Pension - I have none and I’m a little unsettled by DHs response!

[EllyRoff]

So last night I got to thinking about pensions and realised I don’t have one! I’m no longer working (I make a small amount of money through art which DH has always been supportive with). I did have an NHS pension when I was working but DH convinced me to come out of it due to the high payments. There was barely anything in it anyway so I received the contributions back. Since then I’ve made very little contribution in national insurance etc.

DH has always said I’ll be fine in retirement as we have his good pension - but last night I thought “what if he died? Does the pension automatically come to me?” Turns out that no - it doesn’t. It goes to a named beneficiary.

So this morning I asked DH if I was named on his pension - he said “don’t worry, you’d get a state pension” !!! I said “what, £60 a week? I have none pension! Am I named on yours?” He said “why don’t you start a little savings account?”

So I’m not named on yours then?? He said “of course you are, I mean - I’ll check but I’m sure you are”. I’m very unnerved by his response - firstly his lack of concern!! Secondly his reluctance to confirm that I’m named on it. He says he’ll check today.

AIBU here? You’d think he’d want me to be ok in his death surely? Especially since it was him that convinced me to give up my own pension. He is 10 years older than me so not massively unreasonable to consider he might die before me.

Hi OP, I’m afraid your DH is financially illiterate as NHS workers get huge pension contribution's from the state (Uk tax payer) while in employment, which results in a pension far higher than anyone in the private sector could achieve on the same income / contribution levels. To suggest you left it shows his lack of knowledge in this area. It is therefore entirely likely you are not currently named and he should check / correct that immediately for your piece of mind. That said, should he die without naming you it is highly likely that you would receive some benefit from the pension as his legal next of kin (spouse) unless of course the idiot has put someone’s name down? I should warn you that in the majority of widows tend to get a smaller payout than the pension owner as you are not the policy holder. I agree with others that comment you will not automatically be entitled to a state pension unless you have made the required contributions. The good news is that you can at least rectify this with a lump sum payment.

It’s not rare.

www.gov.uk/pension-credit/eligibility

Sorry if I got it wrong. I thought she was talking about a husband's pension being paid to a wife when he died and I don't know anybody in that position. I shouldn't have commented without checking first. I couldn't see anything relevant in that link though.

I had some gaps in my NI contributions so I've just paid to buy them back so I can get pretty much the full state pension. Check on gov.co.uk 👏

you are being a little dramatic - not everyone knows they can add a beneficiary and probably he’d done so years ago and forgot if it was you although highly likely it was you. Onus is on you for pulling out your contributions when you were in employment. why didn’t you think ahead about this day? don’t blame him. it was your call! also i would be taken aback a little that you are talking about his death, naturally. anyway its a conversation you need to have but without the drama. im sure he will, if not done already, name you as beneficiary.

If you aren't happy with him chances are you get half the house and half his pension in a divorce.

Financial planner here. Please go and see a financial planner. I’m sorry to say you’ve made a lot of very, very silly mistakes that are going to very, very adversely impact your retirement years. The first big mistake is that you have relied on your DH for your own future. What if he divorces you? Relationship break down. Affairs. I see it ALL the time. Then (usually) the wife has very little. Death is another issue. Ill health for one of you another massive issue for people. Huge issue.

Second mistake is opting out of a guaranteed pension. Dear lord. This is a guaranteed pension so if you lived to 130 you would still be getting a guaranteed amount from the pension every year which increases with inflation. Even if the inflation rate because 30%. You still get an index linked pension payment.

step 1 - Start saving every month into your own pension.

Step 2 - Sort out your own financial planner and stop celebrating your future to someone else. Apologies to say it, but your husband is giving terrible advice and has pulled you down as a result.

Right

Right, so, before you spending money from the sale of your house on your financially illiterate husband, for the love of god, please get financial advice. There are good ways to run your money and bad ways to run your money. Obviously it’s better to pick the good ways to do it.

PLEASE get financial advice. Financial planner here. You urgently need financial advice. They will give you advice but a pension fund is likely to be the better place to put savings because of the tax relief (with the caveat you need advice on your particular situation).

The problem here is you haven’t taken responsibility for your own finances. Why on earth did you allow someone else to persuade you to stop paying into your pension? It’s he greatest investment you can make in your future? No one with your best interests at heart would suggest this. But you shouldn’t be so passive about your own future.

can you go back to work? Build you own financial future?

Check online how many years NI contribution you have made and if you have full or less state pension entitlement. I thought a lot of pensions were usually restricted to going to the wife or beneficiary that has been dependent on the deceased person but I would want a cast iron guarantee from him. Maybe it’s time to start putting some money away for yourself so you have a bit of back up. I hope you are legally married as that gives you more rights.

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I’m afraid your DH is financially illiterate as NHS workers get huge pension contribution's from the state (Uk tax payer) while in employment

Contribution rates on a defined benefit pension are meaningless. And contributions towards a DB pension do not go into an individual’s own pot in the way they do on a DC pension. Public sector workers are UK taxpayers too…!

Usually, if you are not able to work due to mental issues, you would go on sick leave, and when your sick pay runs out, you would claim contributory ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) which is a benefit for people who are not able to work due to sickness or disability. The advantage of claiming this, other than the money itself, is that you get NI credits which protect your State Pension entitlement. You do have to provide fit notes to begin with and then undergo an assessment (the work capability assessment). Unfortunately you are unlikely to be eligible for this any more because it's based on National Insurance contributions in recent tax years, and you haven't been making any. However, you can make a "credits only" claim which means that you wouldn't get any payments but you would at least get NI credits.

The decision to withdraw from the NHS pension scheme was a spectacularly bad one. You said that you are downsizing soon and this will release some capital. I would suggest that you put half of it into a bank account in your name only and then seek further advice about what to do with it; you could save some and put the rest into a private pension in your own name.

And if your husband is not willing to check and show you proof that you are the beneficiary of his pension, you should seriously consider your rights in the event of a divorce.

Do the two of you have wills? Do you know what's in his will?

It's not really about the value of the fund, it's more about her financial independence and whether her DH is clueless but has good intentions or needed some cash for something frivolous.

Two things you can do:

Check your national insurance record at https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

Check your state pension forecast at https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Also have a look at the pensions information and advice on the MoneyHelper website:
https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/building-your-retirement-pot

But it does seem he h as financially supported her for years since

Thank you I will 🤩

@EllyRoff You've had loads of helpful comments. Maybe you feel a bit annoyed at some of the more critical ones (?) but would you like to come back and discuss the advice? The most important part of this is your AGE and how long you have to start making changes.
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@EllyRoff as @RaspberryPavlovaPlease suggested perhaps come back with some finer details and then all the sensible, not to mention qualified posters who have suggested ideas and can further point you in the right direction to remedy the situation.

Please don’t focus on those questioning what happened in the past but focus on what YOU CAN DO now and in the future.

Additionally- you have generated a huge thread here but seem to have disappeared. We are here to answer your original post and it would be good to know if any of it has been useful.

Oh dear. Sounds like you’ve put yourself in a very vulnerable position. Shame you listened to him and got rid of your pension. You should NEVER rely on anyone else for money, I suggest you put your art hobby aside and go back to your real job and start a pension again. Good luck!

These sorts of threads are irritating. OP makes all sorts of statements and then comes out with excuses or worse nothing at all. Some of the PP have given v good advice and yet somehow I think it will all wash over the OP and she will continue to make truly awful decisions.