I am 54 and I have no pension

[WhyAmIGluingGemsOnThisDress]

I've worked in hospitality all my life, low paid, long hours. I'm exhausted. Putting money aside for a pension has always felt impossible. Ive been self employed part time for 10 years for reasons of childcare, disability, illness, redundancy. Suddenly I realise I'm facing old age with nothing, and the tiny consultancy niche I've had is about to dry up. My skills are out of date, my memory is terrible, my surgical menopause has given me such horrible anxiety I can't seem to function. I'm doing a course to try and reboot my career, but I can't keep up. How do I sort this mess of my life out?

Would you qualify for a state pension?

Try and get a job in the public sector? Local government, nhs etc. That’ll be the easiest way to build a pension - even entry level.

Do you own or rent?

Do you have a partner?

Have a look at your state pension forecast too.

What’s your housing situation?

By being realistic about retirement. As in: you’ll have to work for many more years to come, so you need to think of a job/skill set that would be suitable.
Just don’t think about retiring. At 67 or thereabouts you can draw your state pension, and if you can top it up with 1-2 days a week, you’ll probably be fine :)

I don’t particularly want to retire. Realistically, I won’t be able to do my job as well and full time, so I am looking into a part of my job that won’t be as stressful and physically demanding as it is currently. But I don’t intend to retire completely.

Check your NI contributions to make sure you at least will qualify for max state pension

I have a relative who started late, probably around your age. Overall she now gets a small monthly pension of around £200 per month plus state pension. Because she gets the £200, she’s not entitled to pension credits or any other help. It all seems pointless to me. By the time her rents paid, she is worse off than someone who gets full pension credits. If you are used to surviving on a little wage, would it make much difference when you retire?

The blunt truth is you can’t. You can start saving now and something is better than nothing but if lube never saved in a pension and now you work part time it’s obviously going to be tougher than ever.

You need a state pension forecast quite urgently. Please let this post be a heads up for those much younger! Get your pension sorted out ladies.

My husband retired fairly recently. He didn't work in jobs with pensions until auto enrolment came in. He had less than 10 years of this but still built up a bit in that time, it was still worth it.

With brain fog / physical issues don't settle for thinking that you have to put up with it, be pro-active you will cope better and even thrive if you can look after your health and get help if it isn't OK.

You really need to make sure you are on track for a full state pension. Set up or check your Government Gateway account and work out if you have any missing years or if you need to continue to pay NI to qualify. Also make sure you have claimed any credits for when you were in receipt of Child Benefit and for your self employed years. There is a really helpful Facebook page State Pensions UK that will answer any questions you may have.
If you have already qualified for the New State Pension (and you may have if you have been paying NI or receiving NI credits for many years) then you can forget about that for now and don't need to think about pension credits as this is only paid to those whose total earning are less than NSP. If not then concentrate on getting that sorted first.
While a private pension is tax efficient, you only have 14 years to contribute towards one and in your position it might not provide a meaningful amount unless you can make substantial payments and get a job with a reasonable employer contribution and it may as a previous poster has said, preclude you from accessing pension credits if you could.
If a private pension is not feasible, try and save in an ISA or LISA so that you have a pot to supplement your pension (and you can have up to £10k without it affecting any pension credits if you were entitled). Easier said than done I know.
I'm not usually one to advocate for it but, if you are on low pay and pay rent, have you looked into claiming Universal Credit?

I'm 50 and in the same position.

I am relocating this year to a cheaper (but lovely imo) area so I can half my mortgage and hope to pay it off by the time I'm 60.

Once I've settled I plan to gradually phase out the day job (or at least cut it right back) and build multiple streams of income from doing the things I love (I write and have a lot of creative hobbies and good social media skills) so my 'work' will be enjoyable and sustainable for longer.

My cousin is 60 and has done similar. He has downsized to be mortgage free and now works two days a week, supplemented by a small private pension and living simply.

I'm 8 years off paying off the mortgage and I should have full state pension when the time comes. I am not in any way creative or talented enough to make money through side hustles. The anxiety I am feeling about how little time I have left is almost overwhelming. Do people in my position just then downsize away from their communities to restart their lives?

Could you get benefits like Esa PIP and universal credit which would take you to pension age?

Can you downsize in your community?

At least you’ll own your home before you reach retirement age, and you’ll have full state pension so you’re in a better position than many people. What size house do you have? Could you maybe downsize once the mortgage is paid off to free up some money? With full state pension though, you should be ok if you top up with a couple of days work a week.

How much is your current income and how much are your monthly mortgage payments? Once you finish your mortgage you can put that money into a pension, and as you qualify for state pension the gap might be manageable.

Same here.I work FT anc hate it.

I think unless you have a career you really enjoy, most people have had enough of working by their mid fifties.

If you can't meet your bills you will have to sell your house and move into rented accommodation.

10-15 years working full time in a public sector job would give you a reasonable amount

I know lots of people working into their 70s as well.

I would look into a salaried full-time role with a good employee pension. Could you get a lodger? Anything to maximise income is what I would be doing. Who knows if Pension Credit will even be available in 14 years time so I would get a pension going asap (in a job, not a SIPP because of the employer contributions).

Hopefully you can downsize, if you live in a house with three or more bedrooms.

You’ve got time to build it up if you start now. I wouldn’t want to live on state pension alone. It looks like a miserable existence from those I know doing it.

I am definitely going to downsize in the next year or so but in the same area. I’m putting my hope in compound interest for the money I’m left with once I sell.

"Should have" isn't good enough, get a state pension forecast!

As others have said, a local Govt or Civil Service type role.
a lodger can make you £7500 a year tax free.
the house is also an asset in terms of equity for downsizing, or extending or remortgage.
it's not too late