I worked for Nat West Bank for 7.5 years and then the Civil Service for approx the same number of years. The Nat West pension pays slightly more than the Civil Service.
My wife had 35 years in the Civil Service and her pension is, should we say generous.
So what’s your take on it Franglais? Would you recommend a pension now?
I am not a qualified advisor and do not know all of your personal circumstances.
But generally
In the UK pensioners will not starve, but the state pension will not be enough for a comfortable retirement for most of them. That is highly unlikely to change under any party. We all need to look out for our own future needs and wants.
All (or almost all) companies need to provide work place pensions by law.
This is, in under 2 minutes, why they work for the vast majority of people.
It is free money.
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I had a a work place pension from a company before they were compulsory and chose to top that up with extra money. I do not regret that choice. Not at all.
The earlier you pay into a pension the better. That is true.
But that does mean there is ever a stage when it becomes useless to pay into one. It is IMHO never too late to start one.
It is free money.
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An independent Financial Advisor make sure they are approved by the UK FCA will cost money, but they will likely be worth the expanse. Financial Services Register | FCA
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If your company is one of the rare ones that will match any contributions from you above the minimum then try hard to afford that. It is even more…
Free money.
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From what you say it will be decades before you need to decide whether you want to use your pot to buy an annuity, draw down , or invest in Ferraris and race horses. Worry about that then. The goal posts may have moved by than anyway. Concentrate for the moment on getting a decent pot built up.
For the moment, get some professional advice but unless there are very exceptional circumstances do not opt out of any schemes offered.
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Like giving up smoking, or starting a diet, it is never too late to start. It would have been better to have started earlier, but outside of the movies, that is not an option.
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My comments to Ade hold true.
The NHS and other Gov pension schemes being offered to new employees are not as good as they were decades ago, but they are still better than most private company schemes.
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Pensioners ? let’s talk money. Mrs GOM is paid a reduced state pension because of her NI contributions when she did work, I am paid the normal state pension, our monthly JOINT income is £1600 ish, This amount is moderately supplemented by the annuity from my private pension.
We have no debt, we own our home (no mortgage), we run a Jaguar car. The triple lock state pension mean we are quite comfortable…for now. It’s anybodys guess what will happen in the future re the state pension and the retirement age so I still strongly advocate…GET A DECENT CONTRIBUTORY PRIVATE PENSION
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I would certainly agree get a pension extra to the State one. 100%
The current system means that an employer is obliged to give employees extra funds in a work place pension (free money) that is not true in all private schemes.
You have previously said that independent advice is the way to go and I agree with that too.
I suggest to @md1987 to read the MSE site about pensions first. That way he will get a background on what pensions are about so will get best value from talking to a pension advisor. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/discount-pensions/
For @md1987
£80 from your pay, gets £100 invested into an approved private pension pot in your name
£80 from your pay, gets £160 invested in your pot if part of a workplace scheme.
It must be truly exceptional for that to not be the best deal available to you.
How you use your pot when you get to retire is another choice, but for now, make sure you get as much saved as you reasonably can.
Why not get your company and the taxman to double what you save?
Got to echo what has been said re pensions, never too late to start etc.
on the subject of IFA please do not use one from a bank as they can only provide the bank’s products, make sure they are independent.
In my experience good advice usually costs money but is well worth it.
I’d also check previous employment , wife did for me & found 3 pensions I’d forgot all about I had , though 1 has recently contacted me to be honest
None are big pensions but any additional pension is helpful , I believe wife found 2 she’d forgot about from donkeys years ago
Pension wise I also took out 20 bonds years ago ( much to the bemusement of the nationwide lady ) & you’d be suprised what’s in each one ( I reinvested yearly in most ) , so that’s additional income for 20 yrs from when we retire , on top of goverment , company / private pensions .
Yes franglais , I believe there’s a 1995 , 2006 & 2015 nhs pension , wife has got 1995 one which is very good , she’s returned to work ( no idea why , though shorter days / hours, she’s pushing hard for us both to retire ) & again I believe she’s been enrolled in 2015 scheme .
I assume daughter ( nurse ) will be in 2015 scheme , she’s not bothered though , as an only child she inherits the lot , so won’t have any worries about retirement I’d of thought .
Good point.
The Gov has a free service to help anyone do a search on previous pensions.
It is often a good idea to consolidate smaller pensions together to keep any admin costs down and make it easier to manage them, but an approved Financial Advisor will give the best advice about that.
A close relative started NHS nursing in the late 1970’s and worked right through to retirement. She is not rich, but the pension is better than newly enrolled nurses will get, and better than most private companies offered at any time.