Personal pensions - Do you pay into one?

[LukeD]

I have a pension with the NHS, but it is small and not enough. Now I am self employed its time I thought about a personal pension. I have just started paying into one, Vanguard target retirement fund.

I just wondered if those of you who are self employed pay into a personal pension, and if so which one have you chosen and why?

With the Vanguard, it had a reasonable management charges and platform fees and had performed well for quite a few years. Having no other knowledge about pensions that was all i had to go on. However, you can open as many pensions as you like, so I thought I'd ask on here and see what you guys do?

I dont waste my time . A client did the maths years ago and said that unless a 35 year old is paying in £1k a month its not going to be worth it .let alone the risks of the money going missing

 

[DPG]

I dont waste my time . A client did the maths years ago and said that unless a 35 year old is paying in £1k a month its not going to be worth it .let alone the risks of the money going missing

Depends on how much you want out of it really. If someone pays £1000 from age 35 to age 68 and gets a decent growth rate, then that's a pretty reasonable pension pot. Combine that with state pension, part time job and maybe other savings/property income then you could do OK. You won't have a mortgage to pay by then all being well.

And don't forget things are more flexible now. You aren't forced to buy an annuity for the whole pot. There are options to take a percentage as a lump sum. And you have a much wider choice of how old you are when you cash it in.

 

[LukeD]

A 35 year old paying a mortgage and £1k a month sure is going to earning a lot ! factor in a family etc then they might need at least £5 a month to make it easy enough . Thats one large income .

 

[DPG]

A 35 year old paying a mortgage and £1k a month sure is going to earning a lot ! factor in a family etc then they might need at least £5 a month to make it easy enough . Thats one large income .

Indeed. And I pay nowhere near that. I suspect whoever said you would need to pay that much in either got their sums wrong or was wanting very opulent retirement.

 

[LukeD]

Indeed. And I pay nowhere near that. I suspect whoever said you would need to pay that much in either got their sums wrong or was wanting very opulent retirement.

Comfortable I would imagine .

 

[DPG]

Comfortable I would imagine .

Very.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I was always told that you were better off starting a pension fund when you were young and paying in little and often.

I wouldn’t have the spare cash now to be ploughing in a grand a month

how many youngsters today are starting a private pension fund I wonder ? I bet it’s not manyn

 

[DPG]

I was always told that you were better off starting a pension fund when you were young and paying in little and often.

I wouldn’t have the spare cash now to be ploughing in a grand a month

how many youngsters today are starting a private pension fund I wonder ? I bet it’s not manyn

Absolutely. The benefits of starting one younger are huge. The longer you leave it the harder it is to build that pot up.

 

[Zerax]

Absolutely. The benefits of starting one younger are huge. The longer you leave it the harder it is to build that pot up.

Totally agree... I'd say it was vital for all youngsters to allocate a certain %age of their pay to a pension... and stick to it !! There are all sorts of pension arrangements you can make these days, there's really no excuse for not making provision for your own old age.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

If you are on the books you have to manually opt out as the employer has to auto enrol you. And contribute i think minimum of 3% of your salary into it.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

If you are coming upto retirement age now. You could work part time doing eicrs and make a nice amount. Not huge sums but certainly supplement any state or private pension.
That said i know an old guy who took a job in waitrose on the tills for 20 hours a week. Loves it. Pay isnt too bad considering and he gets discount so his wife is happy

 

[andyb]

I am worried Rishi Sunak is talking about raiding the state pension pot to help pay for this bloody mess we are in.

There is no pension pot to raid, the state pension is paid from taxes.
It's been reported that he's considering reducing the lifetime allowance to £800K, probably doesn't concern anyone here. Or, reducing the higher rate tax allowance from 40% to 20%, long overdue IMO, or introducing an employer's tax on pension contributions.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I also think people of our generation want a much more lavish retirement? So will have to make provision for it personally?

when I think back to my grandparents their retirement was very very different, they lived in an old bedsit council flat, they had no car and never went on holiday. They both drew a state pension, neither had any private income. I still remember vividly they had an old biscuit tin under the bed stuffed full of five and ten pound notes my grandfather saved up. They both lived off this cash until they eventually both died. They had nothing in the way of assets other than the old furniture in the flat and the tv. Even their washing machine was rented from the council.

 

[DPG]

I also think people of our generation want a much more lavish retirement? So will have to make provision for it personally?

when I think back to my grandparents their retirement was very very different, they lived in an old bedsit council flat, they had no car and never went on holiday. They both drew a state pension, neither had any private income. I still remember vividly they had an old biscuit tin under the bed stuffed full of five and ten pound notes my grandfather saved up. They both lived off this cash until they eventually both died. They had nothing in the way of assets other than the old furniture in the flat and the tv. Even their washing machine was rented from the council.

Absolutely. A lot of people these days aren't content unless they have the latest stuff and 3 foreign holidays year.

And don't forget, the pension system was fine back then, when a lot of people didn't live much longer than retirement age. But with healthier lifestyles and better healthcare/treatments etc it's not at all uncommon to live into your 90s now.

 

[i=p/u]

Watever will be will be, and probably never stop working til ya clunk it. I dont worry about this stuff.
And why most people opt out is cause the minimum wage is low enough never mind another 30 comming out per week... was stupid move to say we've fixed a problem but ya can opt out..