To talk about pensions? No, don't scroll down!!

[JFDIYOLO]

So many women who come to this community are financially vulnerable as well as physically and emotionally.

Understanding your and your partner's finances is essential.

If you give up your career, income, savings, state and workplace pension to become a stay at home partner and mother … please think.

If you are married, whatever he tells you, you co-own everything in the marriage, including savings, pensions, assets. And that goes both ways.

If he won't marry you - if he's dangled the marriage mirage in front of you - yet you have given all that up to be an unpaid housekeeper / carer - you and any children are in a very precarious position.

You need to have worked and paid NI to qualify for state pension - details https://www.gov.uk/browse/working/state-pension 

If you work, your employer must automatically enroll you into a workplace pension https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/work/employment/automatic-enrolment-what-to-expect-from-your-employer 

Know your rights, and your finances - this is your and your children's future.

If you are married, whatever he tells you, you co-own everything in the marriage, including savings, pensions, assets. And that goes both ways.

Incorrect.

In the event of a divorce, the assets owned by both parties jointly and separately will be looked at as a whole as the assets of the marriage. And the starting point to consider any division of assets is 50-50. But you do not automatically co-own everything your husband does. This is poor advice, OP.

Your general point is excellent, but people could be really screwed over by relying on the "I own half" myth.

This is also misleading, though the point about NI contributions is correct.

"You need to have worked and paid NI to qualify for state pension - details https://www.gov.uk/browse/working/state-pensio"

You pay NI when working but can also get awarded NI credits when not working in certain circumstances. Main relevant examples are raising children and claiming child benefit (to age 12), and in certain circumstances being a carer or on certain benefits.
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

You don't co- own everything in a marriage. You can have his money, her money and joint money. That's it.

Good idea but lots of errors, OP. Definitely think people should discuss this stuff more though.

You don't co-own in English law. If ou are married and divorce then each might claim assets from the other based on fairly complicated rules but it is not joint ownership.

MN always strikes me as very pension-obsessed. I do understand it’s an important issue and that women can be particularly vulnerable but there’s always so much focus on it.

If anyone asks if they should give up work / go part-time for a bit they’ll get loads of posters shouting about their pension. Yes it’s important but it’s not the be all and end all.

I often point out on here that when I returned to work PT after having DCs, the joint "pot" pays for the difference in both mine and my employer pension contributions between my PT and my FT wage.

I'm not risking my financial future but not many women seem to consider it important.

As others said - a lot of that info isn right. Divorce doesn’t always result in 50/50 division. And you can get NI contributions whilst being a SAHP if you get child benefit. But you’re right that you lose out on workplace pension if not working. It’s important to discuss and be aware of this. Especially unmarried mums who do not work, where their partner owns the property in their name only.

I agree with this statement.

I've noticed recently though that women are more inclined to stay at home for a few years longer than they used to. I think it's possibly due to having to work till 67 so 5 years out of a 45 to 50 year worklife isn't really that much of a disaster - plus you get to raise your own kids and not have the stress of working as well.

Especially unmarried mums who do not work, where their partner owns the property in their name only.

Hard to believe that some women still put themselves in this position. What are they thinking?

I do think the general advice not to have a child and give up work to care for DC is precarious unless you are married because the stay at home parent will be financially disadvantaged.

I get child benefit for all the DC so no, I am not worrie about my pension. I doubt I will live long enough to draw one anyway so nothing to get uptight about.

Being married helps but it doesn't guarantee you half. It's better to keep working if you can.

Probably because a number of older women on here are trying to warn the younger ones of the long-term dangers of taking a break from work. It's an issue which doesn't come up on other forums, probably, because male-dominated forums aren't sitting around discussing whether or not they should take a massive break from their careers so they can spend several years raising babies and cleaning up after everyone.

I was a SAHM and carer for my ASD DS for several years, so I'm not judging someone who chooses to do it, but they need to be aware of the risks.

Yes I do understand that, I just think there is a balance to be struck.

That is probably due to experience. It's easy not to think too much about Pensions when you are in your 20's and 30's. Reality sets in in your 50's and later and you discover how much of a pension you will need to maintain the lifestyle you have before retirement

It is not just important but VERY important to think about it. No, it's not the be all and end all - but much more important than your post suggests

The thing is that once you need it (or need it to be more) it's too late to do anything about it. People file it away as an annoying extra expense when it actually is pretty essential for any quality of life once you are too old to work. So yes, it's pretty important.

Applauding this thread. It's worrying how ignorant we are (as a general population, not MNers or women particularly, although women are particularly vulnerable to poverty) about retirement plans and the sheer volume of FREE MONEY many miss out on. Not to mention the compounding value of starting young.

As pp have pointed out, you do not need to have worked to be eligible for the UK state pension in contrast with the US where you can only qualify for social security in retirement through work.

Probably best to have this thread removed and post it with the correct info, great post but needs the errors fixing

Even though there are some inaccurate statements I think everyone should be a lot more financially literate. The number of people who don’t understand savings, asset ownership, the impact of being a SAHM or going part-time on long term financial security is very poor. MN is has so many threads wrt people who have, through their own ignorance , find themselves in a precarious position.

Also worth noting in the UK, a great many low-income people could manage a stakeholder pension, with contributions from as little as £20 a month, which you can stop and start at will. They are low-risk, affordable schemes aimed at exactly this population, yet it's the higher earners who mostly take advantage of them. Presumably they are raised in or inhabit environments where wealth planning is the norm, investing rather than savings accounts.

You don't have to be a taxpayer to receive generous tax relief on your pension, which for many people means every £80 you contribute is boosted to £100, for free, by the UK government, and the investment growth is free of capital gains tax. There is a lower annual limit if you are not working, under £4k I think, but you'll be so glad you did.

The UK state pension might not be around forever so it is wise to make whatever additional plans for your future you can. Don't assume it's too late.

"I've noticed recently though that women are more inclined to stay at home for a few years longer than they used to. I think it's possibly due to having to work till 67 so 5 years out of a 45 to 50 year worklife isn't really that much of a disaster - plus you get to raise your own kids and not have the stress of working as well."

Working women raise their own kids as well

I think that’s subjective 🤷‍♀️

It’s ok to weigh up the options and decide to deprioritise your pension for a few years. Obviously it’s important that this is a well-informed decision and that people actually do the calculations and make sure they understand the actual impact of their choices.

According to some of the advice I see on here, because of the pension women should NEVER leave the public sector or go part-time (both things I’ve done and which I feel were the right decision for me).

Surely that only helps till they're 18?! What possible use is that small bit of money when you retire