Pension

[dilydaly]

Could anyone advise on pensions, I'm a housewife and don't have a pension set up. I also have absolutely no idea about them or how they work 😳
Are there companies that you can pay into, a sort of private pension for those who wouldn't do a pension through an employer ?
Thanks :)

www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/contacting-us

Free guidance here

Do you have a DP whose income is sufficient to pay into a pension for you? Or some otger income? Tax payers can put up to (I think) £3,000 per year from their gross income into a private pension in the name of any non-tax-payer so if there is that kind of money to spare then that's a no-brained for tax efficient savings.
All the big pensions companies offer pensions which you can take out as an individual. Some have minimum contributions (mine requires £100 per month minimum). Some will only accept applications via a financial adviser.

The whole thing can be daunting but the sooner you overcome inertia and get it sorted, the higher your eventual income will be.

A pension is a savings plan with special rules about tax and accessibility. Even if you don't earn you can invest £2,880 each year and claim basic rate (20%) tax relief to top it up to £3,600 gross contribution.

You choose where to invest the money - usually in a stocks and shares based fund for exposure to long term growth - within a pension tax wrapper. A personal pension is one that you arrange yourself, as opposed to a group pension arranged by an employer.

Choose a reputable company with low charges, or ask a financial adviser to help you (I am one but you can set a pension up yourself). For example, Royal London, Scottish Widows, The Share Centre.

Current rules mean that you cannot take any benefits out of the pension until you are aged 55, so be prepared to lock the contributions away for the long term. It is supposed to generate an income in retirement so try to avoid temptation to raid it prematurely.

There is now a new alternative to pensions with the Lifetime ISA which is more accessible but with early access penalties. This might be worth considering alongside a pension.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond. Think it's time to stop putting it off until tomorrow and get it sorted.
Thanks again for all your help, I'm off to look into it now :)

I too am looking into this. DH has a small pension and I would like one too. Especially as the state pension age is rising- it's due to be 67 when I would retire. I'm 40 and would be planning on taking the pension at 55-ish. Is it Ok to have a separate one or would it be part of DH's? I'm a SAHM but get PIP and ESA and would maybe be putting £100 of that a month. What happens if you can't keep up the payments though for a while? Thanks. And sorry to interrupt - thought this may be useful for the OP as well.

Regarding the Lifetime ISA, I just read it is only for those under 40. Just for info. Need to be under 40 in April 2017.