How much do you put in your pension?

[mudskipper]

I'm impressed how much you lot are putting in - £1-2k per month!

Historically if a permie is putting in say £3k per year they DO end up with a pension at the end (plus state pension). Are you putting in much more purely because your standard of living is higher and you're used to a much higher income?

Historically, permies got final salary schemes. These are few and far between these days. I don't suppose most permies have a clue how little their pension is worth. I'm much happier now I've got a SIPP and feel relatively in control- which motivates me to save more.

[Fred Bloggs]

Not if you don't know what "drawdown" means, which I imagine is what he was asking!

Well, it is pretty obvious, IMO. But none the less, places like HL have really good guides on this. Google is your friend in this case.

[Fred Bloggs]

Doesn't whether or not our partners have a pension and how much they putting have a massive impact on what we should be doing? No-one seems to have mentioned it.

Only that both should have pensions to use to the maximum the tax free and basic rate allowances in retirement. Few couples will achieve that though IMO.

[ASB]

Historically, permies got final salary schemes. These are few and far between these days. I don't suppose most permies have a clue how little their pension is worth. I'm much happier now I've got a SIPP and feel relatively in control- which motivates me to save more.

My employer closed their final salary schemes and moved all to money purchase to be fair it was a decent deal with lots of top ups etc so that the initial pot was capable of buying pension already earned. However going forwards it seems likely that the "new" money won't buy as much benefit - though they get additional employer contributions that are supposed to bridge the gap (I don't could only ever do money purchase).

What a number of my colleagues find absolutely staggering is the size of the pot they now have. The had absolutely no clue as to how much their final salary schemes were worth and would need in order to provide that benefit on the open market.

[Fred Bloggs]

Historically, permies got final salary schemes. These are few and far between these days. I don't suppose most permies have a clue how little their pension is worth. I'm much happier now I've got a SIPP and feel relatively in control- which motivates me to save more.

Yes, I have about £18k a year benefit in two deferred pensions. At the moment my SIPP is worth about another £10k in flexible drawdown, taking only dividend income from the pot. It is rarely worth cashing in a final salary pension for a SIPP. But I know a brave soul who had 30 years in the BP final salary fund, drew it all out into a SIPP in around 2008 and has probably 2x or 3x the original sum invested now. Brave or foolhardy? The jury is out but I wouldn't have done it.

[ChimpMaster]

Never bothered with pensions because you need a huge amount just to get £25,000 a year at retirement; annuity rates suck and I doubt they'll achieve the oft touted 6% return.

Plus your money needs to be tucked away until you're 55 and all that time it's out of your control, unless you have the time and are savvy enough to go the SIPP route. My cousin recently bought a commercial property in his SIPP, so it can be done.

When you die, a % of your pot passes to the spouse but after she's gone then it's all gone.

And no one will trust pensions now that the Tories have their dirty evil eyes all over them. They will eventually rape them - it's just too tempting.

Better to invest yourselves if you can.

So I have nothing in pensions. Or I lie, I have around 40k from ancient permie jobs, which apparently will give me something like £200/year income at 55

I have property that will pay itself off and eventually (hopefully) bring in around £7,000/month at today's value, which will be OK. The taxman is doing his best to rape property investments, so one needs to be careful.

Aside from that, I have nothing planned.

[b0redom]

A single property bringing in £7k/month? Is that a commerical or residential?

[I just need to test it]

Doesn't whether or not our partners have a pension and how much they putting have a massive impact on what we should be doing? No-one seems to have mentioned it.

True. My wife is reasonably well-set. Mortgage paid off years back, she's been maxing her ISA contributions ever since. Her pension is on target to pay 25K per annum, with her ISA as backup.

By the time I am 58 I will have paid off the mortgage on my rental property, so that gives me flexibility until my pension starts to pay out.

Wifey faces the same age-old problem of "how much is enough?". She's got a stressful job but is scared of ever being short of cash. I can see her keeping going until her health packs in.

[SueEllen]

A single property bringing in £7k/month? Is that a commerical or residential?

You can only buy commercial property in pensions.

And why do you think shops are always on about asking their landlords to reduce rents?

[SueEllen]

Historically, permies got final salary schemes. These are few and far between these days. I don't suppose most permies have a clue how little their pension is worth. .

It doesn't help that they lie about the interest you will get on the predictions.