49 and no pension to speak of- where to start?

[Ichangedmynameonce]

I've worked in public and charity sector since graduating, always in roles with minimal pensions (though none had a pension till I was about 28).

Had 3 years off for maternity leaves and have worked part time since first DS born 17 years ago.

Is there anything I can do now to improve the situation? My DH has a decent workplace pension, if that's relevant.

I've thought of seeing a financial advisor, but night sure how that works, always assume they just sell you products.

I don't have life insurance either.

I started with the free Gvt service, and then spoke to some IFA recommended.

The one I went with did LOADS of work before I made the choice as to whether to go with him or not. This was all structured in the process: initial interview to explain how they work. Stage 2, a look at your position and outline what their approach would be based on your preferences. At that stage he compiled several graphs which showed how my various savings, pensions and amount of state pension would work according to various retirement ages. Also I filled in a budget so had graphs showing which options met my preferred spending.

Only then did I have to commit, or not, to have him manage my pension. I did because I didn’t feel confident to do it myself. He moved it to a better performing pension with much lower costs that more than covered his % management, we have 2 meetings a year and I can call him at any time. He discusses with me whether I should draw down or use savings wrt tax and interest rate issues and I find it all very helpful.

If you are PT due to childcare responsibilities, your DH should be paying into a pension, for you, the difference - including employer contributions.
As PP, if you worked in the public sector you will have some (perhaps pretty decent) pension already.
Would it be possible to move back to a role in the NHS/ public/civil service area? It really would be worth it as you have at least another 15 years before State Pension Age.

set yourself up on government gateway and check what your current entitlement is to state pension

check your ESR for NHS pension and see what that is

ask your current employer what pension arrangements they have. Join this work pension and see if you can make additional voluntary contributions

A pp has suggested it too, but I think that your first step needs to be to see what state pension you are entitled to, and make sure that you’ll have enough contributing years.

Then I’d work out how much you need to live comfortably in retirement. Then list all of your pensions out and calculate how much they’ll bring in.

The difference is your savings target for the years until retirement….

@JobMatch3000 I didn't know that - how would we know what proportion was for my working part time due to childcare? Wouldn't he have to have opted in?
My only public sector pension is the NHS one. The others are all charity and basic I think.
@sashagabadon thanks, I'm in the pension and have always joined them
@OneMoreTime23 thanks for this info. Does it mean I should be paying 24.5% of my gross salary into a pension 😳that's pretty much impossible
@JobMatch3000 I'm actually applying now for a lower paid civil service job because of the pension (and other reasons but that's a big one!)

It would have had to have been a private arrangement between the two of you. Unfortunately lots of women don't consider the future financial implementation of going PT and men are unlikely to volunteer to fill the breach.
I made sure the family pot of money compensated me for working PT for childcare reasons and you really ought to discuss this with your husband moving forward. As PP, there is no point in him building a decent pension if you have none of your own.

Opting out of SERPS won't affect you as you have more than enough working years left to qualify for the full new state pension. Check your Government Gateway account.
I worked part time for many years but still earned enough each year to qualify for the full years NI contribution and have 44 years in total. I also contracted out but worked until 2019 so am just 68p per week short of the new state pension in 2 years time. Check for gaps for any years although your receipt of child benefit will cover any missing childcare years. Again this will all be on your Government Gateway account.
You might be surprised how much you have to be honest. A friend of mine in mid 50's has a handful of small DC pension pots valued around £60k which we worked out if they combined them and contributed around £100 a month; after tax relief, matching employer contributions and 5% net growth (after charges) over the next 5 years, might give them about £4k gross income (that growth estimate might be a tad optimistic for 5 years, but is likely to be more realistic over 10 or 15 years). There are free calculators online that you can play around with values and contributions to work out what's affordable.
If you do go for an FA, go for and independent one who will find the best product for you rather than the firm they are tied to. Check for recommendations around your local area for someone rather than Google which just tends to get you the big firms.

Thanks @Fizzadora I've just logged on and it says I have 30 years full contributions. There are only three years when I don't have full contributions and that's from when I did my degree aged 19.
It says it's too late for me to Pay for them now. Is this correct?
So assuming I work til state retirement age, is 3 years gap in NI anything to worry about?
Thank you

I wonder of it's ' usual ' to have a gap during the typical student years, I have that gap too

Currently you need 35 years of NI contributions for a full pension.

While that may change so you need more, given you are still working you will almost certainly get a full state pension.

NHS Pensions are very helpful when you ask for a statement - as yours will all be in the old scheme you will prob be pleasantly surprised. Especially as you get the full pension at 60.

Then you need to go through all your other old employers and get statement from those pension schemes. It may not be much but they all add up.

So you are very far from having 'no pension'.

Thank you @AnnaMagnani I'm beginning to feel better!

I've just checked my current workplace pension. It's the People's Pension. I'm paying 319 a month and have a current pot of around 10k, with a forecast of 56k.....not sure what that actually means?

It sounds like it means you currently have £10,000 but if you keep paying the same amount into the pension until retirement you will have £56,000.

At current interest rates, according to the Legal and General calculator (just the first one on Google), if you bought an annuity at 67 after taking 25% as tax free cash, that would be roughly £2,500 a year.

Thanks @CrabbiesGingerBeer that's useful to know 👍

Get a pension estimate which will show you years where you have underpaid NI. Then you can see whether you can buy back those years.

Never had life assurance or insurance with my mortgages