To ask if anyone else aged 45 and over hasn't got a gold plated pension and other funds

[ChristmasShearwater]

I know you're out there. Show yourselves
Its not a TAAT - it's a topic that comes up frequently on MN and every bugger other than me seems sorted!

me

Me. Lone parent with a very small local government pension and 8k in my current work one. I have no idea what to do yet.

Me, my latest pension statement forecasts an annual income of £1300 when I retire.

Me too. At 55 I've finally got a job with a good pension, but it won't make up for all those years of no pension, or small pension. I'm very worried about the future and expect to have to work into my 70s.

@Borka, yes me too, £770 here! 😳

I could be doing a lot worse, i appreciate that, but i do see some numbers on here and financial subreddits that do make me a little envious!

In the interests of being open, i am 34 and currently have £60k in a defined contribution pension, contributing about £10k a year when I also factor in employer paying in and tax relief etc. I have about 30k in a S&S ISA, but not all of that will be for a pension, some for next house move etc. My partner has about the same, perhaps a little less in the pension.

We have quite a lot of equity in the house, maybe about £250k, but don't really consider this in our financial planning as we wont want to sell our house when we get older just for a little extra cash, we would want to live in it as long as we can.

The hope is to retire about 57/58ish if we fancy it, ideally we would want to be able to withdraw about 3-4% of our savings each year to give us about £35k a year, if we can keep to that percentage we should not run out of money or even really make a dent at all on the cash so that it can all be passed on to our daughter (minus IHT of course)

I basically plan to work till I drop dead. At this point I’m not even entitled to a state pension.

Me! I've been freelancing since DD was born and pension contributions went straight out of the window. Finally looking at a permanent job (on the same salary as I was on when I went on mat leave but we'll gloss over that) and I'm giddy about pension and other quaint things like holiday and sick pay.

Me, state pension plus Nest but hardly work enough hours to get anything. Thankfully I will get 25% of exh's pension as per divorce arrangements!

What's a gold plated pension? I thought final salary pensions were a thing of past!

I had nothing at 47. At 52 I'm in a much better situation - but appreciate that not everyone is in a position to start putting large amounts in a pension.

I only started on the pension when I had paid off my mortgage (was a mistake to do it like this), and I have no children and a reasonably well paid job.

Teachers pension only here, but only worked full time for 1 year and 1 term in the UK. Worked part timethen full time in USA for 2 years so small US pension which I lose 50% of if I bring it here. Then have worked part time in teaching for 20+ years. Should get about 25p a week on retirement 😱

Me. I haven’t worked for years because of child with SEN. Stbexh said it didn’t matter and stupidly I trusted him. He had a mid life crisis and buggered off.

The only good thing is we have a big house with mortgage paid off so I’ll be able to buy a small property for me and dc and have enough to buy a property to rent out, but that does seem a hassle for when I get to retirement age.

I'm a little bit younger but literally started a pension a few months ago. I've been a carer for years, and when I was working, before kids, there was no obligation for my employer to pay into anything. It all confuses the hell out of me too.

Me, early 50's, single parent, worked PAYE since leaving uni and have contributed to stakeholder pensions since mid-20's, but low pay in early career /several years working part time means they will amount to diddly squat. ExH refused pension sharing arrangement (he has the gold plated variety) and I couldn't afford to take him to court.

I am lucky enough to own my own home (mortgage should be paid off by retirement) but state pension will make up the bulk of my income.

Fully expect to have to work past 67 to top up.

I might get a mon-fri lodger when my dcs are at uni / move out.

Me. I've been paying in for 30 years (but stupidly started with minimum payments) and am retiring on 3/5 of f*ck all. When my annual pension statement comes in I hand it to my DH saying "That can't be right, can it?" I now pay £400 a month in plus another £100 into a workplace one but it's too little too late.

49 with no pension/savings and haven't worked since 1996. DH is 38 with no pension and no plans to start paying into one, because with just one wage we can't afford it. We rent from the council and we're completely fucked, really.

There aren't many gold-plated pensions any more.

Most private sector schemes are defined contribution schemes, where what pension you get depends on how much you've saved into your pension pot.

If you can get by on £1,000 a month, currently in addition to the state pension you would need £3,000 per year extra. To get this from an annuity, you would need a pot of about £90,000..

Public sector pensions are generally defined benefits schemes, where your pension is based on your salary throughout the time you worked in the public sector and were a member. The average public sector pension is £5,000 - £6,000 per year (Full Fact).

FWIW, my projected private pension comes to about £83 per month.

If you're interested, the ONS does a survey of occupational pensions - the latest is based on 2018 www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/pensionssavingsandinvestments/bulletins/occupationalpensionschemessurvey/2018

I’m 43 and worried about it.

I have a pension pot of about £40k which I will keep adding to - just upped my contributions to 12% and may up again as just got an increase.

I had hoped we could have downsized in retirement which would provide some funds but two boys with SEN may be at home for a long time yet.

I am trying not to think about it.

Between you both, you would have to have a pot of over £1m to be able draw down £35k as a joint income over the length of time you want to be retired for. Even taking growth into consideration you would have to save over £750k.

Me. But as everyone in my family dies before they are 70, it shouldn’t be to much of a problem.

Me - i do not need one - My state pension and small private pension are going to give me pretty much the same income as I earn so I am fully prepared for retirement.

Teachers' pension worth about £2k per year. Dh's work pensions are all worth shite all. One was with equitable, back in the day, and it's only relatively recently that anything at all has been salvaged from when they went bust.

No State Pension till Im 66. I will have a tiny pension from previous employment in my younger years. If the rules have not changed, will get that at 60. Not enough to live on though.