Please tell me I am not the only oldish person without a pension plan

[QuentinLettsisAbitofAtool]

Not a TAAT well it is a bit but sod it

I'm having a bit of a panic attack brought on by the MN survey about pensions. I don't have one, have a big mortgage, not due any parental inheritances and am in my 50s.

Please tell me I'm not alone as that might make me feel less dumb!

Oh and I put "oldish" in the thread title because I mean old in terms of a pension. Twenty somethings who don't have a pension don't fit my criteria!

I am not really clear though when people say their house is their pension, do they mean they can downsize to release equity?
Maybe those equity release schemes?. I'm not knowledgeable about it but assumed you kind of "sell" the house to them so your kids wouldn't inherit the house, but you'd get a lump sum or income to live off in old age in exchange for them owning the house

What I won't be doing is paying more into a private pension. I don't understand them, the four pension companies I've been in touch with are vague to say the least and I don't want my money tied up in them. I'd rather be able to access my money and know where it is and how it is being built up. One of my pensions has dropped from an estimated income of £500 a year to less than £300. No explanation why. I'd rather put into a mix of my own property, ISAs, bond etc. Going by one of the pension's estimated annual income it seems it'll take 40 years after retirement for it all to be paid out. No explanation why that is or how it works.

Why are people trolling this thread? Don't get too pleased with yourselves, you have no idea what life can throw at you.

Let's just ignore them and carry on chatting.

@MrsGrindah

If I was 25 I could see your point. But the post is about older people without pensions and they won’t completely scrap the state pension in the next 17 years. I think it is on the way at some point. Hence the enforced workplace pensions but it won’t happen that quickly.

I definitely wouldn't do an equity release scheme. I'd sell the house, buy something cheaper and live off the money released (investing along the way). This is the only reason I'm not downsizing now - while I can work and keep up the mortgage payments I see it as saving. I might upsize slightly for the next 5-10 years and then see what happens. I think I'm fine for work in my currently line of work for the next five years then who knows.

caringcarer
If you could pay in £400 the government would pay in £100 so a £500 investment each month.
I am not sure what planet you are on with those numbers.

Somebody on an NMW job in a basic AE pension will be having 8% of their salary paid into their pension pot
ie less than £1000 per year
which will never be enough to live on

Best way to extract value from a house is to fill it with lodgers and earn that £9000 a year tax free.

No I don’t think they will scrap it but rates and entitlements might be affected soon

@MargotLovedTom1

Yep. I'm hurtling towards 50 and don't have one. DH has hurtled past it a few years ago and had a crappy little one which will pay about 3p a month. Our house is our pension; realistically speaking we're stuffed if houses don't hold their value.

Are you planning to significantly downsize then?

We have v little pension but not a big enough income to save one either .

Our house is entry level :( Id love to have one big enough to have lodgers or students. I expect we will have to do equity release when the time comes...

It really is so unfair that those working in the voluntary sector have missed out over the years compared to working in the public sector!

But this is going against he entire thrust of volunteering.

Volunteers are required because there aren’t sufficient funds to pay for staff because the money is being cancelled to the charity.

If they then had to pay out for pensions, that would eat in to the funds being channeled to the charity!

People always say there will be no state pension. I simply don't see how this could be the case, we'd literally have starving people. Not going to happen imo.
I'd just start to put away what you can, and if you own a home, maintain it as well as you can , so if you need to downsize you maximise your profit.

I don't work at the moment as I stay home with the kids although we do have savings.
Do I need to pay into a private pension at all? I know my NI contributions are up to date so I will qualify for the state pension if still there! Better get a move on if I need to contribute!

But we are living longer with more complicated social needs. If people aren’t saving into private pensions theres less to go around more people. So it’s not a case of stopping the pension as such but people might have to work longer to receive less. It’s already happening re retirement age. It’s worrying

I don’t have a pension apart from a few years civil service pre kids. I have only worked part time low paid jobs without a pension plan in the 20 years since then.
Money went into my husbands pension pot which would have been enough for both of us but he died before pensionable age and I only get a fraction of what it would have been.
Lucky I have no mortgage so at some stage will be able to downsize.

Bloody baby boomers

Would be interested to learn how your lack of pension is their fault @Theknacktoflying

My DPs are in this situation.

DM will have a small pension and DF none. He says he will just keep on working, but what if he can't?

It worries me. I could give them money but would rather give it to my DC.

My in-laws don’t have any pension provision. DIL is 65 and MIL is 62. They will just keep working I suppose. DIL does have significant cash savings though (approx £100,000)

Joycetemple
Bloody baby boomers ....... Would be interested to learn how your lack of pension is their fault

Well basically pension commitments were made in the 70's and 80's by the public sector that were NEVER affordable (even at the return rates back then)
So the schemes went into deficit
and the benefits for current workers are being cut and cut
while the baby boomers still receive their unaffordable pensions

In the private sector it has led to the PPF

I'm 50 - just lost another low pay job, worked for 13 years self-employed never earning enough to pay tax never mind pension

I have 27 years for state pension & I can pay another 8 - if I can get a paying job.....the idea of earning enough to pay pension is laughable

And the baby boomers support their parents as well as their millennial kids...that’s exactly the position my DH is in. So although his personal pension is healthy we help his parents out and help his kids . It’s not a single generations fault it’s the result of policies and changing demographics and labour markets

In forties, zero pension. Mortgage is interest only. No point in wasting money I dont have starting a pension now. My hope is that Corbyn will become PM and give everyone a full pension regardless of contributions.

If the worst came to the worst in twenty years I would try and live in a hospital or police cell. Have seen a few people in the news this week that are managing to do this.

Start now and for every £100 per month you put in the government put in a further £25. If you could pay in £400 the government would pay in £100 so a £500 investment each month

And this is why mn is so far away from everyday life. So many people don't have £10 a month spare let alone £100, or £400!

I have a not very big pension pot (Dh's is better). I have kept hold of my bachelor flat which we rent out and this is my long term pension pot/plan. If I ever get to retirement age (am expecting to drop in the traces).

Mid forties, DH older ... no pension plans. I'm more worried about the period between 60 & 67 when no one wants to employ you but your too 'young' to draw a state pension 😱

I'm technically a baby boomer, (hate the phrase and lumping everyone together, regardless) but I spent my career in the voluntary sector, so pension contributions were small, as was my salary.
I have now had to take early retirement to look after my DH (cancer) and have a private pension of around £500 a month. That's my total income and will never increase. I've got another 5 and a bit years to go to my state pension.

So which bit of my pension is "unaffordable", talkingpeece?