I don't know shit about pensions

[SitOnHisFaceIfHeDiesHeDies]

Talk to me. I'm 40 and until I hit that milestone I never really gave my pension a second thought. Now I'm checking it daily! I upped my contribution earlier this year and I will hopefully keep on upping it every time I get a pay rise. Or that's what I thought.

Now I admit I'm useless at this kind of thing and know nothing about them, I never realised they fluctuated and went up and down, I thought that just like a savings account they went up and up and up - and I'm dismayed that it seems to go down at the minute more than it goes up!

Would you throw everything you can at your pension or is it better to just pay into a savings account where at least you know it gains interest and doesn't go down?!

Assuming you're employed and paying tax there are significant tax benefits to paying into a pension. I'd suggest Google would be a good friend to you get, it's very quick and easy to educate yourself about the basics.

You’re not useless! They don’t teach this stuff in school.

Go onto Money Saving Expert’s Pensions section. They have some great intros that explain what pensions are and how they work.

Knowledge is power when it comes to money and this is a great time for you to be paying attention - I promise it’s less scary than it seems.

The best rates in a safe savings account could be 5% but if you earn over 1k interest then you pay tax on it. The best bet is your pension and also stocks and shares ISA products which are tax free.

Pension funds are mainly invested in the stock market, hence the fluctuations. The only time to be looking at financial products every day is if you are doing high risk investments and are having a bit of a gamble, I did this but years ago when I was really young so had time to recoup.

How much is in it now?

£2.75

No seriously, not a lot. Less than £20,000 hence why I've started to take more notice

Its about playing the long game. I'm also in my 40s and recently upped my contributions and thoroughly enjoy seeing the pot get larger so recently with "Storm Donald" it went down and I was worried and disappointed. Its mostly recovered now so just a blip. Hopefully by the time I want to retire 20+ years away then it'll be the pot I need it to be. I am putting money in ISAs too though as I want some tax free savings to lean back on when the time comes.

Stop looking at it daily. Don't look at it more than once a month; for preference make looking at it a birthday treat. Pensions are long term investments with invisible tax benefits.

You have 20+ working years ahead of you, and later on your ability to save into your pension will increase. Believe it or not you will eventually pay off your mortgage and/or be free of the costs of children.

Having somehow arrived at an age where I have savings and am taking my pensions (rather than being a saver) I find spending savings much harder than spending my pensions; with hindsight I'd have a bigger pension and less in the way of cash savings.

I like to think of my pension not as cash but as fat cells. Your pension provider buys you knew fat cells and each one swells or shrinks according to the market. But the good thing is they buy new fat cells when they are cheap and shrunken and tick them away in your portfolio to swell when values rise.

The last few years have been brutal on pension values, starting with the Russian invasion of Ukraine , and Trump’s tariffs sent mine plummeting by nearly 20%. But this week it is higher than it ever was.

The main thing is to be sure you have a good provider, that your pension is suitably profiled for your planned retirement date and the fees are reasonable.

My pension guy holds two review meetings a year where he shows me clear graphs as to my future options until age 95, and he is available at any time I have questions or worries. It’s very reassuring. He moved me to a better provide and with lower fees.

Is your pension a workplace ‘stakeholder’ pension or completely independent?

20k is a starting point. Have you checked your NI for state pension years as sometimes partial years are cheap to top up if you need to.

Sticks and shares will increase over 25 years. Like others have said it’s the long game.

I am crap with money but have a final salary public service pension as does my DH. Obviously if the UK goes bust we are in trouble!

Getting your head in the game at 40 is long enough to gain some gains!

First thing I did when my DC turned 18 was set him up in cash savings, Lisa, stocks and shares isa, premium bonds and a multi currency account. I had no guidance at all at all at their age. He is not rich but he sees his money trickling in and growing. It’s the mindset. I hope he does better than we have in making our money work for us.

To educate yourself, the Rebel Finance school is a great place to start - free online courses.

Don't put money for your retirement in a cash savings account. Put it in a pension, where you get the tax breaks associated with it and the money is invested. It doesn't matter if the value of your investments fluctuate, the long term expected returns will be significantly better than cash. It's not guaranteed but it is highly highly likely that you will be significantly better off. Who manages the pension currently? Is it a company scheme?