Ok I know you may not want to think about this but

[lizziehoney]

I'm really interested to know what arrangements you, or your partner, have made for pensions?? Yes it all seems a long way off, with kids at home and a lot of working years left, but it seems to be such a contentious topic. Dh and I both have pensions with our jobs (we're public sector workers) and though we won't be rolling in it while we retire, I imagine we'll be comfortable. But a number of my friends are convinced that property is the only way to go, and are stretching themselves to purchase buy-to-lets. There also seems to have been so much in the media over the last few years about how there'll be huge numbers of retired people with not enough workers to support them, and pension funds not being what they're cracked up to be. What are we all doing about it??

I will have a small pension from previous job.
Plus I am buying in NI years (voluntary contribs, not currently working). These are very cheap for what you get back.

And I have a small personal pension going. This was especially attractive because for me as a low earner the govt. adds in money I didn't even have to earn!

We have paid off our debts and mortgage already, we have "enough" in cash savings and do occasional investments in unit trusts.

We already have so much of our wealth tied up in our house, I wouldn't want all our pension dependent on one type of investment (property), so personally wouldn't choose Buy-to-Let as a pension scheme.

And otherwise I will work until I'm 75, and rely on DH's pension (company sponsored, but not a final salary scheme) where I have to. Willingness to work until 75 was the biggest factor in all the scenarios I tried to work thru on a spreadsheet.

Over the age of 65 the tax-free allowance on income goes up (goes up again after 75). Assuming all conditions continue the same until I retire, and that I live as long as I expect to, I should get a bit more income from the personal pension than I will from DIY pension planning (e.g., in the shares ISA). But the shares ISA income will be tax-free, and the various pensions/NI income will be low enough to attract little tax.

It's really complicated planning all this, I don't know if my strategy is best, I think I can live with it, though.

lljkk, it sounds like you have thought long aned hard abiout your retirement planning and you have come up with some sensible solutions.
Portonovo, with regards to tax benefits, yes you do get tax relief of 40% or 22% depending on what band of tax you are paying. But my point is that if you put a whole load of money in and you get a poor return (ie less than 5%) then all the tax relief in the world is not going to be much use to you as your return on your investment is still a poor one.
I do not mean to be negative about this but I want to point out to people that pensions alone are not the only retirement planning tool available and as such people need to explore all the options.

I need to keep DH alive as long as possible

He is medically retired and receives money from a PHI which stops when her retires or dies
His state pension stops when he dies
His occupational pension stops when he dies as he married me (& we had DD) after it was frozen

So I need to preserve him as I have no pension of my own (& no money to pay into one)

What's the best thing to do with small-ish sums of money then BGD? To put them into Isas first and when that capacity is full to put them in a pension? I'm about to be left £15k and am not sure what the best thing to do with it would be

Difficult to answer as I do not know your circumstances. Usually if you have debts clear them and that includes the mortgage. Then if you have reduced your monthly payments perhaps increase your investments etc in ISA's etc. You need an IFA to sit down with you and go through your circumstances and to see what you are looking for out of life, then tailor your finances accordingly.
The link below will point you in the right direction. Just give a couple of people a phone and seee what they have to say. www.unbiased.co.uk/?WT.mc_t=PPC&WT.mc_n=aroundture&WT.srch=1

Okay great, I'll do that. Thanks

Quick question BGD, (and I know this is off topic, so apologies everyone else) can you untangle the whole fees/commission thing? Do you pay some people an up front fee, and others presumably take a cut if you go with the products they recommend?

i have a NHS pension....

but i work part time so not much goes into it...

i do worry about old age and money

DH and I are at the huge mortgage, no savings stage ... scary tbh.

DH is a fairly snr civil servant with a final salary pension scheme.

I was a public sector employee until I had ds 3 yrs ago so I have some pension from my previous employment. Will go back to work in a couple of years and will (probably) work in public sector again.... but the uncertainty over my pension does stress me sometimes.

At the moment the pressing problem is paying off the huge mortgage - so pension provision is low down in priority list for me until we get that down.

Future planning is not my strong point - coming from the 'something will turn up' school of economics!

Shreddies, all advisers should be upfront on the fees/commission issue (They have to be by FSA regulations). Some will charge a fee and rebate any commission they earn to you, some will not charge a fee but take commission, some may do a mix of both, but they should tell you upfront.
I would have thought most advisers will not charge for an initial meet but then when they make their recommendation they will let you know what fee will be charged as they know that work will be carried out, or if they will take commission.
Hope that helps

Nothing yet, as I am still a student and Dh uses every penny to support us. We're wary anyhow, both Dad's collapsed after maximum contributions and he'll be on housing benefit until he dies.

Ama ware we need to sort, but it takes cash thats not there atm

Great, thanks