Pension pots.. how much is too little?

  • Thread starter Thread starter vkurup
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Honestly speaking I don't have a pension, the costs and poor performance seem to be a waste of money. I have an ISA, that should be unrestricted regarding tax, you have paid income tax and national insurance .. Why should you be taxed on savings? Secondly when is the financial sector going to be castrated, the saving options are tainted by charges, how can you justify a charge that is greater than the interest?
Also you cannot play stocks and shares,you have to use a broker or your charged for transactions ... The doors are shut.
it was suggested to us to put x amount in a pension, when I counted yep if I put that directly into my mortgage I will complete it in 5 years, there was no answer. The simple financial solutions are, don't live beyond your means I.e. that flash car is just wasted money as is the latest apple thing or the new lap top etc... Oh and get rid of your biggest financial burden fast...

I guess my generation is supporting the final salary generation, I also disagree with multi million pound pensions... They aren't needed, divide them up.

Please explain?
 
Well how do you think rates are maintained ? They are maintained by giving lower rates to new investors. Do you honestly think the pittance that was paid in will support you without some outside agent making a contribution ... That outside agent is the next generation. Why are final salary pensions being phased out? Because they cannot be supported.
 
I am astonished at how many of my children's generation have made no provision at all for their old age.
Many think that they will inherit their parents homes and all will be tickety boo.
With my generation now living into their 90's they could be in for a shock.

On the other hand, I had a couple of good friends who made good provision for their old age but unfortunately died before they could claim any.
 
The only thing will inherit is a credit card bill and possibly a care bill, due to some really bad economic policy. Seriously we have some massive issues to deal with, and they are all related to greed.
 
if I had my time again I would invest in property as a pension. Like Hobbit I lost a lot in the crash of 2006.


@Richart, I dont think its about people not knowing about their biggest investment, it's more about understanding as they are very complicated in their make up and easily confuse.
True, but not understanding your pension, means that you don't know how it works. If you are worried about your pension plan get professional advice.

Personally I would go to an Independent Financial adviser ( I would say that wouldn't I ) A lot of people have potentially large investments which they are not getting any advice on. We can all choose the best Cash ISA, but how many people know the best pension plan to take out, or what funds their existing plans should be invested into, when to switch funds, what are their options at their selected retirement date It can be a minefield, and for anyone that is worried about their pension plan(s) it is better to get early advice rather than leaving it to nearer their retirement date. Advisers can charge on an hourly basis, so they can advise on your existing policies without trying to sell you another pension plan, unless you need one of course.; Try and get a recommendation for an adviser if possible. There are some good ones out there.

One piece of advice I will give is if you leave or have left a Company and had joined their pension scheme, keep in touch with the Trustees of the Scheme. If you move, tell them, as they will not hunt you down. An amazing amount of money is left is pension schemes and not claimed. Also Companies get taken over, scheme names change and it can be difficult to track down pensions, especially if Companies go bust. Also if you are not getting statements on a money purchase scheme you have no idea how your plan is performing.

Hope this helps, but as I said before this is just general advice, and not specific to any particular post
 
Lots of good advice already but key points from me:
1. Start a pension as early as you can - and also use ISAs, share accounts and/or property -eggs and baskets etc - but take advantage of the tax benefits of pensions and ISAs - there is virtually no help in other areas
2. Final salary pensions are dead apart from the lucky few. Never transfer any deferred final salary schemes to a new Money Purchase plan
3. Amalgamate all small money purchase pots (apart from ones with a good guaranteed annuity rate) into a SIPP. Check out SIPPDEAL - zero AMC, low share dealing and big rebates on funds. When we changed our GPP at work from Aviva to Scottish Widows, I transferred my pot here rather than SW. You can invest in virtually every mutual fund on the market plus nearly all equities from UK and abroad - I invest in shares rather than funds and favour ones with good yields. You can also invest in commercial property in a SIP but I have not looked into the options - no point with the size of my pot!
http://www.sippdeal.co.uk/default.aspx
4. With annuity rates so low, I would choose income drawdown options and keep the pot invested for as long as possible and certainly until rates normalise. IMHO, we have probably passed the worst for annuity rates but they may not improve in a hurry - 10y money market rates have already spiked since the summer on the expectation that the Fed would end QE - most expected it to start withdrawal in September, but they didn't - I reckon they will probably start in March and end it by the end of next year, but new Fed governor Yellen is proving more doveish than expected and may surprise if economic data does not improve
 
It is an interesting thread seeing as I am 37 and at a point where I should be looking into making sure I can afford to have a good retirement. I am not a financial advisor or some kind of finacial wizkid, but I look at retirement along these lines. First thing first, no matter who you are you are going to have these outgoings a month in the current climate for you and a partner:

Gas, water, Electricity - £150
Council Tax £150
SKY, Broadband, Phone £80
Food £400
TOTAL £780

So going on that if I was to retire today I would need £780 in my hand to make sure that I had a roof over my head, bills paid and food in my belly. So straight away I need to have £9360 in my hand to live comfortably. It then all depends on what you want on top of that. Add some more things for the year:

Golf membership £800
Car insurance £150
Holiday £2000
Golfing expenses £300
Fuel £1000

So now I am up to £13610 a year to live a moderately comfortable life in my retirement. If you round that up to £15000 I think I would be in the right ball park for me to retire today if I had no mortgage to pay. If I was 60 and retiring and lived to 85 then I would need £375000 in the retirement fund to draw from.
 
I retired a couple of years ago. The 4 years prior to that I worked part time/seasonal no brainer jobs which I really enjoyed. So I eased my way in. Many go from hectic jobs to nothing in a day, I would not advise that.
Once retired it is quite surprising how little money you need. Provided of course you bring no debt with you.
Simple things like gardening become more pleasurable as you are not time restricted. We go hill walking at least once a week, keeps you fit and cost's nothing.
You have more time to enjoy cooking and tend to eat much healthier. I also do half a day a week voluntary work.

Planning is the key to a successful retirement. Money is important if you still want the posh holidays and big car.
We both have newish billy basic cars and tend to take half a dozen budget short UK breaks a year.

You need to plan in your happiness as well as your financial future.
 
Some great advice.. esp Ricarht...

Richart.. i agree with you that you gotta look at where the pension pot is invested at a regular basis. How would that work if one is in a company defined contribution schemes. Would somebody like that benefit from going to an IFA? Most pensions do allow you to choose funds, but I am assuming these are limited options.
 
Well how do you think rates are maintained ? They are maintained by giving lower rates to new investors. Do you honestly think the pittance that was paid in will support you without some outside agent making a contribution ... That outside agent is the next generation. Why are final salary pensions being phased out? Because they cannot be supported.

I didn't think anything. I just asked you to explain.
 
Would you consider that suitable for an individual or a couple?

To be honest with no debt there is not a huge difference between single and couple.
As I said earlier our basic household bills [which I would imagine are around average] are nearly £6.5k a year. Say £5.5 for a single.
I would say that you need about £100 a week spending money single [£150 couple] for food, petrol, clothes, leisure, hols etc.
 
Would be interesting to hear what sort of money you need from someone who is retired.

Difficult one this.IT all depends on what you want in retirement.
DfT reckons £15000 min.this is ok IF you`re happy with daytime telly.
If you cannot afford to go out,your home,especialy in winter, can become you`re prison.
You need to get out and going out costs.
A simple thing like two cups of coffee & toasted tea cakes twice a week
will set you back £20 (£1000 yr).
Meal out -visit to the cinema-treat the Grand Children-it all costs.
Bear in mind,when you go out to work 5 days a week you`re making money.
When I go out I`m spending money.
So in the main I agree with DfT,but my minimum would be £20000
I have been retired now for 10 yrs andI can assure you it doesn`t
get any cheaper with age.

If I had my time over again I would not retire until I was made to.
 
This is difficult, still having over 20 yrs still to go, but after reading DfTs' and Teetimes' posts i guess i'am not as worried as i was after reading some of the earlier posts.
We both work full time, so will both be entitled to full basic pension, thats £11,500pa give or take.
Our single largest bill is the mortgage, which will be paid of by the time i'am 60, thats £6,000 based on current payments.
Next comes food. £5,000 at the mo:, get rid of the ofspring, £3,500 ? So another £1500 to the pot.
I have no intention of quiting work completly, so 2 days a week doing what i'am doing now is £6000pa after tax.
So we are already up to £25,000. :cool:
We both have private pensions also, mine a bog standard work based contributary jobby, my wifes a decent nhs one. So when you add these to the pot i guess we're sitting pretty. We're also very lucky.
Lucky that both are in good health.
Lucky enough to both be working.
Lucky enough to own our own home.
I just hope are luck holds out for another 20yrs.:eek:
 
tea time,

It tends to work both ways.
At work there is always extra spending such as lunches, leaving do's etc.

£15k min. would not leave much for holidays etc but loads of things are free and their is plenty to do.
Groups such as Opportunities in Retirement [not sure if they have them in England] offer courses and groups in many areas, photography, rambling, family history, antiques, sports, debating to name a few.
Quite a few of the oldies in my village work part time or volunteer for the Nat. Trust at Culzean Castle, Turnberry, The Burns Centre etc.
Always loads of options for getting oot the hoose for fun or making money.
 
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