Pension

[Former_Antelopee]

I have 8k in two pension pots. One's an old work place pension and the others the current one. The current one I've recently changed to lower be contribution to 5% as upto now it's been 10% and I do plan on increasing again once I've got rid of my credit card.
What investment risk do you guys put? I did have mine on medium risk but changed to high risk last week. I can't seem to figure out or not even sure I can change my old workplace pension to a different risk as I'd rather than being high risk since no more is being paid in and keep my current one at a lower risk.

 

[justbeingnosy98]

What age do people want to retire at? I’m hoping by 60 which yes is very unlikely nowadays.

I’m hoping 60 too, only 30 more years of work to go..!!!

I’m upping my pension contribution next month to bring it to 20% contributions between me and my employer because of this thread. It’s so good to talk about these things but I find it hard to with my friends!

 

[Megansnarkle]

I have three pots - an old work pension I moved to Nutmeg as I wasn't happy with it I the scheme it was in, I have a current work pension which I'm happy with and then a LISA for the pension benefits (rather than first time buyer benefits). I got a bit scared about six months or so ago about my pension pot and so I've been putting as much money in as possible.

The first thing to do would be to not look at reviews but rather performance, you should be able to download information about how the fund is performing. Then you can start to look at others and compare.

 

[katyazamo]

I've got a bit of a daft question and hoping someone can answer!

I pay in 5% and employer pays 3%, so the mandatory 8%. Not enough, given the half your age rule! What's the best way to go about contributing more? Should I ask my employer to bump up my contributions to, for example, 8%, and try and negotiate for them to increase theirs to 5%? Or should I just set up a monthly direct debit that comes out of my net pay? I know it's better to do it so it comes out pre-tax but my employer are pretty stingy sadly.

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

You can’t change your work pension. You have to go with the provider they pick or you lose the company contribution.
However you can always open a private pension

 

[Saddlesoap]

I have three pots - an old work pension I moved to Nutmeg as I wasn't happy with it I the scheme it was in, I have a current work pension which I'm happy with and then a LISA for the pension benefits (rather than first time buyer benefits). I got a bit scared about six months or so ago about my pension pot and so I've been putting as much money in as possible.

The first thing to do would be to not look at reviews but rather performance, you should be able to download information about how the fund is performing. Then you can start to look at others and compare.

So my workplace pension has £5600 and it's been open 6 years. No idea if that's good or not?! Doesn't sound it.

Oh I will look at Nutmeg cos I have a stocks and shares ISA with them already.

 

[Megansnarkle]

So my workplace pension has £5600 and it's been open 6 years. No idea if that's good or not?! Doesn't sound it.

Oh I will look at Nutmeg cos I have a stocks and shares ISA with them already.

A lot depends on how much you have put in. You should be able to find a percentage figure which tells you how much the fund has grown (or shrunk) each year. Nutmeg perform pretty well.

The best way to up your contribution is to increase it by a percentage point or two each time your pay gets increased, that way hopefully you don't notice the hit.

 

[OhMyGaad]

I have an NHS pension that I’ve had for the last 5 years - I started paying in as soon as I qualified as a nurse at 21. I’m now band 7 and contribute 9.3%, whilst I believe the NHS contributes 20%
It’s a great pension scheme compared to others and I feel very lucky to work in the NHS. The only downside is it is linked to state pension age, so I won’t be able to get it until I’m at least 68 (if not older!) so I’ve started saving money in a LISA - the idea is for me to save a lump sum that I can access when I am 60 so I can afford to work part time for the last few years until I get my pension

A few of my colleagues in their 20s like me have opted out of their pension as they’d rather have the money now… I’ve tried telling them how important it is and it’s the best free money they’ll ever have but they just don’t listen!

I didn't realise the employer contributed so much. I thought they matched the contribution? That sounds like a good idea with the LISA. I will do the same. Who did you open with?

 

[rainbowlemon]

When you select a high-risk investment option, your pension money is invested in assets like stocks, which tend to offer higher returns over the long term, but this can also fluctuate more in the short term. While it might seem like the amount hasn’t changed, the performance of your investments directly impacts the value of your pension pot over time. If markets are down when you need the money, it could reduce the total amount available.

Low-Risk tends to include cash funds and bonds.

 

[Definitelyme]

I need to start my private pension, which I will do when maternity leave ends. I had been planning to anyway, but got a pension statement through from my employer and it’s laughable what I’ve had put away in 10 years. My husband has a private pension as he is self employed, and our financial man always recommends Virgin pensions, or Aviva.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

The one thing life has shown me is by pension age you stop worrying. You aren't interested in having a new fitted kitchen or the latest gadgets and you end up spending less money. You spend more time appreciating things that don't cost a lot like gardening. All you want is a daily conversation, family and friends visiting and the odd day out. That's if you're lucky enough to reach that age.

My in laws are retired and spend money like water. Their house is all recently done up, they go on multiple holidays a year, day trips, mil loves shopping, they pay a ridiculous amount for Sky tv, they may not have the latest iPhones or gadgets but they certainly like to spend and experience things, within their means of course. They are boomers (nice ones) who have done well with their investments and managed to retire relatively young in their mid/late 60’s. I do get where you’re coming from though. I’d imagine most of us youngsters will be working until at least 75. I’ve been a sahm for a few years now, just starting to think about finding work, so I reckon I’m completely fucked as I’ll be only working part time anyway. I might look into a private pension if I can afford it. My partner has his work place pension but the predicted amount doesn’t look great, although they have different funds you can choose to invest in, some higher risk than others, and he wouldn’t lose the workplace contribution for switching around as its all under the company scheme. So that’s something I need to get him to look into as he’s on the one they put everyone on automatically which is relatively safe but low returns.

I only really started worrying about this kind of thing a couple of years ago (I’m 30). I really wish I was more informed/bothered about this stuff from a younger age.

 

[tagliatelle]

I’ve read through a bit of this thread and I just want to say that even if you are contributing to your workplace pension post-tax, you are getting basic rate tax relief added to your pension fund by the provider. If you’re a higher rate tax payer, you should either add it to your self assessment or write to HMRC to inform them how much you contributed in the last tax year. You’ll receive a refund. The only things you lose are the NI contributions you made on that bit of your pension, and student loan — ie if you’re repaying student loan and you have a salary sacrifice scheme, you pay less.

 

[Saddlesoap]

I have a stocks and shares ISA and I've made £59 profit on £1k since Feb. Pretty happy

Overall I'm still a bit undecided about what to do. I think I should open a private pension. Can anyone recommend a company?

 

[JoeBloggs]

I’m 31, self employed with no pension. I know I need to look into it but I just don’t know what to do. To get any decent pension you need £200,000 at retirement and I just can’t see that happening without losing most of my wages.

My family who are very good with money have told me not to worry as I will inherit the estate as an only child but I still worry.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

I’ve been thinking about a LISA. I was wondering about an s&s LISA to save for when I’m 60. Seems moneybox do one that seems fairly easy to manage.

I have a s&s isa but no real serious investments in it yet. I put a small amount in to get my head around trading a bit.

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Markets have been shite the last 3 years so everyone who was in "growth" (risky) assets in 2020 would've suffered deep losses that year, and when the markets subsequently rebounded, would be just breaking even, and it's not been great since then either, with ups followed by downs in the stock markets. I'm not sure how long you've been invested, but I'd say flat returns are what you'd expect to risk assets in the last 3 years. Safety assets haven't done any better -- bonds got fucked up in 2022 after the disastrous Liz Truss budget and it's been a mess since then. Cash has done better than expected due to higher interest rates, but with rates recently coming down we can kiss that goodbye as well.

I only changed it to high risk this year I think in April. My investment overview shows this so I think it's doing well if I understand it right but I may not be I

 

[Former_Antelopee]

I have a pension question wondering if someone can help me understand. So my total is the amount I've put in and the company as well. I've selected high risk investment for now and it is doing well over the year but why does this matter and when would it show as the amount in there doesn't change depending on it?

 

[HoGi]

I have an NHS pension that I’ve had for the last 5 years - I started paying in as soon as I qualified as a nurse at 21. I’m now band 7 and contribute 9.3%, whilst I believe the NHS contributes 20%
It’s a great pension scheme compared to others and I feel very lucky to work in the NHS. The only downside is it is linked to state pension age, so I won’t be able to get it until I’m at least 68 (if not older!) so I’ve started saving money in a LISA - the idea is for me to save a lump sum that I can access when I am 60 so I can afford to work part time for the last few years until I get my pension

A few of my colleagues in their 20s like me have opted out of their pension as they’d rather have the money now… I’ve tried telling them how important it is and it’s the best free money they’ll ever have but they just don’t listen!

You will be able to get it before state pension age, but there will be reductions for early payment. And you do have to retire I.e. quit workingfor the NHS. A lot of people seem to think they can claim their pension and carry on working but a workplace pension doesn't work like that.

 

[katyazamo]

Your employer won’t increase their contributions, as it will likely be company wide amounts that they pay depending on your level. If you got a promotion you might be able to negotiate but it would likely mean you got less of a pay rise ie the net cost to the employer wouldn’t change.

In terms of your contributions I would say it depends how complex you want it to get. The simple way would be to increase your own contributions, which would have some tax/NI benefits.

The other option is to pay into another account (similar to what I do with Charles Stanley direct) from your post tax earnings. This would give you the advantage of choosing the funds to match your risk attitude, or even put it in specific shares.

Thank you! I work for a small business so there might be room to negotiate but like I say, they're pretty stingy...although I might raise it with them in my next annual review. It looks like I can increase my contributions but my employer needs to arrange it, so I'll ask them to do it. I do have a private pension with PensionBee (they tracked down and transferred a couple of long-forgotten pensions) so I can set up a direct debit with them.