Private pension or buy an apartment

[Itsallgoingtobemagnificant]

Really rubbish at all this stuff as don’t like planning for boring things, but we’ve turned 40 now and wish I’d planned it years ago. Dh and I have worked all our lives and paid into the system, so should be entitled to the state pension when the time comes. We bought our own house around ten years ago and owe around £100 grand until it’s paid off, it should hopefully sell for around £260 when the time comes when we want to sell,
We don’t have a private pension each or savings 😬we have no debt as such, aside from the mortgage, our car is paid for.
Are we in a crappy situation for the future? I keep seeing sorted people with private pensions, life insurance etc and i’m feeling a bit panicky.
We could possibly buy a small apartment as an investment and rent it out (we live abroad, It’s commonplace here and fairly reasonable) or we could each pay into a private pension instead, we can’t do both.
Any advice on the best thing to do?
We have a small Dd to think about and possibly future university/house deposit too.

*Magnificent in the user name-stupid phone

Don't you have a workplace pension through your employer?

I would say the property will give you more income now which pays it off or enables you to save more.

But better to get professional advice

Also, if you live abroad do you work abroad? Which system are you paying into? Defo need to get professional advice.

Have you paid enough into the UK system for full state pension ie 35 years?

@Unhomme No, it’s a little different where we are and we don’t have that. I had with my previous employment but I’m not sure would amount to much.

If we bought an apartment and rented it out, we’d hope to rent for enough to cover the mortgage and a little extra per month for us. It’s unlikely we’d be able to save it unless I was really strict, we’re rubbish at saving

@SeasonFinale We haven’t worked 35 years yet as we’re 40, but will have done before retirement age, we’re talking about when it comes to retirement age. We paid into the U.K. system and the system where we are, so will qualify for a state pension from both (the years we worked in the U.K. and the years here)

@Unhomme We pay into the system where we are now and will be entitled to a state pension from here also.
Our state pension situation is fine, we just obviously want more to live on when we get to that age

Are you aware that you need to have paid into the UK system for a minimum of 10 years to get anything at all from the UK?

@Havanananana Dp paid into it from age 16-23? Wouldn’t he qualify? Then onwards from here, we’re in another European country and were told as it was part of Europe, it was classed in the same way? I worked part time from around 16-23 (during college and uni etc) so would only be a small amount

But obviously by the time it comes to retire, we will have paid into the system for years- 42 years at the minimum if we only include where we live now.

@Havanananana Also we may return to the U.K. in a few years, we’d obviously work and that would take us over our ten years and more?

I think you need to do the following;

1. Be less blasé about being crap with money
2. Not bank on your house selling for any particular amount - if you're planning on staying in it then it's no issue.
3. Find out about tax implications for income from rentals.
4. Actually look at requirements for qualifying for state pension as you've obviously gotten that wrong.

Yes it's quite normal to at least be properly planning for future years by the age of 40. No, what you've planned doesn't sound anything near sufficient.

If you’ve only paid into the U.K. system for 10 years you’re not going to get a lot to retire on.

@MaskingForIt @bobmortimerspetowl We’ve paid into both systems since we were 16, we're 40 now, we are entitled to a state pension, even if it’s from here, we’re entitled to it and have the years we’ve done and obviously the years to come until we’re around 40

@BobMortimersPetOwl I’m not blasé in that we both have our state pensions at retirement age and we’ve overpaid on our house so if we sell up and move somewhere smaller (an apartment) we should have money left over to live on also, if not, we will at least be mortgage free. My thoughts are now on, do we also pay as much as we can into a private pension or do we buy an apartment as an investment instead.

*until we’re around 65-retirement age, that meant.

Do you know how much a state pension is? In the UK at least, it's really not much. I'm a similar age and we're working on the assumption that there will be little if any state pension for us by the time we retire. I presume any state pension split between the two countries you have lived in would be pro-rata but it is worth seeing how much it would actually be. That said, I don't think property rather than a private pension is a bad idea but you need to research it properly

I think you need to pay for professioinal advice.

I would say though to check your UK entitlement. You can do that following the link
www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Its good to plan now. You have basic security, so now its reasonable to decide how best to improve your situation. Pension investment can obviously be tax efficient. If you are 40 you have 27 years to pay into a private pension before state pension age so assuming that you can both put in a decent % (even better if your employer will add some under the rules where you are?) Property prices can go up while providing a return, but can also go down. Depends on your approach to risk and return and where else you might have expenses.

What kind of lifestyle do you want to be able to have?

@mynameiscalypso I know it’s not much, which is why we have our house, which we’ve paid a lot off and are thinking of another property or private pension

How much on average do people pay per month into a private pension?

Are you safe putting into a private pension? I’ve heard of people losing all their money, hence my thoughts about property as an alternative

[quote Itsallgoingtobemagnificant]**@MaskingForIt* @bobmortimerspetowl* We’ve paid into both systems since we were 16, we're 40 now, we are entitled to a state pension, even if it’s from here, we’re entitled to it and have the years we’ve done and obviously the years to come until we’re around 40[/quote]
I think you need to find out as much as you can about the state system entitlement if

a) you return to live in the UK
b) you stay where you are permanently

Because as it currently stands both you & your DH wouldn’t be entitled to a full UK state pension as you don’t have enough qualifying years. You need 30. So you’d need to plan when to move back to the UK if that is your long-term plan. Are you still entitled to claim the ‘state pension’ from the country you currently live in if you’re not resident there at retirement age.

Start there first!

Then, yes, you need savings or investments for the future. I wouldn’t buy more property personally- especially if this is abroad and you intend to return to the UK - as maintenance & upkeep and complexity of taxes etc would put me off. So either look at private pensions or stocks and shares.

I’d buy an apartment personally