50+ without a fat pension pot....

[lechatnoir]

Come on it! Share your plans or just be thankful you're not the only one who didn't or more likely couldn't squirrel away £££ every month.

I've got the grand total of about £40k in my pension which will give me pretty much fuck all! Retirement is a long way off for us (both on pretty low income in an expensive part of the country) and we just don't have spare cash to put away.

Ive just started paying into a company scheme but only the minimum so will be a bit more so accept retirement won't be fine dining & luxury cruises and will probably just draw down money to go on a last hurrah holiday, down size to release some capital and rely on state pension and a bit extra.

What are your plans (if any?) Please don't post worrying that a £30k annual income won't suffice - this is not the thread for you!

52, piss poor, 5K on top of state pension, £25K Investments, tiny LGPS and now off sick due to secondary breast cancer. Things aren't great!!

Uggggh, all the very best with your treatment 💐

Someone could live in social housing and still have a decent pension. There was a trade Union leader of maybe the RMT who was very criticised in the national press a number of years ago for remaining in social housing. If anyone had the chance to not rely on benefits and make provision if they can and this isn’t a judgement comment it’s a genuine concern that pension credit may not exist at some future point. I mean I remember when child benefit was universal and then that changed. I know it’s changed again but it shows the fragility of the benefits system.

@ThePlumsOfWilfred - when my son was at junior school , his maths teacher said "there are two types of people in this world - ones who understand compound interest and those who don't. "

That said my only other comments is there is a difference between downsizing and down costing. So it could be possible to move from a 3 bed house to a nice flat and realise some equity.

@ViciousCurrentBun - I remember that story - he had a 6 figure salary if I recall but living in a council flat - I may be wrong here but it sat uneasily.

@Enigma52 All best wishes to you 💐

Just hit 50 an umming and ahing about putting as much as i can afford in mine and my full bonus every year. I rent so have nothing to fall back on and no partner so its down to me. Staying home to raise the lil un seemed such a good idea in my 30's, just didnt think relatio ship would break down and all my worldly goods would be lost to that. Hard lessons learned. I simply couldnt afford even the basics on my current pension

I'm in Australia so my figures are a little bit different to yours. That majority of my superannuation (private pension) is from my pot before I moved to the UK. I have very little from my almost 2 decades living there. I don't own a property either.

I am desperately trying to build up the pot because as it currently stands my projected retirement income will only barely pay a private rent so I'm screwed if I don't manage to buy something, I'm saving desperately now but I'm not sure I'll pass the affordability checks without a much larger deposit. I also suspect the majority of my super will have to be cashed in to pay off the remaining mortgage so that I'm mortgage free at the point of retirement. Not all banks allow that for an exit strategy though, so with only 15 years max of earnings I will likely be stuck with a more expensive mortgage as well as inly a few banks will lend to a single woman over 50 years old.

The Australian pension is not great, but better than the UK one.

I've recently started a side hustle though which I will continue to do in retirement (because I actually find it a lot of fun!) and hopefully that will top my income up to a more comfortable level. It's not profitable yet, but has great potential, however it requires me to have a decent sized property due to the amount of stock I need to keep on hand.

@OrderOfTheKookaburra in your shoes I would start applying for over 55s council housing now. What is the point in buying? Especially if you are on your own - who knows what the next 20 years has in store for you health-wise? It's not a good point in life to take on a mortgage agreement.

Over 55 housing is easier to get than regular housing and if the worst comes to the worst whatever happens the state will pay your rent via housing benefit if you're not able to.

At the same time I would build up savings and pensions so you can go part time/part year for as many years as you're able to. Then when you're no longer able to, just claim whatever zero income pension benefits are available. For sure it will at least cover your housing and give you enough to live on when you're no longer able to do very much.

This sounds like a great retirement.

And so does this.

@Reddog1 thank you 🙂🤞

Years ago in our younger days we used to pay into everything that would allow us to retire at 55 and live a very comfortable life!
well that’s all gone tits up with how expensive everything is, now past 55 still working and at 55 we took out all our pensions, as they’re not worth much now,so when we retire they’ll be worth even less, and I’d rather enjoy the money now not when I older and not able to do much!
so when we eventually give up work and retire we’ll be living off the government money

There's a huge difference in terms of what you can achieve depending on if you're 50 or 60 thanks to the efforts of compound interest.

If I were in my early 50's I'd be changing from the default fund that my pension provider offers and move to a higher risk fund.

I have moved into a Sharia fund (no problem not being Muslim, I'm not!) because it's returned on average 13.7% per year over the last 5 years. That can make a critical difference compared to the 5% that most funds aim for.

Also, if you're in your early 50's, you've probably still got time to ride out any downturns in the stock market and still come out significantly ahead.

The other advantage of changing funds is that most default funds do the whole "lifestyling" thing where as you get closer to retirement, they move your money into low-risk (low return) funds. This might not be what you want. You might want big returns right into retirement.

Definitely worth googling to see if it can give you the boost you need.

If I'd have known about this stuff years ago, my retirement would look very different. As it sits now, I've switched funds and am increasing my contributions in the hope of making up for lost time.

It is, however, turning into an obsession!

Yes - she can shoo away whoever she pleases. She started the thread for those who don't want to hear the gloaters moaning about how unfortunate they to only be getting £30k a year.... because that can be annoying to listen to.

My pension is worth around £7.5k a year, and I have managed to save up enough to have £10k a year to supplement that, until reaching state pension age at 67.

I will be getting a little minimum wage job in the next couple of months (ie around 2 to 3 days a week) to pay for extras.

We are extremely fortunate in that we have paid off our mortgage.

I'm not thinking our costs will spiral on retiring (as pp mention) because we never put the heating on in the day anyways, and no doubt we'll eat the same amount of food etc.

@leafybrew My point is having a 30K pa pension doesn’t necessarily make you a gloater or well off. So many people are retiring early because of ill health, caring responsibilities etc that may mean whilst they are lucky to have access to a pension they may have significant outgoings .They are just as entitled to be anxious about the future.

I'm the same. Changed jobs too often to build up a decent pension. I love my work and my plan was to keep working. Having been very lucky with my health all my life, since turning 60 I've had a number of non serious health issues. There's now a niggling feeling that I'll be able to keep up this pace for the next x years! My 80 year old colleague has the energy of a 20 year old so I'm channelling him.

With one exception, life expectancy in my family is early 70s so I'm not going to stress about it.

Oh my God - that is like the shittiest financial advisor ever!!!!!

We both have more than that but plan is to retire at 60, spend pension pot, state pension kicks in and have various isas to top it up (inherited mostly) and once they run out downsize or take money out of the house. Dc are all fine financially and buying houses so don't need to consider. Won't be gold plated but we think we can live on £30k a year now mortgage free. Stashing £40k a year away currently

I am woefully uneducated about pensions but have been trying to get my head around it. I'm coming up to 50, single (& no intention of this changing), and privately rent.
From a savings and pension point of view I have - About £40K savings currently, State pension (whatever that will be by the time I retire) and also an NHS pension, which is forecast to give me about 800 per month at the age of 67.
My main concern is where/what I'm going to live in..... Cant really afford to buy - don't think I would be eligible for council housing and absolutely don't want to be paying private rent when I'm retired. So not really sure what I'm gonna be doing when I retire - But then again - I might drop dead tomorrow!!!

@Pixit I'm not really considered a priority for public housing in Australia, and there is very little in my area.

5 years MINIMUM wait for Category 1 priority (and some waiting for 10 years) and I'm nowhere near that category. I'd probably need to go into assisted living by the time I became eligible for a property...lol.

The rental situation in the capital cities is absolutely dire at the moment. The rent I would pay now is probably double what it would have been just 5 years ago.

I'd also rather have a choice in where I live and the type of property I live in so I would prefer to go with the mortgage option. My sons will likely still live with me for the next 10 years - they will struggle with affordability just as much as I will! At the point I become at risk of homelessness I will also be inheriting an amount of money that would give me a decent deposit.

I do have the option of priority access to purchase Affordable Housing, but having seen what is out there I'd be better off buying an older house with a larger block that I can improve (with the help of my builder brother!).

Worst case scenario I have share options with either my best friend or my sister, both also single.

If it becomes desperate, then I would probably apply to a community retirement village. But given the choice I'd rather live in something larger than a tiny one bedroom flat.

I'm 48 and this topic is a constant source of stress. I'm a terrible catastrophiser so often fearing the worst...is it even worth continuing with my occupational pension and perhaps setting up a private one, I sometimes wonder, with some world events going on and there being certain despot leaders planning who knows what?!

I have the grand total of £3K in two pension pots - half in a historical defined benefit pension and the other half in a current people's pension. I got to this position because of a combo of laziness, periods of unemployment, never living with a partner, and mostly low paid jobs.

The good news? I have £5K in savings and I'm on track to get the full state pension, but I don't own a property and can't see myself getting a mortgage - who's going to give a 50 year old a 25 year mortgage? I don't have any debts and am a bit dull, so I usually have about £600 or so to save now I've paid off debts. Thinking of saving half and putting the other half into a SIPP, maybe looking into a shared ownership property next year when I've increased my savings.

My worst fear is not being healthy enough to work as I go past 60. I need to marry a rich man...

I'm 44, self employed so no employer contributions, got 3k in a sipp and just had to stop my monthly contributions (of a grand total of £50) because I don't have enough money and I'm getting into debt by using my credit card for food shopping. My retirement will be non existent. I don't earn enough to get any help, the bills have just risen too much the last few years and theres (less than) nothing left. The future looks bleak.

I also have no savings. At all. I try but it always needs spent on something or other and I need to take it back out. Funnily enough I earn more being self employed than I would in with an employer with my qualifications.

Do you have a mortgage or have it paid off @Gotnothing ? And a state pension in the future?

I do have a mortgage, the house isn't big but I suppose if needs be I could move to a 1 bed flat. On track to get the state pension, if it even exists by that time.

Of course the state pension is going to continue to exist.