Pension fund performance - do you monitor yours, how is it doing, do you actively change it?

Partner isn't sure on how much to increase her % and doesn't get salary sacrifice.

Is putting different amounts per month into her Vanguard SIPP still plausible and let her matched amount just go into her workplace pension.

Funds are so so with Royal London and would ultimately partial transfer every 6 months to a year anyway.
Sure, as long as she claims any tax back above the automatic 20% relief.
 

Quite scary to see that 10% of men above the age of 50 are forced to “retire”, I’m 46 now and with 9 years left of my mortgage if I was to continue paying at the same rate. If I was forced to retire in four years, I would have to drain my personal savings to pay off my mortgage.

That leaving me with nothing to bridge the gap between then and getting my private pension, and then the private pension may not be enough to see through to getting the state pension.

I do have income insurance from work but I’m not sure how that works, and I always did wanted to coast FI to official retirement but all my “plans” was based on paying of my mortgage in the quickest time possibly. Then leaving my high stress role on my terms after I feel financially stable and finding a suitable job somewhere else.
 

Quite scary to see that 10% of men above the age of 50 are forced to “retire”, I’m 46 now and with 9 years left of my mortgage if I was to continue paying at the same rate. If I was forced to retire in four years, I would have to drain my personal savings to pay off my mortgage.

That leaving me with nothing to bridge the gap between then and getting my private pension, and then the private pension may not be enough to see through to getting the state pension.

I do have income insurance from work but I’m not sure how that works, and I always did wanted to coast FI to official retirement but all my “plans” was based on paying of my mortgage in the quickest time possibly. Then leaving my high stress role on my terms after I feel financially stable and finding a suitable job somewhere else.
There's only so much you can do, for some people it all works out perfectly, and for others it all goes horribly wrong. Ill health forced my hand somewhat but luckily I am ok financially to see me through.
Not Gucci belt / private jet ok, but ok none the less, and tbh that's as much as most people can hope for.
 
Quite scary to see that 10% of men above the age of 50 are forced to “retire”, I’m 46 now and with 9 years left of my mortgage if I was to continue paying at the same rate. If I was forced to retire in four years, I would have to drain my personal savings to pay off my mortgage.
I’m surprised it’s as low as 10%. There’s a lot of ageism in the workplace against both men and women. It’s extremely difficult to get a job when you’re over 50 unless you’ve a specialised skill set and even then. I’ve zero sympathy for companies whining about not being able to find staff - what they mean is that they can’t find 25 year olds with 40 years experience who will work for a pittance
 
I’m surprised it’s as low as 10%. There’s a lot of ageism in the workplace against both men and women. It’s extremely difficult to get a job when you’re over 50 unless you’ve a specialised skill set and even then. I’ve zero sympathy for companies whining about not being able to find staff - what they mean is that they can’t find 25 year olds with 40 years experience who will work for a pittance
It’s goes in line with the statistic that most people earn their highest salary between 45 and 55. The 10% doesn’t account for the number of people who have taken lesser paid roles for one reason or another.

The idea that a person will keep getting paid more and more till they retire at the state pension age is just a pipe dream.. very few are lucky enough for that to happen.
 
I’m surprised it’s as low as 10%. There’s a lot of ageism in the workplace against both men and women. It’s extremely difficult to get a job when you’re over 50 unless you’ve a specialised skill set and even then. I’ve zero sympathy for companies whining about not being able to find staff - what they mean is that they can’t find 25 year olds with 40 years experience who will work for a pittance
I’m surprised too. I think this could be industry specific. Certainly in tech and many parts of the engineering sector over 50 you need to have a plan for being made redundant possibly indefinitely.
 
I’m surprised too. I think this could be industry specific. Certainly in tech and many parts of the engineering sector over 50 you need to have a plan for being made redundant possibly indefinitely.
So are we meant to figure out a way to become a C level or start our own company so we can't be discriminated against? :?
 
True but £1.5m invested across all vehicles is not an unreasonable target for someone wanting to drawdown an inflation adjusted 50-60k with a better than even chance of it lasting until they kark it. 50k is not a massive number if its supporting 2 people through retirement if you have been earning 6 figures previously (which I suspect would be the case here).

That's my personal target for retirement at 57, 10 more years to go!

Very similar plan to me. The pension age is rising to 57 anyway and I'd like to finish at 60 at the latest. I've maxed pension contributions and used up all carry forward a while ago. With luck, I'll be able to keep maxing contributions in years ahead.

My pension was all single shares but I'm now moving it into majority trackers with an amount set aside to play "high power day trader" ;) By the end of the year, I will hopefully have little to no mortgage left and by 57, hopefully I'll have a few hundred K plus the pension pot. Sounds like a lot but 10 years down the line and supporting 2 of us plus bank of dad for my children and grandchildren, for fingers crossed 30 years, it won't be winters in the Seychelles and "I only shop in Waitrose" :)
 
Last edited:
I’m surprised too. I think this could be industry specific. Certainly in tech and many parts of the engineering sector over 50 you need to have a plan for being made redundant possibly indefinitely.

And most people in manual jobs will be knackered by their 50’s.

lol I sit at a desk all day writing code, approaching 40 and already knackered and want to retire, been made redundant multiple times.
Need 10 more NI years, so I'm trying to tolerate it to 50 then pack it in.
Bit stressful trying to plan for the gap to 57(or whatever it ends up being at the time) and 68(or whatever it ends up being at the time).
 
Very similar plan to me. The pension age is rising to 57 anyway and I'd like to finish at 60 at the latest. I've maxed pension contributions and used up all carry forward a while ago. With luck, I'll be able to keep maxing contributions in years ahead.

My pension was all single shares but I'm now moving it into majority trackers with an amount set aside to play "high power day trader" ;) By the end of the year, I will hopefully have little to no mortgage left and by 57, hopefully I'll have a few hundred K plus the pension pot. Sounds like a lot but 10 years down the line and supporting 2 of us plus bank of dad for my children and grandchildren, for fingers crossed 30 years, it won't be winters in the Seychelles and "I only shop in Waitrose" :)

Sounds like we're on the same track, my fixed rate is up in August next year and its either extend or pay off depending what the prevailing rates are. I was late starting to take pension contributions seriously but have maxed it for the past 5 or so (plus carryover) and another 10 should see it right. It's split across 2 trackers with a mid-high risk profile. I do use an FA (took one on when I started making some decent money and had no idea what I was doing) but will bin it off soon and take back control myself since a buy and hold strategy doesn't really warrant the expense and that isn't going to change much unless I hit a lottery win or something. They are not that expensive (0.7%) but it does mount up. Overpayed mortgage for the last 8 years at a modest rate but its eaten nicely into the term and whilst rates were low I tried to balance it with saving/investing elsewhere.

A major life lesson I will try to get my kids to understand is the power of compounding and starting your savings early. It's very difficult to take seriously when you are young and need the money for other things but it can massively improve your QoL/reduce anxiety later on.
 
Bit stressful trying to plan for the gap to 57(or whatever it ends up being at the time) and 68(or whatever it ends up being at the time).
Totally get that - I've had enough and really want to quit work - or at least go do something far less stressful that's lower paid just to cover general living costs anyway.

I've got 7 years accounted for but need another 4-5 years money to bridge to 57/58. I'm basically making sure I'm covered for worst case scenario where I suddenly can't work anymore or have medical expenses. In reality I can quit now and get the easier job but I'll never earn this sort of money again - so I'm sticking it out for another year. :)
 
lol I sit at a desk all day writing code, approaching 40 and already knackered and want to retire, been made redundant multiple times.
Need 10 more NI years, so I'm trying to tolerate it to 50 then pack it in.
Bit stressful trying to plan for the gap to 57(or whatever it ends up being at the time) and 68(or whatever it ends up being at the time).
Read into FIRE. If you aren’t familiar with it start with Rebel Finance School. That will help understand the options to make that bridge.
 
Read into FIRE. If you aren’t familiar with it start with Rebel Finance School. That will help understand the options to make that bridge.
Thanks, I've read about FIRE before, I'm pretty much doing it without really planning to, so probably in a good position. Just need to investigate a bit more on calculating when it's safe to retire.
 
And most people in manual jobs will be knackered by their 50’s.
That's what I was thinking when I watched that video last night - what percentage of employment categories is that 10% taken up for? I would speculate it's manual labour type roles would be higher than office roles as an example.
 
Going to generalise and people may not like it but many in office based roles will also be knackered by then. The majority will be obese and have health issues because of that as well as the usual ruined backs etc from sitting too long.

Personally, I get into a state of mind when every convo is a debate or a battle... this is what happens to me when I go into too many meetings. IMO someone comes a long with a bright spark idea to improve xyz that's not been well thought out and then stresses everyone else out trying to explain why it will or won't work. I try to deduce the number of meetings and decision making as much as possible now a days, let someone else decide and I'll just do the tech work required, otherwise I'll be in meetings all day and get nothing done.

I find being mentally knacked worst than being physically knacked... at least I get a good night sleep rather than lying in bed running semantics in my head..
 
And this is why people work until they drop, thinking they need that much :p
How much you need is completely dependent on lifestyle. I have nothing like that amount and stopped work two years ago, in my 50's. Saying that, £1.5-2m isn't going to go very far if he spends half a million a year so you can't give a figure unless he does.
Not a chance in hell I'm getting to that.

I'm on 70-80k now in my pension and house has 140k equity.

Equity release is going to be essential for me.
 
Last edited:
lol I sit at a desk all day writing code, approaching 40 and already knackered and want to retire, been made redundant multiple times.
Need 10 more NI years, so I'm trying to tolerate it to 50 then pack it in.
Bit stressful trying to plan for the gap to 57(or whatever it ends up being at the time) and 68(or whatever it ends up being at the time).

I'm 38 and code from home.
So far I'm doing well with genetic lottery (except mental health).

I hope to wind down at 50 (hopefully 40) to 4 days a week. Then (if world allows) 3 days etc.

I'd rather a gradual wind down and work for longer.
Than work like a fiend and suddenly stop.

Especially if I die before I stop. At least winding down you can have a bit of a semi retirement if you pop it early.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom