Pension or lack of at 48

[Katie7June]

My pension is non existent. Looking at paying out £50 a month on retirement. Is there anything I can do to sort this out? I have hardly any extra at the end of the month. After looking at some pension calculators even if I manage to save £400 a month it looks like far too little too late. Husband the same situation minimum payments in a low paying job. Do I need to use the works pension or is there a better way. I’m beginning to panic do any help would be much appreciated. Ahhhhhhh!

Joining the employer's pension scheme means that you pay no tax or NI on whatever you put in, plus the employer makes a contribution.

The amount of money you lose by not joining, is much bigger than the amount it costs you.

I have never had a job long enough to even get on a pension scheme.

Always had really low paid jobs and I am in my late 50s with a lot of gig economy jobs that just cover the outgoings

Definitely recommend speaking with a financial advisor, they seem to work magic in some cases!

I worry about this. Not so much for me, as I joined the NHS pension scheme in my 30s so hopefully (I have no idea! None at all and not sure how I could find out what it would be worth as a pension) that is good enough but DH is self employed and not earning a lot at the moment due to poor mental health. No tax relief when he does earn enough to pay tax. I set up a monthly pension contribution for him with a pension scheme for self employed people, but the small amount we can afford to put in feels pointless. Doubtful that we will be able to buy a house and pay it off before retirement (certainly can't afford to do that and pay decent amount into a pension!).

I always assumed financial advisors were for people with money and would have no idea what to do with people like us!

Whenever I ask about pensions I'm just made to feel bad about how shit our situation is, so I mostly ignore it.

Mind you, both DM and DMIL died before pension age, so no guarantee we will need them!

Don’t know if my company is going to survive the latest lockdown and there will undoubtedly be redundancies. So, situation just got worse!

I have this. Mine is pitiful, poor. Part time jobs. I've increased mine recently. Dh's is good.

Hope yours gets better/sorted.

We have decided to just put regular money aside into pension as and when we can afford it.
Whatever we have will be a buffer which we will draw down as cash rather than taking an annuity.
Tbh I'm viewing retirement as hopefully 10 decent years. State retirement at 68, based on parents we won't go much beyond 80 so have decided to look at it like that.

You should also check that you have paid enough National Insurance contributions to qualify for the full state pension. You can check online.

Yes - strongly recommend that everyone checks their NICs especially as you can pay for any gaps missing up to six years.

You have time... and it's time that will matter... most of the pension calculators are very conservative so that they can't be accused of misselling...

risk appetite is the big thing...

pay into an employers scheme, employers have to pay too, and you will get the tax benefit too...

check your statements regularly, keep everything though, pension schemes have a history of losing data sadly... and start to learn about investing in funds.... how .3% fees make a huge difference... and the different types of funds... trust net.com is a decent website to find out what funds are available, but you will be restricted by whichever pension scheme the employer uses...

over time, you may amass more than one pension.... try to keep them combined if they are DC, even if you have to wait until after you leave a job...

finally, investing can be fun... and come retirement, you will definitely need to have more than the state pension (if it exists) will pay to you.