What will happen to those of us who can’t afford to pay in to a pension?

[whatnooow]

I’m starting to get a bit worried about how we are supposed to support ourselves as we get older as we basically live hand to mouth each month.

My DH and I are minimum wage workers and had to come out of the company pension contributions about 7 years ago to be able to get by, day to day. we’re both early 40s and are both knackered already. Another 30 years will definitely kill us off!

Will we just have to work until we drop dead? What if we can’t work due to ill health, but not actually disabled? Luckily we will have paid the mortgage off in about 20 years, but how will we survive, pay bills, buy food etc?

Neither of us will receive any inheritance. Time feels like it’s speeding up and I’m very worried.

Everyone at my work, has opted out and said there probably won’t be pensions when we’re older, they say the government will tax it anyway, and there better off on benefits. Im the only one who pays in🙈

I think the problem with restarting at 40 is you’ve lost years of compounding. That doesn’t mean don’t start but is a lesson for any younger people reading this.

id be shocked if there wasn’t a state pension at all but I could see the age of access rising. The biggest issue most likely isn’t from 68 but the period before that when you might not be fit enough to work but have no other options.

Assume you’ve got 20 years. If you are both on £25k put it 3-% (£750) and got that matched you’d have 1500 each going in. Over 20 years at 7% you’d have two lots of £65k which would give a bit of a buffer. Biggest variable will be when you’re able to pay off the mortgage. Depending on your rate, I’d be looking at whether you’ve got any flex to over pay even a little bit. You might find that even small overpayments could knock a year off your mortgage which might be critical on your circumstances.

It's good to have some private pension pot to fall back on.
I work in benefits advice for over 50's and see loads of people who become too ill to work and have to give up work in their late 50's and 60's and state pension doesn't kick in until 67. Sickness benefits are very limited and not really enough to live on unless you have a partner who is still working. We see a lot of situations where both of a couple are too unwell to work or one has to become a carer. I have no doubt that sickness and disability benefits will become harder and harder to claim in coming years. We will already be seeing the sickness element of Universal credit halving for new claims after April this year and that is from a Labour government. Goodness knows what the Tories or reform will do next if they get in !
If you have a decent private pension you can at least draw on that for a few years until state pension age although private pensions can affect some sickness and disability benefits like ESA. People just trying to manage on benefits will really struggle especially if you have saved a bit for your retirement and don't qualify for anything means tested.

My dh is almost 62. he has two serious chronic health conditions and will likely have to finish work in a couple of years but likely won't meet the criteria for PIP etc. Fortunately he has a private pension he can take a bit early to cover those three years although of course it will come no-where near what he currently earns.

No, it's paid into your main personal bank account, and would only go into a joint account if you gave HMRC that information.

I only started to save properly in my 40’s I have a small pension from my 20’s pre kids locked away too. Save what you can, ideally go back into the company scheme as it free extra money. You’ll both get a full state pension if you have paid in 35 years of ni, they won’t be getting rid any time soon. Paying off mortgage means your outgoings retired are low and you can downsize

You are sensible. Your colleagues are stupid. No government of any party is going to take the state pension away without giving 35 years notice of their intention. It would be an electoral catastrophe that would make the party unelectable for 50 years. There will be a state pension, but in the small print, it might not enough because since 2012, you should have enrolled in and contributed to the workplace pension every employer is required to offer alongside. Your employer must contribute at least 5% of your salary, and you should dob in everything you can afford. Pensions are a very long game, but if you start young, then your contributions gather compound interest. The numbers sound trivial when you begin, but 5 or 6 years in, they begin to ramp up, and after 25 or 30 years of work and contributions, there's actually a big chunk of money in your pot. From which you can take 25% without any tax at all. To pay off your mortgage, perhaps, or to give your DC a property deposit, or to take the holiday of a lifetime.

That's quite a gamble they're taking! Sure at the moment we have a government that gives out benefits like sweeties but that won't always be the case - at some point a government will come in that prioritises hard work.

I work for one branch of the Civil Service in one department. I can’t just move to another area as I would have to apply for the job even in the same branch.

You can transfer but only in rare circumstances like health issues or bullying.

some branches pay more than others. So you would have a C2 grade advertised as one salary in say Defence which pays the most as it’s bigger than say the dept of rural payments which is smaller so pays less. The job grade is the same.

once you’re in though then you can see jobs that are only advertised internally within your branch or those advertised internally across civil service.

I hope that makes sense. It’s a good place to work apart from the Daily Mail hates civil servants!!!

lots of jobs advertised to be a driving examiner at the moment across the country if you feel brave enough!!!

Lurking

Exactly. And indeed, we need people to do every job. Every full time job should mean a decent lifestyle, and if the mega rich were not so avaricious and society were more equal, it could mean that.

Hmm, pensioners are one of the most protected and well-cared-for groups in our society. Pensioners who did not save are still entitled to benefits and top-up pensions to supplement their income.

The council also has a duty to accommodate the elderly so, they will never be left homeless either.

I know our generation appears more prepared to have a lower pension however, I can't imagine we would leave anyone destitute. I don't blame people for 'risking it'

You will be OK. Pensions will be made up by Pension Credits and all the other associated benefits provided you don't have too much in savings.

Does anyone else doubt that the Stste pension will exist in even 10yrs? It’s effectively a pyramid scheme.

You’ll be fine. It’s just a bit more than crap that those of us who work very hard jobs are told that we have failed and should have retrained and done more for our pensions. I did what I could, which doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t fall out of the right vagina and into a trust fund/public school with loads of opportunities. Don’t beat yourself up here. The givers of advice don’t understand. They are from a different school. Sometimes, people like me just don’t have that. It’s not your fault. Nor mine either. I just keep cleaning those houses. I’d really like it if others didn’t hoard money. Looking at you Mr Bezos…

There is a massive difference between "not being destitute" and having a comfortable retirement. I suppose it depends what you aspire to. Personally I'm taking responsibility for my own comfort.

This is how my parents are living now. Their rent is paid for through a top up. They did have full national insurance contributions. You aren’t unusual.

I've tried to the combining thing but you can't always do it, I've got 5 workplace pensions, my current one has automatically linked itself to my bank account, I've managed to combine two but when I tried to combine two railway pensions, I was advised against it because I would lose important benefits.

If your born after 06.04.78 you will get your state pension at 68.

How many skilled workers fall into the luxury category of wealthy parents, trust funds and public schools! I didn't and Ive at least worked my way up in to a health and safety career, my partner came from quite a rough background, single mother that didn't support him going to college and uni and he's a senior IT engineer for an NHS trust! You don't need to be rich, you need to have the gumption and the ambition! My career was far from easy to build and still isn't as I was made redundant from my perfect job.

You can put as much or as little as you want into a pension pot. When I first started I did put a lot in but it's been up and down since then. I did £10 a week when I worked full time, dropped it to £5 when I went part time, now I don't work yet I still put £1 a week in my pension. Even that is better than nothing. Do you have a workplace pension cos that is worth doing.

No, because government would have to replace it with something else because we've all paid for it and need it. Theres a lot of people out there with little to no workplace pensions.

Sometimes those choices aren’t there for some of us. Doesn’t mean that I’ve not worked hard, or haven’t tried. I’m very pleased and grateful that we don’t live with the American Dream. Apologies I’ve cleaned your loos and haven’t progressed.

@safetyfreak surely that’s a good thing that our older population are cared for? You will be old one day too & fingers crossed you will be able to afford food & heating.

Young families get more support than we ever did - free childcare hours, the LISA where they add money to what you have saved towards buying a house, UC top ups. A lot of pensioners will have grown up with no central heating, no TV, no car. We just expect those now as the norm.

I know We also have thread after thread of posters saying the reason we have immigration is because they fill the jobs that Brits wont do. The hypocrisy is stark

When I read things like this I wonder if the writer actually knows much about pensioners and the state pension. Do they know that the SP currently pays a bit over £12,000 a year. That pension credit isn't available to anyone that gets the full SP. That there's a shocking amount of pensioners living in poverty.

Add to that they may not be able to access good sensible and accurate money advice. I know of one woman who worked a year past her SP age while her husband was eligible for benefits based on the low household income. When she finally stopped working and took her SP she was asked if she wanted it back dated the year. So did she want a full year's money in one go? Well yes that sounds great so she said yes. Which meant that they were no longer eligible for the benefits they had received. Which mean they had to pay them all back. Which wiped out the year's worth of SP she had received. If she had said no to backdating her SP she wouldn't have had to pay anything back and she would get a larger amount from the SP each month.