How to start my own pension?

[Mylittleponyskinnyandbony]

I am in a minimum wage job.
Zero hours contact.
I'm 45 years old.
Can I just start my own pension and pay a percentage of my wages into it?
Things aren't going to change so I need to make the best of things.
Can you open your own pension fund and pay into it regularly? Please don't advise me to change jobs. I'm not willing to do that right now. I just need to make the best of sorting a pension out myself.

Any advice would be awesome.
I'm clueless about this but I'm very worried for my future self. I have to start now.

Yes you can, but you usually commit to a monthly rate to invest, can you do that on your zero hours, does your income fluctuate or is it steady?

have a look here:

www.money.co.uk/pensions.htm?track=885118&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiOmO9c7y9QIVlxoGAB1mfwAvEAAYAiAAEgIeTPD_BwE

As an aside have you ever had a pension? Even a small one anywhere? Definitely worth consolidating them if you do.

Thanks so much @itwasntaparty I'll check that out.

Yes I have lots of them in lots of companies.

DH was always self employed and never had a pension. I took out a NEST one for him and we put a bit in every month (can't afford much). It's not great, especially as no tax relief or employer contribution, but it's better than nothing. I've since learned it isn't a great scheme though so I need to look into it more and change to something that is more likely to grow.

Is your workplace too small to offer a pension?

@Mylittleponyskinnyandbony

Yes I have lots of them in lots of companies.

You need to track down all your old pensions!!

@RagzRebooted unfortunately yes.
@McScreamysGhostPants I've just applied to pensionbee to track them down!

If any of them are personal pensions you should be able to keep paying in. I pay into a pension started by a company I haven't worked at for years.

[quote Mylittleponyskinnyandbony]@RagzRebooted unfortunately yes.
@McScreamysGhostPants I've just applied to pensionbee to track them down![/quote]
You can do it for free via the gov pensions tracing service

@RagzRebooted. The pension should offer tax relief, I opened a sipp with virgin money and contribute a small amount each month and they add the tax a couple of weeks later that month. Maybe it’s different if you’re self employed and do a tax self assessment , not sure but worth checking.

If you’re using pensionbee to track down your pensions you can also use pensionbee to add regular contributions or one-off contributions to your pension pot. They don’t have minimum amounts and will also arrange for the tax relief top up.

I'm self employed and have a pension through Penfold. I can stop or change the payments at any time, or even add a one off if I've got a bit more. Only had it for a year or so but I'm happy with it so far.

Oh you can also consolidate your other pensions in to it.

Hi thanks everyone. Is there a certain % you should be paying in or is it as and when?

Martin Lewis says you should pay in the percentage that is half of your age when you start it. That would have been 20% for me and totally unaffordable! I pay in about 10% depending on how business is going.

Open a SIPP with Vanguard or Halifax and invest in a low cost global index fund. You'll get 25% extra from the government for everything you put in.