Pensions - Do you have one?

[afraser2k]

Other than the state pension has anyone decided to go for a private or company pension? Not that I'm too clued up on them I think I'll get the state pension plus one from my work.

University of Glasgow's is still a final salary scheme although worth slightly less than when I first joined it although I'll now have to retire at 67 before I get it when previously it was 65.

When I first joined (the pension) at 21 I wasn't too bothered about pensions but now that I'm nearing 30 (next year ) I'm now glad I did. We're supposed to pay 40 years into it so I could take early retirement at 61 from what I understand.

So what's everyone elses position if they don't mind me asking?

 

[afraser2k]

Well if I decided to retire at 55 the most likely reason was that if the university offered a lump sum to get rid of me, which they usually do to get rid of higher grade staff. This happened with my boss who received a £12K/yr pension plus a lump sum in the region of £35,000 and thanks to him having paid off his mortgage he hasn't had to touch it so is living a reasonable life now.

When cash flow improves I plan on investing in an ISA as they seem to be a decent option. Housing just seems risky to me as knowing my luck the market will crash when I want to retire.

 

[afraser2k]

If the Glasgow scheme is the USS (University Superannuation Scheme) then I strongly reccommend that you join up - if only for the reason that the Uni will contribute 14% of your wage before tax to the scheme, you contribute 6.35% . There are very few employers who will give you 14% per month tax free to live on when you retire - even if the value of the pension doesn't go up that much it's still 14% of your salary that you wouldn't have otherwise (and if you work out what 14% of your wage is, imagine trying to save that amount per month into a savings account!)

I've been a member of the scheme for eight years so far. Editted my original post to make it clearer.

I wanted to see if it's true that a lot more younger people aren't too bothered about pensions.