Finances and the future - your plans

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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So what are your plans with regards to finances and retirement? How are you saving? Pensions, stocks and shares, property, cash etc? Are you even bothering to save up or are you more concerned with getting a house and settling down with my family first?

I'm 25 and have been thinking about this a lot lately for some reason. I've been working for 3 years now (first proper job after finishing uni, traveling etc). I spent the first couple of years saving solidly and about a year ago I bought a house with my girlfriend. We own ~35% at the moment, the rest we'll be paying off over the next 25 years.

Savings wise I'm putting £100 a month into a S+S ISA which I'm investing in a couple of tracker funds. I'm planning on continuing to pay into this for the next 40 odd years until retirement. I have a pension at work but they're only putting 2% on top of my contributions. I'm not that sold on pensions so I'm only putting in 1% into it so it's barely worth mentioning tbh. But that's it for me in terms of saving for my retirement.

I find it hard to imagine what life would be like in 40 years time so it's tricky to work out how much I need to save! I want to enjoy myself now and I'l be looking to start a family sometime in the near future so obviously that's going to cost a lot too, but then I don't want to be 50 and find out I've got jaff all saved!

Just wondering what other people's views on this are.
 

OpenToSuggestions

OpenToSuggestions

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I would say I live a lot for the future rather than for now. The reasons being:

- I am on the warden team of an undergraduate hall whilst doing my PhD, so I have free rent, bills, some free meals.
- I get paid for my PhD via graduate school (same £ as EPSRC) and each month I have about £600 left and I do go out and do things and spend money.
- Getting a house with a decent mortgage rate needs at least a 10% deposit. This is why I am saving. Renting long term is for mugs.
- I am very unlikely to ever have this much free cash again to spend each month (roughly £850 after food, running the car, mobile phone).

I am 23 years old. To many I am 'a boring old man', but I shall have the last laugh when I can afford a house :). I say all of this with the intention of buying alone btw.
I have an old crappy car as I only use it once a week at most! It is sat in the University carpark 6 days a week.

So I put about £600 per month into a 3% ISA. Not the best thing in the world but it will do. If I continue to save this much I will probably fill my ISA with ease each year, but next year I may not be a warden any more so I will just take it term by term :).

You are wise to plan for the future, even though the future is full of uncertainty. You made a good choice getting a house on mortgage though, renting for years on end is a fantastic way to pee your money up the wall!
 
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Orford

Orford

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One thing is for sure. The state pension will be very different by time your 67. Save as much as you can and make it work as hard as it can for you. If you have a good chunk each month to save, get some professional advice.

I have a work pension and at the very out side 4 inteligent over achiving kids who by time im retired will be looking after me. I call it the european model, they seam to take better care of there elderly family members. ;)

Ive only just opted back into SERPS as its compulsery from April this year. Another goverment pension cut to help the young pay for the old.
 

dannyjo22

dannyjo22

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Orford said:
One thing is for sure. The state pension will be very different by time your 67. Save as much as you can and make it work as hard as it can for you. .
Click to expand...

**** that. Why save as hard as you can for when you are 67, on the off chance your body and mind is still up to much by then. Even then you will be lucky to get 5 years to enjoy all those years of putting money away.

Or you could end up having to go into a home or get help and the government will ponce just about every thing off you to pay for your care.

The worst thing I did was start a private pension at 16. My friends that didn't give damn about the future bought 2nd properties or more, while I've watched my pot get more and more laughable. I've paid in 4% matched from 16 years old til I was 25 and then 6 to 8% depending on where I've been working for the last 12 years. If I carry that on til retirement I still won't be getting as much as friends with no pension will be getting renting properties or selling them to compare pots.

I ****ed up tbh.
 

paradisiac

paradisiac

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mpledge52 said:
Are you even bothering to save up or are you more concerned with getting a house and settling down with my family first?
Click to expand...

I don't know your family, so I for one am not planning to settle down with them :p

seriously though, I struggle to pay my bills as it is, without having enough spare to put aside for the future :(
 

D.P.

D.P.

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Every-time I put any money into an investment, even choosing secure safe options with low risk I have lost 50-90% of the value.
 

Orford

Orford

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Dam keep forgetting to quote.

@ Dannyjo22

Very true, I`m not saying live like a tight git, but some savings are better than none. For those that cannot afford multiple propertise. If your lucky enough to be putting what you would have paid into a pension each month onto a second or third mortgage then hell yeh bricks and mortar is the future.

I have a 6% pension, Though my investment in phone contracts, laptops, ipods, clothes, concerts, pocket money and soon to be collage and Uni dosn`t pay off ill be ****ed. Heres hoping I brought them up right.

It all depends what you/we have and who/what wants it the most/first. Delete as applicable.
 
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piggeh

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Until I started my job in July I had no plans for pensions, etc. My pension contribution now though is £200 a month (hefty). I have some savings, but really I need to buy a house sooner rather than later. I might pull out of the pension scheme to save a deposit, then go back into it.

I may start a small portfolio of shares on some solid companies and some riskier ventures, and see how I do. Always enjoyed share markets :)

I would think I may move abroad at some point, maybe even at retirement if I have no family to worry about, as it would be cheaper to live abroad so the pension would be less of an issue.
 

Minxy

Minxy

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All the money I have been saving I have been using to pay off chunks of my mortgage. I'm hoping this will get paid off altogether within a reasonable time. Once that is done then I can start saving properly for my retirement. My OH is already doing this. He has a pension, I used to have one but don't anymore since my priority has been hanging onto my property since I split with my previous partner.

I do have another savings account that I've had since I was a nipper. It's not changed much in recent years but it's sat there should I need it.
 

daver

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I have a small pension from when I worked for HMRC but I don't have one at my current job, I could join but the company only pays 1% in employer contributions. At the moment I have been saving up for my flat and I have about 50K for that, Once i have completed, apart from a rainy day fund I will probably use any surplus in the future to overpay on my mortgage.
 

Richie

Richie

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I have to wonder about the logic of people's thinking whereby they are effectively saying "the country will be screwed in 40 years time so I am not wasting time putting into a pension".... Has it crossed their minds that NOT planning to provide for your old age makes this a self fulfilling prophecy....
 
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