Pension advice

[PITA22]

If be grateful for any advice regarding the best way to save for retirement, including any explanation of the complexities of pensions (AVAs, etc.) which I don't really understand.

I'm early 50s.
No partner or children.
Mixture of self-employed and employed.
Income c.£25K, on which I manage easily.
No mortgage.
Savings of about £110K.
Just over £6K work pension.
Equity of c.500K in my property, but it's in London so not big.
Considering equity release, but not until I'm 80ish.
No major health issues.
Parents both in pretty good health and fully independent in early 80s, grandparents lived to 90s (I know that's no guarantee, but it's an indication).

Thank you!

Firstly check if you are on target to achieve State pension.

Then consider what your % your employer is providing. This is effectively "free" money that your employer is adding to your pension. Is the 6k the total pot? Have you paid into pension before? If so go and try to find them to consolidate or add to your forecasts.

Savings, are these in ISAs?

You won't need equity release at 80, most 80 year olds tend to live a quieter and less expensive lifestyle.

If you want to do that, do it when you're younger and enjoy spending it.

Or, any thoughts of relocating to a cheaper area?

£250K would get you a 4 bedroom, garage etc where i live.

Yes, on track to receive full state pension.

Intending to add to work pension, but when I tried to do this recently was told it might not be good value for money.

£6K per annum from work pension.

Savings mainly in ISAs as well as Premium Bonds.

A lot of 80-year-olds require care, or adaptations to their home, or medical treatment (who knows what state the NHS will be in in 30 years), or to do things in an easier way such as taking taxis rather than public transport.

OTOH, my 84-year-old aunt spends a fortune on cruises, other types of holidays, home improvements, a gardener, a new car, going to the ballet, etc.

Moving is not out of the question, but my current property suits me very well and is ideal for a retired person if they are still living independently.

Do the rebel finance school course for free on YouTube it will answer all these questions but I’d pay excess money you aren’t needing into investments and sipps to get government funds added

I would make sure I'm contributing to my employer pension up to whatever amount where they also add contributions and above that, save what I can afford into either a SIPP or an ISA. Depends on your circumstances which is best, for you it will probably be the pension due to tax relief and tax free 25% plus you have decent savings so can probably avoid accessing it in the short/medium term.

I'd also considering putting some of the £110k savings into a SIPP over the next few years, you can contribute up to 100% of your annual salary in total.

It sounds like you don't want/need an expensive lifestyle but if you do decide you want to spend more, your home needs expensive repairs or you need to pay for care, and your income doesn't cover it, you could look at equity release when you're much older, especially if you don't have any close relatives to leave an inheritance to.

Look into a SIPP, ie a private pension. It’s very easy to set one up, and you can save regularly into it or put money in as and when. It automatically gets topped up by the government so £80 becomes £100. It’s very flexible to take money out of - you can take money out in chunks when you need it or use it to buy an annuity which would give you a steady extra income for as long as you live.

Very good advice about putting money into SIPP to get the 25% tax back to invest.
What would you invest the pension funds in right now? I'm worried there might be an AI bubble.

Not all private pensions are SIPPs and unless you are a sophisticated investor there are personal pensions available with lower charges. If your workplace pension is a defined contribution pension it is often easier just to increase your contributions there. Who told you it would not be a good idea?

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement

TBH you have sufficient funds to get professional advice from an IFA. But as a starting point work out what a retirement budget would look like for you. That would be a starting point, you can then work backwards to figure out what income you want/need. You might want to consider some equity release early on in your retirement so that you can actually enjoy the fruits of your labour. You're in London and it seems like you don't want to move which is fair enough. Looking at your current situation, 6k pension, plus state pension, plus interest from 100k and you have a good baseline income, obviously at todays costings.

I already have a SIPP. The general advice I've seen has been just buy a (couple of) low cost tracker because otherwise fees eat into profits which adds up with compounding. That is what I've always done (in addition to workplace pension). My fear is if there is an AI crash then it might precipitate a recession. I've been shifting gradually into bonds, which have steady predictable returns, but have been dropping in price with inflation fears. I was just asking to see if anyone had other ideas. Thanks for the link.