To ask if anyone else DOESN'T have a HUGE pension pot?

[PaprikaPringle]

I can't be the only one on MN who

doesn't already have 100s of 1000s in a pension pot
or a defined benefit pension awaiting me
or a stonking great property portfolio

Am I .....?

And if you have any of the above this isn't the thread for you

Mid 30s and not a bean.
Was in an auto enrolment one for about 6 month but ide be shocked if there was more than £100 in there.
Now receiving carers allowance so just state pension for me if it's still going then

ElefanteIntheroom The £168 a week is the basic state pension for those who have paid enough years’ contributions. While you are receiving Child Benefit you are credited with having “contributed” that year. The state pension is non-means tested.

Housing Benefit (aka Local Housing Allowance) is means tested and has to be applied for (under the Universal Credit umbrella in many areas now) and you are assessed according to income, household composition and savings. Hope that’s helpful.

About £1600 in mine at 40 - it’s not too late...the stupid thing is the cashing in of pensions I did at 25, 31, 33...you pay more to rectify it later.

Nearly 50 and about 100k, which sounds a lot, but I dont think it is

It's in smaller chunks though so need to look at combining

I don't!

Admittedly, I do have an inheritance coming which I'm hoping will make up for that.

Pitiful pensions but a fair bit of cash saved. I should probably get some financial advice but as it stands it'll be baked beans for me in my dotage!

I didn't think I had anything until a letter arrived recently about an old pension I paid into about 20 years ago. I was very excited until dh pointed that it would pay an annual sum of £284. I think it's fair to say we won't be cruising around the world on that . We use our overdraft every monyh to get by, no chance of paying into a pension.

This is a ticking time bomb. Young people are paying high rents or are mortgaged up to the hilt, no spare cash to put into a pension scheme. How will they live when they eventually retire if they are still renting or paying off a mortgage?

I have one stakeholder pension from about 8 months working in a job for which I was only paid £400/month. Every year I get a letter telling me how many pence/month I can expect when I retire.

I also have 3 years of a teacher's pension and about 5 years from my current job. I hope to work for another 20 years or so, so by the end it'll be something. I don't know how much, but something. I should get the full state pension, too, whatever that counts for by then.

Anyone got Fidelity INDEX world Pension?

Would you recommend this?

I am 38 and have very little. I am part time due to being disabled and there just isn't a lot of money left over for a pension - I am not talking debt, just rent, council tax, gas and electric etc. I have no idea what will happen long term as we can't seem to save enough for a deposit either. I may get an inheritance but it is really worrying

LouLou789, yes that was helpful thank you.

I was wondering if housing was included in the state pension.

56 and will qualify for state pension at 67. DH and I cashed in our private pensions a few years ago to pay off debts, buy a car and replace our windows. We own our house and are mortgage free and will downsize eventually. We also own our business premises and flat above (2 years left on business mortgage), and for our pension we plan to rent out both after we retire, which at today's rental prices would bring in c. £1,300 per month, so we won't starve!

It was a compulsory 6% deduction in my career.
Hated it at the time, but it was worth it.

What really annoys me is that people who haven't paid into a pension will live on benefits after retirement, but because of my earlier sacrifice I can claim sweet FA.

Partly the whole private pension thing stinks - why you don’t have a personal pension you carry from firm to firm as standard, why employers get to claw back some of their contributions when you leave etc. 3 x I’ve had employer contributions clawed back when moving firms.

Good example of where market development with pensions linked to a firm let many workers down.

What annoys me is that when I get my annual pension statements they never break it down to how much I'll get a month. And also, will that amount increase over the next 20yrs or are they already basing it on me paying the next 20yrs .

What really annoys me is that people who haven't paid into a pension will live on benefits after retirement, but because of my earlier sacrifice I can claim sweet FA.

I know, right? We should just cast all the the old pensionless people into the wilderness and wait for the inevitable.

I have a pension pot of £86,000. Sounds great, yes? Except my pension provider has provided an illustration for how much I'll get on retirement. £2,867. A year. I'm 47, and self employed but haven't contributed to a pension for 10 years through the early child years. Scary stuff. I need to pay my tax bill and then get some advice about what to do.

@handbagsatdawn33 you had the freedom to work and earn and contribute. That is not a freedom everybody has.

l've got my occupational pension which l got when l was 60. l'm 62 this year and l was in that job for 28 years. lt just about pays my rent and a couple of bills, though. l'm still working until l get my state pension. lt won't be full pension because l've got some missing contributions, but it'll be about what l'm earning working part time.

I’m 55. I’ve got a private pension (part of divorce settlement) of around £150k which will probably only pay a couple of thousand a year. In addition I’ve got two small work pensions which will pay around £1000/year between them. Wish I’d joined the company pension when I started work rather than at 25 which was the advice at the time. Age 25-65 is 40 years and that was the max payout, assuming you stayed there until you were 65!

Being a carer for my DS with SN for many years ruined my pension and my earning potential, but I was married so that was fine...until exH left.

I now work in a school to fit around my DS and have a low wage and equally low local govt pension. If I work there til I’m 67 it’ll be around £1000/ year. So I’ll be on state pension plus approx £4000 hopefully.

Late thirties and only around £600. When I was with my ex I didn't work full time and didn't earn enough to pay into one. When I left him I took a job in a small, family run business and was "encouraged" i.e told there would be no hours available for me, to opt out of the government run pension. I started a 'proper' job in January but had to work there a few months before they opted me in.

It is something I worry about but short of winning the lottery there's nothing I can do. As a single parent I can't afford to put more away or start a seperate savings plan for retirement. It's worrying me more atm as I've just taken a new job and don't earn enough during the 16 month training period to pay into the pension (though after 16 months I'll be better off.)

I’m 29 and have £25,000 in pensions. Husband (28) has approx £35,000. We started quite late but are saving hard to try and catch up. We are quite a way away from 100s of 1000s!

This is really worrying and confirms the kind of stuff you see in media reports on the subject. Worst still many people are unable and/or unwilling to do anything about it.

As an example ,i know a chap in my family group. Hes mid 30s now. The first time i talked to him about pensions was at least 15 years ago. I have mentioned it several times since,,and nothing has been done. Its only recently that hes been forced into it by auto enrolment. Apart from inertia and apathy, its probably the case that he has no budget for pensions or money left at the end of the month. I'm fortune in that i have a big one..and i shall be ok.

Late twenties and have a big fat nothing for a pension but I’ll probably be dead by the time I hit retiring age due to ill health so I’m not to fussed. (That wasn’t meant to sound as morbid as it sounded 😅)