Another pension one...

[FluffyBunnyz]

Does anyone else feel constantly worried about their pension pot?

I feel like I'm the only one out of all of my friends who even cares, most of them haven't saved anything at all! I started investing in my pension relatively late in my late twenties and now in my early thirties have only 20k in there. Chucking in 500 pounds a month as I am lucky to have a generous employer match but it never feels enough...

Anyone else? Or am I just being overly anxious? I believe in living for today too but it just feels like an insurmountable task sometimes to save enough

Yep same.

And I’ve got a brochure on the table telling me how to log in and view my pension value/options and so on, but I’ll get around to it later.

Been saying that for a few days now.

Madness.

I think you are being really wise adding as much as you can now as it will have so much longer to compound.

There are people in their 50s who have given it less thought then you.

Don't despair , you have a great attitude. You will do well.

I am planning on retiring somewhere warm where it's cheap to live!

Sounds like you are doing good things and have time on your side.

The Meaningful Money podcast is useful for tips on pensions and investing (if you are based in U.K.)

@colditalianpizza thank you, here's hoping! Retiring somewhere warm would be the dream too!

I posted similarly recently in that it’s been a real focus for me and I’m just amazed that some many of my friends (mid thirties) don’t seem to give it much thought. Well done you!

@Bushkin yes I would say almost all of my friends (mostly early thirties women) have never given it a second thought. I don't really understand how they can be so carefree

[quote FluffyBunnyz]@Bushkin yes I would say almost all of my friends (mostly early thirties women) have never given it a second thought. I don't really understand how they can be so carefree [/quote]
I’d call it ducking stupid, not carefree.

I’m a pensions adviser. £500p/m matched it going to be ok. Make sure it’s equity heavy. Look at the retirement living standards website.

I’d call it ducking stupid, not carefree.

I’m a pensions adviser. £500p/m matched it going to be ok. Make sure it’s equity heavy. Look at the retirement living standards website.

I agree. And Google compound interest

@Dindundundundeeer it's 500 pounds total not matched.

@FluffyBunnyz

Have a read of this www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

In reality you are saving £6k a year.

Sorry pressed send.

It will keep up with inflation and grow a bit. You will get about the same out.

I started my first pension at 18 when I started at Unilever so have 6 years of a defined salary pension. Then I spent 19 years at another employee so have almost 28 years of pension contributions. Currently putting over £800 a month in which is 10% and my employer puts in 9%.

So
Many ignore it or think they'll manage on the state. I want to travel in retirement so need a decent pot.

I even started putting £20 each for the 2dc into their own children's pension with virgi when they were born. Not much but better than nothing with so many years to go.

You are doing the right thing and will set yourself up OK, with your employers contribution, the tax contribution, the good yield in a good pension fund, and compound interest.

Make sure that you are also paying attention to what your pension is invested in and the fees attached to it. Sometimes the default fund for the scheme is much lower risk than would be sensible for someone of your age.

Good for you. I agree - there are too many who don't even bother thinking about it. They take holidays before putting a bit aside for their future.

It's a shame because ultimately the people who are careful (like you) will suffer as a result of those who don't think ahead.

@Dindundundundeeer can I ask how you became a pensions advisor? Degree in finance etc? It's an area I'm increasingly interested in.

@Handy123 I have a level 6 qualification (degree level) in personal finance. It’s the Chartered Insurance Institute (the Personal Finance Society is a subsidiary of the CII). I then had to do my SPS (a bit like articles) and have 5 years of industry experience.

I used to work in industry at quite a senior level, but wanted something more flexible. I love my work, it’s technical and interesting.

www.cii.co.uk/learning/qualifications/advanced-diploma-in-financial-planning-qualification/

Thank you so much for that info @Dindundundundeeer that's really kind of you to send that over.

I'm going to look into this. I can read and absorb data and policies fairly quickly, but I'm not a natural mathematician so I need to read this all very carefully.

Review the risk profile. If it is long term, you want to be looking high risk. When you understand this, it isn't high risk in my scheme of things but means your investments are all mainly stock market linked, as opposed to fixed interest stuff which is crap.

I have an IFA. I set my pension up to reduced my 40% tax rate as I also have a pension with my employer. My private pension has returned 45% in 5 years despite Brexit, Covid etc

However, you cannot panic as it will go up and down. When covid struck my gains were wiped. In the year after, it all came back and with far more! My concern is now being careful it doesn't generate too big a return so may have to review contributions otherwise other limits kick in

I think there will be many pension scandals in the future and loads of peoples money lost, I have a few friends who think the same. I save for the future by other mean, holding money in gold etc. I only trust myself to keep my money safe

I wouldn't pay a penny into a pension fund.

@Indoctro

I think there will be many pension scandals in the future and loads of peoples money lost, I have a few friends who think the same. I save for the future by other mean, holding money in gold etc. I only trust myself to keep my money safe

I wouldn't pay a penny into a pension fund.

It seems very extreme not to pay a penny into a pension fund because you are worried about possible scandals. You are missing out on employer's contributions and tax relief on the basis of a speculative risk that may well never happen. Of course you can lose money in any investment and regulation can change considerably over the lifetime of a pension but there is significantly more regulation of pensions than there was in the past here

I wouldn't solely rely on a pension but you seem to be missing out by not having it as part of the mix.

@Indoctro

I think there will be many pension scandals in the future and loads of peoples money lost, I have a few friends who think the same. I save for the future by other mean, holding money in gold etc. I only trust myself to keep my money safe

I wouldn't pay a penny into a pension fund.

Pensions do t work in the way you think.

If you wanted to ONLY but Tesco’s shares with your pension, you could. If you only wanted to buy gold. You could!

I’m afraid you’re about 15 years out of date… and seeing a conspiracy where there isn’t one.

Good luck with your taxable alternative.

Sounds alright to me, obviously depends on your hoped for retirement lifestyle. Do you own a property and will it be paid off when you retire? I am retiring in 2 months almost mid 50s and I only started saving into a mix of things (property, pensions, isas etc) from my early 30s, people can save later but put more away for instance when their mortgage is paid off.

I invest as much as I can every month, so you are not being overly worried OP! It’s really important, especially for women, who make less and invest less than men over a lifetime. For those not investing, they just missed out on what was the longest running bull market in US equities. It doesn’t after what everyone else your age is doing!

You’re young, so you have time and compound interest working in favour. Check where you are invested through your workplace pension provider, and make sure it fits your risk profile. Also make sure the fee are low, so they don’t eat into your returns.

It's definitely worth getting in as early as you can. I recently learned the adage "time in the market beats timing the market" and that pretty much sums it up - don't worry about trying to judge short term shenanigans, just get money building up there as early as you can. I did save into a pension as soon as I got my first "proper" job, but I thought of pensions as boring and distant then and actually sort of wish I'd increased the minimum. Even so, there's now £50k sitting there that there wouldn't otherwise have been representing the first 4 years of my career.