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.

Not much savings to speak of.. About 2 k. Fair amount of equity in the house though, and we both have good final salary pensions.
I'm glad to see its been flagged up here that pensions are not always transferrable, and where they are it's usually only a fraction of their value, as some of my friends wrongly believe they are ok without their own pension, or with just a small one ... They think their husband having a good pension is all that matters. How wrong they will be if they outlive their husband.
Am also very at the people who are banking on a hefty inheritance.. Personally I think people are nuts to do that. You just don't know what might happen. It's not your money until its in your pocket (and that's after 40% tax rate...)

I'm 36 and I have recently and with much debate restarted my pension. I'm not sure it's the right thing to do at the moment, I've been hanging on for a few years because I keep thinking that the mess which is pensions must be sorted out soon but I am now too jittery not to do something about it.

We have a very manageable mortgage which I overpaid a bit then stopped fussing over and a reasonable amount of savings, not large but would tide us over in a panic.

I tend to spend money as it comes in tbh but I think we are reasonable sorted financially.

Why is paying into a pension madness?

Minimal savings, no pension, or mortgage (we rent).
Equally no debt, no house repair to pay for and we live a very simple pretty much hand to mouth existence.
I used to worry about it, until i realised that worldwide this is how most people live.
I am happy, healthy, have a life I adore and very few worries. I'm 40 next year and DH (much younger) and I will inherit (money in trust) enough for a deposit to buy a 2 bed place over the next couple of years that we can rent out to cover some of the mortgage and pay off the rest...so we hopefully shan't be homeless.
Tbh investments or pensions are worth jack shit in today's financial climate. I've seen far too many older relatives lose their retirement or pension find in stock market or house price crashes, and I don't plan on being another mug. We will however make sure we have at least a roof over our heads big enough for the two of us, and we will possibly inherit a house elsewhere if nursing home fees are not required (I don't count on this though in any way!)
I don't work at the moment, and have FAR less earning power than DH, so we do pay for VERY good life insurance/critical illness cover!

Rather than put your elderly parents into a very expensive care home, you can always care for them yourselves.

I may be getting on a bit, but care homes seem to be an ever increasing option that rarely existed back in my younger days. Elderly and infirm grandparents were usually looked after by their adult children, often moving in with them if necessary.

The only person in my family ever to move into care was my great granny, who was 101 at the time, and her 80 year old son was a bit beyond caring for her himself (she outlived him).

OP ignore the posters on here who have said your thread is insensitive. It is hard to talk £ with friends on real life so a forum like MN is a good starting point. Honestly with the logic people use here posts about having children should be deleted as they might offend those with infertility issues...

Anyway I have paid off mortgage in full, have 11 years of final salary pension (didn't start putting in til I was 33) and am completely cash poor with no savings. Like I have £100 to last me the month. But I am not good with cash savings - I would just spend it.

You should really invest in shares or property both of which should give you a much better return than savings. If you want to be extra careful then why not put some £ in a pension particularly if your employer matches it?

Agree that one can never rely on parents. My elderly dad has told me he has find for me... But all he needs to do is fine one very young and demanding girlfriend and -poof- all gone!!

Realistically what can you afford to save each year? When do you wish to retire?
There is a big difference between saving £12000 a year between now and 60 (pot of £390,000) or now and £65 (pot of £450,000). If you retire 5yrs earlier you would then be eating into it at say £18,000 pa leaving a pot of £300,000 at 65.

Sorry... 'Has a fund for me..' Not 'find'

£12,000 even.

Doha, can I ask, if you have 100k in savings then why aren't you paying off your mortgage with some of that??? I assume you pay interest on your mortgage??

nothing at all, anywhere. not even enough for a week.

i was married, divorced, single parent, put daughter through independent secondary (with help of the assisted places scheme at first - bring it back!),paid for her wedding, had a new kitchen and bathroom and don't know if i'll ever finish paying for it.

I'm 27 and DH is 37. We both make pension contributions and are in local government pension schemes, so a good deal. If we both keep working until we retire at 67, DH will have made 42 years of contributions and I will have made 46 years.

We have no savings really. And we don't overpay our mortgage. We are both in secure jobs though. DH especially.

Early 20s already £15k savings and good pension contributions from employer. I've worked hard, but you don't no what twists and turns you will face in life. I suspect a stare pension won't exist when I'm old. I will have to work well into my 60s.

Squeaky, you make a very good point. We get a lot of help from both of my parents in a practical sense and sometimes financially. We are determined that neither of them will go into a home if DH and I are physically capable of looking after them...there are conditions that would make that impossible though...my dGreatgran had altzimers and she was very violent and unstable, i'd try and cope with that if it happened to Dmum, but If I couldn't I'd like options...this is why we don't count on inheriting!

Rather than put your elderly parents into a very expensive care home, you can always care for them yourselves.

I'll get deleted if I tell you what I think of that commemt.

Op what a terribly offensive post, not everyone has £150 in savings.

The thread about where were people going on holiday. Offensive - not everyone can afford to go on holiday.

The thread about people's dh's. Offensive - not everyone has a dh.

The thread asking how old posters were? Offensive - some of those posters were younger than me.

Ffs get a grip people, this is a public forum, people can post what the hell they like, don't read it or don't reply if it offends you, I think jealousy is the real issue here.

We are in our mid 40's, mortgage of £50k ( about £100K equity), savings £5.5K, neither of us has much of a pension and mine is an NHS one with lots of gaps .

150k not £150, I can even manage £150.

About £300k equity, £60 k left to pay on mortgage. DH has final salary pension, I have saved about £50k ino to my pension pot - it did very well this year as the stock market has been bouyant, so i hope to double that before I retire, and I'll have a small work pension as well, all in all we will retire on about £40k pa. We probably have around £40k in savings, but some of it not easy to get at easily. We are 50's, so need to be where we are now.

Was a bit worried about the posts that said that husbands / wives pensions would not go to their spouses if they died. I just talked to dh and he has a civil service pension scheme. He says that I would get death in service benefits and a pension from this. Not the full whack that he would get, but something. Other than that, I have no mortgage as we rent and some savings for a deposit for our house when we can afford to buy. Am quite worried now.

Yes, if he dies in service you'll get some money

DH and I get widow's pension from each other's pot but it is less than half. In fact it might een be 33% although I can't remember now.

It is frightening and we all need to think about it seriously.

Thanks bigkids, thought it was something like that. I'd better go first then

How the hell are people supposed to save huge sums for their retirement when the cost of living is so high and house prices are astronomical?

I worked out that I will need to work until I'm 73 to get a state pensiom (assuming I work continually until then). DS cheerfully told me that there wouldn't be a state pension by them.

It's really tough I agree George! I pay about £350 a month into mine, and yes, it hurts because its hard to see the benefits at the moment, whereas if you spend on holidays or kitchens, you at least get something for it in the here and now. But it's a massively important issue, and one which many people either duck or genuinely aren't aware of

I have a theory that a large proportion of the people who are currently doing ok, still youngish and in decent jobs, will end up having to radically downscale their life in their later years because they won't have made enough provision. I am
Not expecting the state pension to be worth a piss in a pot frankly.

Re : the spouse issue- yes, you may get a death in service allowance if your partner actually dies in service, but tbh most people are likely to live to retirement. DH and I have widows element in our pensions but as others have said, it's less than half the full pension and certainly not something I'd rely on.. We both see it as a nice top up to our main pension after the other one has gone!!

If I didn't have my own pension I'd be seriously worried and I do wonder if the OP is burying her head in the sand. 150k sounds a lot but it really won't go far. Remember that life expectancy is on the increase all the time too.

Oh dear I sound a bit doom and gloom but I honestly think the pensions issue will blow up big time- it's like a time bomb, we know people are going to be up shit creek but it's not until it actually happens that the full impact will be apparent