and decoration all need to be paid for. Unless a serious savings plan is put in place and more so for a single person years before retirement then one way for many 60+ retirers to be comfortably off is by way of inheritences, both cash and properties. The basic pension in this country is peanuts.

I am 59. When I was 21 I had to join Pension Scheme, was told it was very good and would pay well, I opted out as well as we were advised. I paid in for 6 years. I got a letter about it maturing next year when I am 60. It’s going to pay £125 per month, not very happy. I opted back in state pension and have worked enough years to get a full state pension.

I do have a Nest work pension that was set up 3 years ago, I left work shortly after and have continued paying £50 per month. It’s worth over £3,000 now, so I am going to carrying on paying in. I’m not working but it seems the government are still topping this up.

For those who aren't working, everybody is entitled to pay up to £2,880 pa into a private pension and get tax relief on it. Currently this means on the full amount the government would add another £720, bringing the annual amount you can save to £3,600.

You can also pay voluntary NI contributions for years where you haven't paid enough in to qualify for a full UK state pension. Get an online forecast of what you're due and what you've paid and start from there. This stuff is important and you are worth it!

No pension and 52. Work freelance.

Going to use equity release of house for money as no one to leave it to.

Same OP - 34 and never earnt enough to put it away. Now i'm free of an exploutative ex husband though i can prioritise being sensible with money

I am worried the govt will slash future state pensions to pay for COVID. Try not to think about it 😢

I have paid into various pensions on and off, don't even know where some of then are and what they are worth. It's on my mind constantly and I really need to sit down and trace back all my previous employers person schemes and see if I can amalgamate them into 1.

Can sometime explain what nest is? I can afford to save so will start saving from this month.

Me.
When I left home my dad told me not to sign anything unless he had looked at it first.
So when I was asked to join the NHS pension scheme I said no. Everyone else signed on the dotted line.
It was then 6+ years of full time work before I finally signed up. Two years later I left to have children and never had another pension, as I wasn’t offered one in the bits of jobs I did.
Luckily I am due the full old age pension, whenever/if ever I reach the age to take it.

If you're 49 then you potentially have 18 years left of working, you can save a lot in 18 years! It's always a good idea to save and pension funds have a lot of tax relief option or your employer (if you're employed and not self employed) will often match your contributions. If you're self e.loyed it should be really easy to set up a person pension (sipp). I'm saying this as someone who's 29, works full time on a low salary and pays for my daughter in nursery full time. I cut my own hear, dont eat out, we have one takeaway a year, my disposable income (low amount) gets spent on my daughter but I contribute 7% of my income to my pension and my employer 14%.
If you only put it £10 a month for 18 years that £2180 before calculating compounding.

@Cleanmean

I have paid into various pensions on and off, don't even know where some of then are and what they are worth. It's on my mind constantly and I really need to sit down and trace back all my previous employers person schemes and see if I can amalgamate them into 1.

Can sometime explain what nest is? I can afford to save so will start saving from this month.

There are companies like PensionBee that can help you do this. I believe it's free but if you Google you should find others.

My partner of the last 20 years had previously worked for companies with decent pension schemes but never bothered saving . I think he thought I would support him. We have just split up ( not married) and he is fighting me tooth and nail for all of the house which he wants to sell to fund his retirement. Save as much as you can afford.

I was in this position and then prioritised my pension v late in my earning life. And it has made a big difference. With the tax top up and the effect of compound interest.

I am happier now I have sought informed pensions advice rather than panicking and worrying about years of poverty.

Just because other people are in the same boat doesn’t mean it is a comfortable position.

Good luck getting advice OP, I hope you can come up with a reassuring plan.

@Cleanmean I had this and rolled them into a PensionBee one, I couldn't recommend it enough. All you need to know is the pension provider and your number and they do it all for you. Super easy to add top ups if you want to and my PensionBee pension is performing way better than my employer one at the moment!

The UK has the worst state pension in the developed world, they are not about to axe it.

@sandgrown

My partner of the last 20 years had previously worked for companies with decent pension schemes but never bothered saving . I think he thought I would support him. We have just split up ( not married) and he is fighting me tooth and nail for all of the house which he wants to sell to fund his retirement. Save as much as you can afford.

😮

@laudemio

The UK has the worst state pension in the developed world, they are not about to axe it.

That has always puzzled me. It is really bad but the general sentiment is people worrying about it getting axed rather than feeling it should be improved to match other developed countries.

Nope nothing....dont think i will reach old age and i need the money now....i dont see the point in skinting myself now for a future that might not happen...

@Cleanmean

I have paid into various pensions on and off, don't even know where some of then are and what they are worth. It's on my mind constantly and I really need to sit down and trace back all my previous employers person schemes and see if I can amalgamate them into 1.

Can sometime explain what nest is? I can afford to save so will start saving from this month.

No need to amalgamate the into one necessarily. ( Indeed you may lose if you have to pay fees/charges to the receiving scheme.) At retirement you just list all the different schemes and get a quote from an IFA ( Independent Financial Adviser ) who will find the best annuity rate for you according to whether you want an annual rise at a fixed rate, RPi etc.

Amalgamation is only Ok if it means transferring monies from schemes with high annual fees to a scheme with lower ones. You need to do your research.

@FippertyGibbett

Me. When I left home my dad told me not to sign anything unless he had looked at it first. So when I was asked to join the NHS pension scheme I said no. Everyone else signed on the dotted line. It was then 6+ years of full time work before I finally signed up. Two years later I left to have children and never had another pension, as I wasn’t offered one in the bits of jobs I did. Luckily I am due the full old age pension, whenever/if ever I reach the age to take it.

Ah, the pitfalls in taking advice from the unqualified! If you ever get a job in the NHS again (and I advise you strongly to do so) you may well be able to pay back for those years you worked in the NHS but didn't join the pension Scheme. This is the single best thing you could do to improve your retirement situation. You could contact the scheme directly ( at Fleetwood if my memory serves me rightly) or ask your Union. Unite /Unison etc would point you in the right direction.

I worry about my pension. I only worked full time for 4 years in between leaving uni and having kids. How do I check my NI contributions? I worked part time from when I was 17 and all through uni so I am hopefully ok for that side of things. I did contribute to a pension when I was working full time but it was only for 4 years so that pension isn’t worth much.
I’ve recently started working part time so what should I do? How much should I put into a pension a month? I am contributing to a work one. Is it best to set up a private one as well?

@doctorhamster

Me. I've been a sahm for about 13 years now and didn't pay into a pension when I did work. I'm in a position now where I could work part time but am finding it impossible to get a job. Covid isn't helping.

Could you take training for a better paid job? Not really my area of expertise but you can work as a Classroom Assistant and train to become a teacher maybe. Or, if you haven't had a grant etc ever you could train as a nurse etc etc. Look into it - there are Access courses at Colleges to help you into training / degree qualifications in a range of areas. even if you haven't got standard qualifications. They have advisers you could talk to.

With 13 years out you really need to be looking at FT work from now to retirement. I guess your children are either in Secondary or near finishing Primary School. After / Pre school clubs etc. might help you cover any hours before you get back from work.