Worried I haven't got enough pension due to claiming UC

[Worriedaboutmypension]

Hi all,

After seeing a thread on here a few days ago about someone who was worried that she didn't have enough pension when she retired it made me look at mine.

I was shocked when I checked it that it was only worth 18k and this is definitely the full amount of the pension not the yearly value.

I've been with my company for 8 years and its the first time I've paid into a pension. I only work 4 mornings a week and claim some top-ups in UC.

I'm 41 and work for just over minimum wage so are unlikely to find much higher paid employment.

What can I do to increase my pension?

The government didn’t warn you of this!! Bloody hell op but what a ridiculous statement to make. Of course your pension will be less if you barely work - you shouldn’t need anyone, government or otherwise, to point this out. Why on earth do you think you should have a big pension when you work a few hours a week on a little over minimum wage. You’re already getting 2.5k a month from the tax payer. That’s a ridiculous amount.

you will be better off if you work full time. UC rewards people in work. I get a UC top up and I’m better off now I’m working 30 hours a week than I was on 22 hours.

The government didn't warn me of this.

Eh?
The state pension figures are everywhere
You can do your forecast
You know if you can live off 220 per week
You can work full time now and boost your private pension

Yes, they would have explained all of this to you at your initial UC meeting. You are not coming across as very believable, OP.

Your UC breakdown every month shows what amount is for you, what is for a child etc, your kids age out of the money. It’s all very clear,

LOL - you’ll be regretting it way before then - once your kids are older you won’t be entitled to anywhere near that level of UC.

And really - did you need the Gov to tell you if you haven’t made any pension provision you’ll be poor when you’re old?

3.5 a month when working 4 mornings a week for NMW

Seriously, I give up

Absolute bollocks. UC doesn’t cover rent to that level. It only covers local housing allowance and gives a contribution towards rent. This is so obviously a goady post.

Jeezas, am giving up FT working (and the 90 minute each way commute) if I can get that much UC. Not only is the benefits system screwed up, the £1.2k rent, which am guessing is private, is symptomatic of the messed up housing situation in this country.

Op, if it helps you though due to kids and idiocy, I didn't really start properly paying into a pension until I was late 30s and am getting a decent pot now so you've got time to sort yourself out if you get a better job and make AVCs.

If OP has children she’ll be entitled to a 2 or 3 bed. The LHA in Wandsworth is £2000 a month for a 3 bed.

You've come to understand you won't be on 3.5k per month for ever? Did you honestly think you would be? Do you honestly think someone should be on 3.5k for working 4 mornings a week in the first place (if indeed that's true). DH and I both work full time and earn above nmw and only have a few hundred pounds more than you each month between us! If this is real I'm shocked. How soon after quitting my job can I get the 2.5k a month benefits?

Ok, if this isn't a wind up, OP you need to sit down, do some sums and make some plans.

You haven't mentioned your family set up, and there may be limitations which you haven't shared here, but on the face of it you absolutely need to be working full-time, in a career with prospects so that you can increase your earnings.

I woulf also suggest a long, hard look at your out-goings.

As you will have gathered by the replies here
many, many people are bringing in considerably less than you and having to make tough choices to be able to pay into their pension, and possibly build up savings too.

There are no easy solutions.

Get a better and full time job OP. Despite the people saying you need to put away 1000 month to catch up, it's very worth it as you have another 27 years at least to pay in and if you can get a decent job with good employer contributions it will add up. Sooner rather than later would make sense as once your kids leave education you will reduced to about four hundred quid in benefits plus rent a month.

The obvious thing - if you’re genuinely asking - is to go a mixture of employed and self employed and then put all of your self employed earnings directly into a pension. You’ll still get the same amount of UC but you’ll be investing in your pension.

Can't believe you're blaming UC and the government - do you ever take any accountability for anything?
What you need to do is stop having kids and get a full time job, it's that simple. No wonder the country is broke.

That said, who knows what will change between now and when you turn 67 or whatever pension age gets raised to for your generation. Hopefully there won't be a policy of letting the elderly poor starve on the streets, even if they didn't save up much during their younger years.

Most adults understand that if they don't save for their old age, it will be a poor one.

It’s usually the people that barely work end up being better off than an average earner these days. It will likely be the same in retirement. Everything will be paid for at the expense of tax payers.

The government didn't warn me of this.

This MUST be rage bait. I cannot believe its not.
You thing its the government's job to manage your finances and tell you when the gravy train will slow slightly????

You work 4 mornings a week.

You get the equivalent of a £56,000 gross salary annually for 4 mornings a week.
Pro-rataed up to full time that's over 100k gross annual salary...

Spend less on non essentials and put in into your pension. That's what every other fucker people on 56k gross do.

And 50-60K is a "high earner" according to half the people on here.
Only, unlike you, they wont be eligible for housing benefit when they retire.

Its not personal to you OP but honestly this country is just fucked....

Why would people plan for the future when they have been supported so generously by tax payers for most of their lives?

People, even in old age get a minimum amount of benefits, especially if they claim PIP or attendance allowance, especially when bills such as council tax is reduced.

I've seen a lot of p/t workers with similar finances. I'm afraid it's very much a reality

I don't think this thread is rage bait and I truly believe @Worriedaboutmypension genuinely thinks it's the government's job to 'warn' her of the outcome of no financial planning.

Reason- I work in Local Government Welfare and I receive calls and (sometimes aggressive) emails from people asking us how we expect them to live, once their children stop receiving child benefit.

Some of the impact is known and some unknown, and this should be easier now with everyone moving to UC. When the children stop receiving child benefit, the OP will stop receiving the child allowance AND UC will also take a deduction from her small entitlement, for the non-dependent children.
This is usually when we'd receive calls to say the children have moved out (to get rid of the deductions), but that's a double-edged sword, as the bedroom allowance is then reduced, so the benefit goes down even more. On and on it goes.

@Worriedaboutmypension , you may be time and money rich at the moment, but you're working on false economy. If possible, it is in your best interest to increase your hours and pension contributions, and look at improving your finances so when the children leave, you don't fund yourself destitute.

Your pension is a you issue, not a UC one.

Wow, area makes a huge difference then. I take it back. Where I live, the LHA is 700 for a 4 bed and the market rate rent averages 1300, so the difference has to be made up from the rest of the UC.

UC pays 100% of your rent if you're in social housing. 'Affordable rent' is classed as social housing and can be up to 80% of open market rent, much higher than regular social housing (supposedly 50% open market rent). It's an extreme example, but could feasibly be £1200. OP must have kids to be eligible for UC on part time wage, so will also be eligible for rent towards a suitably sized property.

It's clear from the incredulity in many of the responses on here that a lot of people don't realise just how generous uc is to people with children. Especially so for single parents who are renting. Go and have a play with the online benefits calculators like 'entitledto', and you'll see for yourself.

I'm in a not too dissimilar situation from op, single parent of 3 DC (born before 2 child cap). I work part time and UC provides similar benefits to what op has stated (my rent is less).

OP is missing a massive trick though, because UC is calculated based on take home earnings. So what they should be doing is putting as much as possible into pension now - max out your contributions, and your UC payments will go up to compensate.

Well this has been a massive eye opener.

im recently disabled and terrified as the likelihood is I’m about to lose my career.

entitled says possibly PIP and that’s it.

im really glad there is support for single mothers genuinely and truly, it’s not that i don’t want that to exist but I find myself feeling conflicted about the fact that having children is a choice, yet government happy to support, but I who have ploughed thousands in taxes into our system, now faced with something devastatingly out of my control, will be left to it. Thankfully my husband works but we are going to really struggle as a family of four. Better than nothing I guess.

And when you factor in the fact that market rents for 3 beds in Wandsworth will be much higher than the LHA, you can start to see why people rely on UC if they have kids and don’t have the skills, experience or qualifications to earn much above NMW.