How much do you save in your pension each month?

[expat]

Yes having to wait for your pot at 55 is not such an issue when you are 54.

However, imagine paying into a pot for 20 years and being 40 now.

You might want/need that pot, maybe you've fallen on hard times and your house is going to be repossessed or your children have cancer and need to be treated in the USA on a wonder drug that's going to cost £100K, or you want to emigrate and property prices are rock bottom and you could buy a beachside property if you had that cash or a business opportunity with a family member or friend etc etc.

Sorry, locking up money like that for 40 years is madness.

"You might want/need that pot". That is indeed a very good point. You shouldn't lock up money that you might need.

Save (short- or long-term) what you might need. Put the rest into a pension. Not some "pension fund", but a SIPP that you yourself control intelligently.

That doesn't mean that you should look at all your income and say "I might need that". For all you know, you might "need" twice your income.

[GreenerGrass]

It's not mandatory to lose money in a SIPP, you won't have lost anything in the last year if you moved into cash, gold, absolute return bond funds etc. You just have to do your own research and take your own decisions as you would with any investment.
At least you have more flexibility in a SIPP than an older style personal pension to dabble in all sorts of funds and asset classes.

Take 25% out at 55, draw a pension at 55, and make sure the missus still gets money if you peg it early. Then you should claw most of it back one way or another. If you die before retirement or just after then there won't have been much point in saving anything anyway - apart from for your kids.
The IR35 thing with company contributions is another big plus.

But I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket, deffo max out ISAs and pick up some property as well in the next decade or two.
In all of the above it is obviously best to accumulate in a bear market.

[expat]

(1) It's not mandatory to lose money in a SIPP, you won't have lost anything in the last year if you moved into cash, gold, absolute return bond funds etc. You just have to do your own research and (2) take your own decisions as you would with any investment.
At least (3) you have more flexibility in a SIPP than an older style personal pension to dabble in all sorts of funds and asset classes.

(4) Take 25% out at 55, (5) draw a pension at 55, and make sure the missus still gets money if you peg it early (I suggest drawdown not annuity). (6) Then you should claw most of it back one way or another. If you die before retirement or just after then there won't have been much point in saving anything anyway - apart from for your kids.
(7) The IR35 thing with company contributions is another big plus.

(8) But I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket, deffo max out ISAs and pick up some property as well in the next decade or two.
(9) In all of the above it is obviously best to accumulate in a bear market.

All good points.

[Andy2]

Now then, I'll try to explain...........

I have been buying income unit trusts for quite sometime in my SIPP, a £1k per month investment. A while ago the trusts were paying about 4% income into my SIPP, rolling up. The capital value today is about 25% less than it was. But......... I'm still getting the same income payments rolling up into my SIPP on those investments each year. The capital value is irrelevant for now. It's only an actual loss if you realise it.
.

Could you please share which investment trusts pay 4% income ?

[Fred Bloggs]

Could you please share which investment trusts pay 4% income ?

I invest in Unit Trusts as opposed to Investment Trusts. Take a look at Hargreaves Lansdown website, most of what you need is there. For Income Units Trusts data also Google for "Principal Investment Management White List" something like that........... HTH.