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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

206 replies

ChristmasShearwater · 23/07/2021 11:49

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

OP posts:
deepbreath · 25/07/2021 17:21

Me. I'm 46, and I'm on Carer's Allowance (around £67 per week), so no wriggle room to save any money.
I was an NHS employee for 10 years and contributed to the pension scheme there. Before that, I worked for Arcadia group... so I guess whatever I contributed there is long gone!

Bargebill19 · 25/07/2021 17:28

@deepbreath
The government will pay your stamp for you whilst your are receiving carers benefits. So you should be getting a full state pensions if you have totalled 30 years contributions by the time you have retired. Should be more, but at least it’s something. (IMO)

bringincrazyback · 25/07/2021 17:31

53 and very little in the way of pension provisions due to financial difficulties for most of my life. I've rarely been able to afford to save. I'm doing what I can to improve the situation, but it does scare me.

FinallyHere · 25/07/2021 17:45

You don't have to buy an annuity now, do you?

But an annuity is the only guaranteed way to convert a lump sum, such as a defined contribution pension pot, into an income for life.

Draw down may appear to provide more generous pay outs, but there is no guarantee that your pot will not run out before, well, you do.

Ideally, you might have a mixture of annuity and drawdown, the annuity to augment your state pension to whatever you need to cover your basic costs and then drawdown for big ticket items such as the boiler breaking or a lovely holiday.

The part I don't quite understand is how to know what you can afford to draw down, given we don't know how long we have to live and what fists we may face in future.

We have been living with low inflation for some times now. Inflection can do easily erode whatever provision we have made for ourselves.

While my health lasts, I'm with those who prefer to work until we drop.

TerrylikesYoghurt · 25/07/2021 18:42

My private pension provision is also piss poor so I don’t think I’ll have much more than the state pension. I’m pretty frugal though so I’m thinking I’d probably be okay on that as long as I don't have housing costs (planning to downsize before retirement). Is this just wishful thinking??

TankFlyBossW4lk · 25/07/2021 18:50

What constitutes a "comfortable" pension? We're a bit doomed if we don't own our own home outright, really.

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