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Original poster

How much savings do you have - in cash and in your pension pot?

387 replies

suebfg · 05/06/2013 20:37

I am 40 and whilst we have quite a lot in savings (over £150k and no mortgage), my pension provision is practically nil. I chose to pay off my mortgage instead of paying into a pension as tbh, I don't trust pensions.

But it does worry me that I have little saved for my retirement - mainly the equity in the house I guess.

Just interested in what others have done.

OP posts:
TheRealFellatio · 08/06/2013 06:27

Honestly, people will be asking for pin numbers next.

There is no way on this earth that I'd reveal personal financial information on here and I am utterly bemused by people who do.

Haha - yes, me too!

Original poster
suebfg · 08/06/2013 06:41

If you have Nhs and teacher pensions, you will probably be in a better position than most!

OP posts:
Ablababla · 08/06/2013 07:09

I'm supposedly in a safe government final salary pension but its further existence does worry me because as people say it will be funded by taxpayers when I retire. I pay in now and govt contribute too but that money then goes directly off to fund the day to day running of the country. I would far rather it went into a fund like the local govt one. As it is its gone and all I have is a promise. I do wonder if I should be looking to start a private scheme as well.

MadeOfStarDust · 08/06/2013 08:17

*Honestly, people will be asking for pin numbers next.

There is no way on this earth that I'd reveal personal financial information on here and I am utterly bemused by people who do.*

Really....... it is an anonymous forum, where you can type what the heck you like as your user details (so doubly anonymous) AND don't have to tell the whole truth anyhow....

pin number 6161 - use it how you wish - I currently have 26 pin numbers - all different - and I change mine every 2 months.

TheRealFellatio · 08/06/2013 08:38

none of us know how anonymous we really are on here - any of could have been secretly outed by several people for all we know. What's not to say that you may inadvertently reveal something about your personal finances or circumstances that may come back to bite you? I know we all have loose tongues on her and most of the time it really doesn't matter but there are some things people really should be a bit more circumspect about.

I can think of loads of examples of circumstances where financial info you give out on here might work against you. One example would be if you were separated and soon to be divorced, and your ex-H's new partner recognised you on here and heard you saying you were about to be left 500k because your mother was at death's door. Your ex H might think twice about divorcing you in such a hurry if he knew he had half of that coming to him any time soon.

TheRealFellatio · 08/06/2013 08:40

sorry, what I meant was, not that he'd want to get back together, but that he might hold off the divorce until a suitable period after the mother's death, to ensure that when the joint assets were divided he'd be entitled to half of that money.

Xenia · 08/06/2013 09:04

I don't think the fact someone might know you have £20k savings or £100k is really a dangerous threat to most people. I suppose if you have £100m and disclosed it (just as if you show your home in Hello and it is covered in Old Masters thieves then use the magazine as a resource) it might be different. People's own views of privacy differ. Even in the 1500s there would be village gossip who told someone everything and the person you worked with for 20 years and never find out even if they are married.

Xenia · 08/06/2013 09:06

RF is right though that on divorce people do use social networking sites to find out information about their spouse although in plenty of marriages there are no financial secrets anyway.

In fact a really important issue is the vast numbers of women who do not k now what money or accounts or pension their husband has as they are just interested in painting their nails. Those types of women come a cropper later. Make sure you see a spouse's P60s and have all the bank account numbers, share certificates and know what is in them all.

musicalfamily · 08/06/2013 09:18

I come from a culture where everyone is very open about their finances, people on first meeting tell you quite freely how much debt they have, how much they and their spouse own, etc..

I understand the British to be much more secretive about these things, but like Xenia says, unless you are a multi-millionaire, I have no problem telling anyone I have 5k savings and own 2 rental properties, in fact most people I know are aware of my rental properties..

Some people I know go round telling everyone how much they earn, I have learned to be more circumspect but certainly it isn't such a big deal in my view. Most people can work out how much you earn from your job title and your line of work anyway, unless you are secretive about that too.

marriedinwhiteagain · 08/06/2013 10:29

I don't know exactly what my husband has to be honest but I know where all the certs are; all the bank account details, etc. DH has shown me where everything is kept and how it is filed in the event that anything happens to him. I have simply never felt the need to rifle through it. DH knows where the list of all my stuff is but likewise he wouldn't go looking. Rather like he wouldn't go down my handbag and I wouldn't go through his pockets. If you have to do that you shouldn't be married imo.

Xenia · 08/06/2013 11:36

Fascinating. In a case called Immerman the courts looked at what level of privacy a spouse could have. They said it was up to the couple. Some will have access to everything as we did - open each other's posts, know and read everything which seems normal to me... others will have everything under lock and key and some in the middle. From my background I find it amazing any spouse would not want to know exactly the sums and have most stuff joint but I accept not everyone is like that.

The case also said if you keep things very secret from each other then the other spouse must respect that and breach rights if they pry. If you are the opposite as we always were and read each other's letters, know everything (I did both our tax returns for example) then you have both agreed to that and so there is nothing wrong in looking. It is certainly something couples need to talk about and agree before they get married to avoid difficulties later.

marriedinwhiteagain · 08/06/2013 13:19

I wouldn't say we exactly keep stuff secret but we both value a certain degree of independence over our financial affairs; perhaps because we were early thirties when we married and I had significant equity.

JourneyThroughLife · 08/06/2013 13:42

I'm perfectly happy to reveal my financial position...which is zilch anyway. I'm in my 50's, I have no savings, no inheritance (the family home was sold and is busily funding my mother's nursing home as she has Alzheimer's) and no property - I live in accommodation supplied by my job. I have a reasonable income but it all goes out on living and leisure pursuits - the arts, theatre tickets, travel. Especially travel. I have long holidays and go on tours to interesting places, like Thailand or Antarctica or trekking across ice caps in Greenland and such like.

When I was younger I "bought into" the idea about savings and mortgages and pensions, I no longer do so. I've seen people save up thousands and thousands, only to die early and never see a penny of it except as a figure on their bank statement. What was the point? I have older friends who are making themselves poor by paying off their mortgage in order for the children to have an inheritance - why? I saw my own mother pour every penny into the family home - she had a hard life and never asked for anything - only to end up in a nursing home with dementia. Live life for NOW.

I earn all my own money and don't ask for anything from others. But I intend to see the world before I end up in a nursing home and that's what I choose to do with my money.....

ItsYonliMe · 08/06/2013 16:29

Journey - how do you expect to look after yourself in later years I wonder? What's going to happen if you lose your job? I think your attitude is okay when you are 20, but you are a middle aged person and it all sounds a bit weird.

FabDadof6 · 08/06/2013 16:32

If I were you I would put your £150k into at least one new property and start renting it out. This country doesn't have enough houses and won't have so by the time you retire will be generating a nice pension for you.

MadeOfStarDust · 08/06/2013 16:45

Journey - I take it you don't have kids? Life gets more complicated...

BaconKetchup · 08/06/2013 17:04

It's a bit depressing that the system penalises those who save.

justalilmummy · 08/06/2013 17:07

Thecatisuptheduff are u aware u can get a maternity allowance of up to 135 a week from the job centre if u are self employed?

lljkk · 08/06/2013 17:08

I think the system penalises far worse people who don't save. Far lower standard of living for those who don't plan their finances carefully while still of working age. Care doesn't take every penny of savings, living on the basic state pension is tough, options about which care home you can go into get reduced if you're relying completely on the state to pay for any care needs.

This is a bit parallel with the "immorality of inheritance" thread, isn't it? I'm not going to begrudge old people who don't manage to save anything.

BaconKetchup · 08/06/2013 17:22

That's true, lljkk, which I suppose makes it even scarier that some people have no savings or plans whatsoever.

frogwatcher42 · 08/06/2013 17:31

Ive seen two relatives work hard all their lives, buy houses, have money in the bank and be considered very well off in their 40s and 50s.

One of them got alzheimers early and lived a long time but was too bad to be cared for at home, the other another illness that needed nursing care for all of his (long) retirement. All the money went, except for £16k. That was all the inheritance left from by far the wealthiest of our extended family (and I am talking considerable wealth - not, for example a £400k house and £100k savings, but a lot more than that!). First the capital went and then the charges were put against the properties.

I know because I had to deal with the wills and the charges.

Life takes unexpected twists and turns and it may not simply be a retirement home that is required. Nursing care (or secure care for alzheimers) is much more expensive.

frogwatcher42 · 08/06/2013 17:34

Following on from my previous post ...
But they were well looked after - and thats another thing to consider for those thinking they will take their inheritance early etc. Would you want your parents in paid for care where you may not be 100% happy with it but it is free (or cheap), or would you like the option of putting them somewhere (or them choosing if able) which you love and gives 110% quality of life for their final years even if it eats all the inheritance.

Worth thinking about?

ItsYonliMe · 08/06/2013 17:41

I find it really distasteful all the posters speaking about inheritance. Really, distasteful.

BaconKetchup · 08/06/2013 17:47

Not to mention not sensible at all...

BabyDubsEverywhere · 08/06/2013 17:47

Why?