Poll: Pensions - Are you worried about the future?

How much is in your pension pot?

  • <£20k

    Votes: 69 20.6%

  • £21k - £30k

    Votes: 11 3.3%

  • £31k - £40k

    Votes: 15 4.5%

  • £41k+

    Votes: 168 50.1%

  • No clue

    Votes: 72 21.5%
  • Total voters
    335
Currently in a defined benefit pension (civil service), so no 'pot' per se. The equivalency they provide state that for every 5.45% I put in, they put in the equivalent of 27.9%.

It's still a fantastic scheme but it's retirement age is 68 now and you get hugely penalised for taking it earlier.

I'd get 80% of my annual salary if I took it at 68, with a decent lump sum. Take it at 65 and it's more like 50%. If I took it at 60, its around 33% of my income, with no lump sum.
 
Currently paying £4k p/m into mine via salary sacrifice. The poll is somewhat meaningless as everyone has different retirement goals (i.e. when they want to retire, and what they want to do in retirement), and of course everyone has variable ages so will therefore have significant differences in the amount saved.
 
PureAppleJuice said:
Currently paying £4k p/m into mine via salary sacrifice. The poll is somewhat meaningless as everyone has different retirement goals (i.e. when they want to retire, and what they want to do in retirement), and of course everyone has variable ages so will therefore have significant differences in the amount saved.
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Won't that put you over the annual allowance, unless you have allowance still available from previous 3 years?

After many years of putting minimal amounts in mine I woke up about 5 years ago and starting increasing contributions to the point I hit the annual allowance now. At 45 I am still worried about there being enough in the pot when I get to my preferred retirement age (58) but nothing to do other than keep piling the money in at this point! If I could go back and tell my younger self to take this more seriously I would do, even a few quid extra mounts up over many many years and the amounts needed to recover it later are significant.
 
Brok said:
Won't that put you over the annual allowance, unless you have allowance still available from previous 3 years?

After many years of putting minimal amounts in mine I woke up about 5 years ago and starting increasing contributions to the point I hit the annual allowance now. At 45 I am still worried about there being enough in the pot when I get to my preferred retirement age (58) but nothing to do other than keep piling the money in at this point! If I could go back and tell my younger self to take this more seriously I would do, even a few quid extra mounts up over many many years and the amounts needed to recover it later are significant.
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Yes, using up unused previous years' allowances.
 
1. Pensions are a long term investment.
2. Interest rates are on the rise. Good news for investments.
3. Funds invest worldwide and are not reliant on a single countries markets.
4. As 1. Markets go up as well as down.
 
Just over £60k in my pot. Approx 25yrs until I'd like to retire, although tbh I think retirement in the traditional sense will not be feasible for many of us. I imagine i'll need to continue working at least 1 day a week well into my 70s, or until incapable.

To that end, it probably makes more sense to 'invest' in your own long term health.
 
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Tom_ed1987 said:
Just over £60k in my pot. Approx 25yrs until I'd like to retire, although tbh I think retirement in the traditional sense will not be feasible for many of us. I imagine i'll need to continue working at least 1 day a week well into my 70s, or until incapable.

To that end, it probably makes more sense to 'invest' in your own long term health.
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The problem with working whilst drawing a pension is that you get rinsed for tax. Aweful system.
 
i have no clue what is in my pension pot..... My current job does not allow pensions although i am allowed to pay voluntary national insurance which i do (due to how i am paid - its complicated but i get a lump sum at the end of my contract which i should then put in a pension)..

my old job i have 19 years in a final salary pension, with is 19/60 of my pay at the point i left (linked to "inflation" (note "inflation" not actual inflation) payable at 60. what that is worth in terms of the amount in the pension pot i have no clue.
 
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200sols said:
You get tax relief when you pay into the pension though.
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For sure, but you'll see a lot of folk on here have very small pots to start with, and plan to work a day a week. That day a week will probably be taxed at basic rate meaning it is more like 2 days to get close to what they need (anecdotally).
 
My pension pot is terrible, I could pay in more but lets be honest. Unless you got stupid money coming in to be able to put a decent amount in, By the time i reach pension age which will most likely go up two or three times again by then it still wont be enough to actually retire comfortably on.

Unless i find a good job that i could substantially increase my pension with, I'm not really thinking about it to be honest id rather live for today while i still can.
OR hope i win the lotto but what's the chances of that. :cry:
 
dLockers said:
For sure, but you'll see a lot of folk on here have very small pots to start with, and plan to work a day a week. That day a week will probably be taxed at basic rate meaning it is more like 2 days to get close to what they need (anecdotally).
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If your pension and state pension takes you over the tax allowance 12500ish? per annum then yes you pay 20% on all earned income, if not, you won't.
 
As long as I get a house paid off, I should live comfortably with my current pension and (hopefully) a new pension I'll start soon.

Or if I stay in my current job for another 7 years I'll probably be OK, with both that and state pension.
 
Similar to DantheMan, Civil Service pension - although I've got a lot of years banked in the old scheme which I can take at 60 as well as the new scheme that pays out at 67/68(?). No real worries as I'll be getting at least 50% of my final salary, plus a lump sum. In theory pension scheme not at risk of market instability as there's no pension fund, it's paid directly from taxation.
 
Non- contributory military pension which pays a defined amount based on final rank and length of service as soon as I leave. I consider myself incredibly lucky with this as I knew nothing about it all or pensions in general when I joined up just before my 18th birthday and have never paid into a private one.
 
I'm only 29 so I've got time for mine to recover. Father in law was meant to retire in a few months so I'm a bit concerned for him he might have to delay that for a bit
 
I had a pension. But thanks to Liz it's now well on its way to being wiped out.
 
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