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!

So why are you just now posting about this, asking for personal information that you yourself don't divulge?

Chill echt It's an anonymous forum and I've not asked anyone to post any identifying information, bank details or the name of their first pet.

I'm having a chat - if you have any concerns, report the thread or hide it. The sleuthing on MN is becoming tiresome.

Ah, I've found my people! I'm currently due about 3K a year - but if the state pension is still a thing, that will be a nice top up.
I've got at least 25 years of working to go (health permitting) so hopefully my pension will be a bit bigger then.

I’m now 53 and checked my pension status last month. If I can’t catch up for the last 12 years then I’ll be entitled to £112 per week

Won't you get some form of pension credit to top up to full state pension?

@Monoxide

you would need £3,000 per year extra. To get this from an annuity, you would need a pot of about £90,000 I don’t understand this. You’d have to get £3k per year for 30 years in order to get back the £90k. So surely you’d just be better off with the £90k in the bank and spend £3k per year? Otherwise you’ve put in more than you’ve got out? Ditto the pp who said you’d have to save £1m to get £35k per year - surely you’re better off with the £1m in the bank?!

They aren't exactly comparable. If you put £1m in the bank that would be all out of your net pay, the £1m in the pension pot would be net pay, money you would have paid as tax, and if it's a company pension then employer contributions are a possibility too.

@ChristmasShearwater

I’m now 53 and checked my pension status last month. If I can’t catch up for the last 12 years then I’ll be entitled to £112 per week

Won't you get some form of pension credit to top up to full state pension?

Yes, unless you have other savings it will get topped up to about £170.

I don't know about the gold plated pensions in UK, but my DB had worked most of his career in education sector in Ireland. He's very comfortable with a great pension, retired in late 50s, and luckily very healthy and able to enjoy it. They moved to our "home" area.

I work in tech area, and salary is good for past few years. I'd lost much of my early pension when our company scheme went broke/deficit. As a result I'm putting aside as much as I can in recent years. My main concern is being able to continue to work a few years, I'm the oldest in our team by far, and it's an industry that changes very quickly.

@Monoxide

you would need £3,000 per year extra. To get this from an annuity, you would need a pot of about £90,000 I don’t understand this. You’d have to get £3k per year for 30 years in order to get back the £90k. So surely you’d just be better off with the £90k in the bank and spend £3k per year? Otherwise you’ve put in more than you’ve got out? Ditto the pp who said you’d have to save £1m to get £35k per year - surely you’re better off with the £1m in the bank?!

You can't just take the £90k out of the pot and put it in the bank, though.

Well, you could, but only £22,500 would be tax-free. You'd pay tax on the other £67,500 (less any of your personal allowance left, but if you're receiving a state pension, that might not be much). So at 20% tax, you could lose £13,500.

Or, as others have said, you could draw down income from the pot, if your provider allows that (not all do) and the rest of the pot remains invested. But investments can go down (my pension pot is currently much smaller than it was some years ago).

So at least income from an annuity is reliable.

Single and in the same boat, can't see anything changing unless I buy a lucky ticket. I'm too afraid to even look at my projected position, figure I'll just sell my house and spend the rest of my life on cheap cruises.

Is basic state pension so bad??

Depends on your outgoings and what you are used to financially.

Well, I thought I’d be ok, but some of these posts are now concerning me 😭

I’m 34, only started my pension 4 years ago with a job change but it is a good one according to my mum who helped me get to grips with it. Last statement almost a year ago said I would get circa £1.5k per year as of right now. I intend to staying in this sector to retirement so i’m hoping it will keep growing nicely - i’ve upped my income 50% since i started the role so hopefully i will be ok.

The upside is I’d have paid off my mortgage by 55 so that would be covered and combined with state pension i’d be alright 🤯

Me. I got no savings, only debts. Bad..

@Hagqueen

Well, I thought I’d be ok, but some of these posts are now concerning me 😭

I’m 34, only started my pension 4 years ago with a job change but it is a good one according to my mum who helped me get to grips with it. Last statement almost a year ago said I would get circa £1.5k per year as of right now. I intend to staying in this sector to retirement so i’m hoping it will keep growing nicely - i’ve upped my income 50% since i started the role so hopefully i will be ok.

The upside is I’d have paid off my mortgage by 55 so that would be covered and combined with state pension i’d be alright 🤯

Well you might well be alright! It depends how much you want to retire on. Plenty of people retire on the bare state pension, and are fine. So you're already better off than them.

Based on how much is going into your pot (your contributions, those of your employer, and the tax reclaimed), and some finger-in-the-air assumptions about how the pot might grow over the next 30 years, you can project to get a rough idea of what sort of income you're heading for in retirement. Then you can decide if that seems ok.

I am 43 and have fuck all.
Dh spent a lot on his in his 20s and it lost money, so I didn't really see the point. Been self employed since I was 28 so it was never a priority

@Depechemodebiggestfan

Me. I got no savings, only debts. Bad..

This is a very tax-efficient strategy ...

Does anyone know if you can leave what remains of your annuity to your kids for example? If you die before it is “used up”?

@MurielSpriggs I don’t get it?

@Chersfrozenface

So at least income from an annuity is reliable.

This seems to me to be a crucial advantage over the drawdown approach. I don't want to be in my late eighties as the pot dwindles down having to cut back on drugs and bingo and hoping that I die soon!

(Or win big at the bingo.)

Me

@changeyourname11111

Does anyone know if you can leave what remains of your annuity to your kids for example? If you die before it is “used up”?

Dont think so. An annuity is designed to pay I guess foe an average life from retirement so going to children would not make sense.

Me.
I have enough to get me £4 a month right now. I got sick and unable to work not long after I set it up and now I’m resigned to poverty.

changeyourname11111

Does anyone know if you can leave what remains of your annuity to your kids for example? If you die before it is “used up”?

Dont think so. An annuity is designed to pay I guess foe an average life from retirement so going to children would not make sense.

You can't leave it to your kids. The basis of an annuity is that you're gambling on your life expectancy. You're betting that you'll live to 110 and get paid far more than you ever put in. They're betting that you'll go under a bus the week after you get your carriage clock and they'll pocket the lot. If their bet pays off it wouldn't be fair for them to give their winnings to your kids, any more than it would for them to stop paying once they've given you back what you put in and leaving 92 year olds high and dry.

Me though from what I see 70 is a lucky number for many. I moved back to the area in grew up in most homeowners bough in 1971 early twenties, I see a lot of them are in really bad health, many widowed - Now there is the sprightly people too, my DM's neighbour 68 has severe dementia, this lady was always well dressed socially confident.
I know you can't live expecting the worst but don't worry so much about the future letting it take over - all us paupers can live in a bed-sit together.
I've no pension either. I might be due inheritance I'll invest it for the DC'S education/life choice give them a head start.

*bought.

I'm not quite at that age yet but not far off.

I have nothing. No assets. No house/mortgage (I privately rent). No pension, other than the normal government whatever. Will be working until I drop and I'm actually ok with that.

All I have is a bit of debt that I'm trying to pay off and enough money to cover the basic essentials of living from day to day.

Tbh I don't really give a shit 😂 My earning potential always has been (and probably always will be) very low. Even if I could retrain (which I can't) it would take too long and I'd still have no hope of buying a property/building up savings/pension significantly before I get too old.

I really can't do much about it so I'm choosing to just enjoy life as much as I can while I can. No point doing anything else!