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

[suebfg]

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.

Sue - you'd have been better I think asking that question then.

There have been many threads on here about how people are struggling so I do find this to be a tad insensitive to be honest.

Plus, I do think anyone is mad to disclose detailed financial info on here. Goodness knows whose reading.

Sorry that was in response to OPs question further up. This thread is moving quickly.

OP your post sounds quite boastful.

You are only 40 and you have 150k saved.

You have 30 years (or thereabouts) to build on this, if you feel it "isn't a lot to fund 2 people in retirement".

And also meant to say what MrsCampbellBlack said...

The ones who are relying on inheritance see if your parents will give it to you when your young. My parents are giving me all mine at age 40 so they dont have to worry about it when they die.

peteypirahna please look into the legalities before you accept your inheritance. If they need care later you may have to pay it back, whether you can afford to or not!

No savings whatsoever. Have been paying into teacher pension since I begun. So bloody poor at the mo I could really do with that £200/month in my pocket, but determined to be sensible and think of the future. Not that I believe for a second that successive governments won't suck my pension dry before I retire (at SEVENTY hahahahaha)

There are lots of ways round that mama

Petey - do they not need the money then to live on? My 'inheritance' from my mother would come from the sale of her house so would only happen on her death.

And hey, she could run off with some 25 year old before then

see a financial adviser.

There's lots that you can do with that sort of sum.

get yourself a balanced income portfolio

I find this a very odd thread!

You now have no mortgage, you chose to pay it off instead of pay into a pension. So now presumably you have money that you could save instead.

You are worried that you don't have a pension, ok you say you don't trust them, but really at 40 just get it sorted, you haven't said you can't afford to pay into a pension now, or invest to increase your savings.

How can parents give you your inheritance when they're still alive?

By definition it's the assets passed on from somebody who has died

I'm not planning for retirement, I know too many people who worked and paid into savings and pensions then didn't live long enough to spend it or only had a year or two.

I pay my bills, put a couple of hundred away for unexpected bills then spend the rest each month, I'd rather live for today and have the things I want now.

Life isn't a rehearsal.

Fine - I save hard, I don't splash out on expensive handbags at £1000 a pop but it's OK for people to post about those on Mumsnet ...

And Petey I don't think your parents will be worrying about much at all when they're dead....

No they are from the public salary pension days. People were luckier back then!

Zip, zero, nil. Lucky you, I say

About £12k savings.
10 years left on mortgage.
23 years and counting into NHS pension.

One thing we looked into a few years ago was the wine market.

I can't remember the details exactly...but because it's a food product it makes a good investment because you don't pay tax (or VAT or something, can't remember which) on the gains.

At the time, the minimum investment was about £8k but we never pursued it because it would have stretched us too far. But something that we may well come back to. There was just one main London company that dealt with it to my memory.

Have you read the threads where someone mentions buying an expensive handbag The comments are far worse than on this one believe me.

But anyway, just start a pension and shove loads into it over the next 30 years until you retire.

I don't see the problem.

Sorry laregina I dont get you?

about six and a half quid, basically whatever is in my penny pot.

You gotta love redundancy!

We have pensions (DH final salary, me 8 yrs final salary, now DC, but very attractive for a few years while work let us "adjust" to the new system), cash, stocks and shares, and a mortgage, but apart from 90K left on the mortgage, I couldn't say how much is in each.

Petey you said your parents want to give you your inheritance so 'they don't have to worry about it when they die'....

I suppose I just don't trust pensions, any more than I trust equities ...