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?

And I do sometimes think there could well be a hyperinflation or a punitive tax that would strip all our savings and pensions anyway.

That’s no reason not to save though, is it? Pensions are usually invested in assets anyway, rather than cash, and in periods of inflation most assets appreciate in value. Not all, but most.

My mum had no pension and ended up in her late 50s and 60s working full time as a teacher and evenings and weekends as a care worker in order to save some money for retirement after my Dad left, AND she downsized. She had a heart attack 2 days before her "retirement" date at age 68; fortunately, not a fatal one. She begged me from very early on to always, always have a decent pension saved up. So I do.

@cyclingmad - it isn't a given that 'there will be no money for state pensions in 20 years'. It isn't a given that state pensions are unsustainable. It's a choice. The government choose other ways to spend tax payers' money. HS2 is an example. Paying 800+ members of the House of Lords £3-5k per month is an example. It's a question of priorities. They prioritise other spending.

The current cost of HS2 is projected to be £80 billion.

outofyourrut.com/over-50-and-no-pension-or-retirement-plan-what-now/

I like this article.

I am mid 30s and have a private pension pot of around £16k, as well as a small workplace pension that I pay in about £80 a month too, so not spectacular and it worries me, especially as I will probably always be supporting my severely autistic DS in some way or another.

Pension bee looks quite expensive in treks of fees. Has anyone paid out and did you find it expensive?

It actually terrifies me. I've been a sahm since my disabled dd was born ( over ten years) we are on a low income, dp is also disabled. We rent. We literally have nothing. I do sometimes wish I could redo my life. I anticipate being homeless in my elderly years sadly.

TravellingSpoon, have you spoken to social services about preparing him for supported accommodation that meets his needs? It's sensible, as we won't be around forever, and the last thing we would want as parents is an emergency placement in the middle of the chaos of serious illness or an accident.

I'm so relieved that I'd organised this for DD2, as literally a week after she'd moved out, I received my cancer diagnosis.

I don't presume to know your circumstances, but I'd always recommend making sensible arrangements for high needs children approaching adulthood, rather than have them completely dependent on their parents.

Oh gosh, this is pretty scary. I guess you could work for another 30 years but believe me, you won't want to. What will you live off when you stop work?

🙄

RosesforMama I hope your mother got to enjoy some of her retirement after she recovered.

stressfullday

Another mid 40s mum with nada

@stampsurprise

I read the article - it was interesting. The most useful part for me was the development of a side hustle. I was in a Central London park and saw a dog walker with 7 or 8 dogs attached to his belt ( all beautifully behaved I might add). Clearly some people are still willing to pay for other people to walk their animals. I expect he earned £100 - £140 for that walk alone given the location. They also charge £10 - £15 per visit to go to peoples houses to feed / play with cats etc. I wonder what other money spinners there are out there ?

@Divebar - completely unrelated to pension topic, but OMG - that's WAY too many dogs to walk at once. He/she can't have been insured.

I'm 31 and as soon as I started work my dad impressed upon me the importance of pension. Particularly now your employer has to put in too. It's turning down free money. It goes out of pay so it's never even been something disposable to then "put away". Think those of us needing to access state pension at the relevant age are screwed otherwise!

I expect that learning that you started contributing to a pension aged 21 is an enormous comfort to the OP, aged 49 and without a pension. What does it add to the discussion?

@Happygogoat did you actually read the full thread? Maybe read the room before commenting
You’ve added nothing but rub salt in the wounds of many posters. Please be considerate

@Happygogoat are you serious? People are clearly worried about their pensions and you’ve came on here to gloat?

Really interesting thread with some great advice and links.

I am early 40s and have only been paying into my (local government) pension scheme for about 4 years. I resisted for so long because I just couldn’t afford it. However I now wish I had paid in as soon as I had the chance.

I am totally confused about what my pension is worth. My annual statement currently says about £3,500 and that’s going up every year by around £800. I pay more than that in every year even without the employers contribution (which is significantly more than my own) so I don’t really get what that figure means or where it comes from. I pay around £200 a month out of a wage of £34k ish (depending on overtime, which is pensionable) and I have literally no idea what I will get on retirement.

I’ve also heard about additional contributions (AVCs) but not sure if they are worth it?

I find pensions very confusing and I don’t think I’m a stupid person 🤣.

Does anyone know about the benefits of AVCs?

@Happygogoat is right. But perhaps phrasing her point differently might be kinder.

I think all we can do is save as much as we can as tax efficiently as we can and go from there

If we don't have the money to put into a pension pit then we don't have it

I was told a few months ago that I need £500,000 in my pension pot to have a decent retirement

Firstly -

Secondly - what does a decent retirement look like? I have no desire to travel the world so that cuts down on a huge expense

Also - I saw these guys a while back and they were great and very helpful

www.pensionwise.gov.uk/en

So this thread inspired me to check my state pension. I can't improve it as incomplete years are too far back but with 8 years more ni contributions I'll get the full amount and even if I do end up working overseas when ds moves out I can voluntarily pay ni for those years.

I've been looking at SIPPs. I had a free phone consult with an impartial financial advisor who said I would be better off without the self invested element and SIPPs are expensive and that he could find the best pension for me but he'd then invoice me for £750 for his services. Politely told him not a chance.

Still pondering.

LeSquigh I'm similar - though with only £2k a year pension pot 😬

I've been thinking of putting in more by way of AVCs. Did start reading up on it and got really confused. The only thing I recall is that they said you could end up with less than you'd put in so I concluded it was like a Shares thing.

Do you know whether or not if you buy AVCs, the employer matches it?

I think I need a Playschool version of Pensions to even start to understand it. I do know you can ask for a CETV which tells you how much your will get. I got mine from the LGPS and you can get one free annually.

@chrissycarol I am also LGPS. I think the employee bumps up the AVC but again I’m not sure. Why is it all so confusing?!

I had a free phone consult with an impartial financial advisor who said I would be better off without the self invested element and SIPPs are expensive and that he could find the best pension for me but he'd then invoice me for £750 for his services

Impartial, eh?

Generally speaking it is better to pay for impartial financial advice if you need it, so that you can be sure that you’re seeing everything on the market, not just the products the financial adviser recommends.

However, I don’t see why he steered you away from the self-investment. A SIPP is just a container you fill with investments. Most people are capable of understanding an index tracker fund, which spreads the risk better than owning individual shares. I’d talk to a different IFA if I were you. Or even better, just read up on SIPPs online and open one yourself. Most of the major banks and financial services businesses offer them.