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?
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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.
I only found out the other day when I did some Googling. I’d always been told the NHS pension was very good and I should always pay into it, but I didn’t realise how good!
I opened my LISA with Moneybox and it’s pretty good, I put about £100 a month in at the moment but will increase when I am able to, I have 23 years left to pay into it (I think you stop paying into it at 50) so should have a nice lump sum in there by then
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.
I increased my contributions a while ago. It appeared very easy, I just emailed manager to say how much I wanted to increase it and it was done. Think it must be easy to apply on a payroll system.
I have 9 years in a final salary pension which I’m very fortunate for only being 30 now it’s very rare, was abit pissed when it was closed but I’m very greatful for the contributions I’ve got already.
I’m now in a new scheme which is a total of 21% mine & my employers contributions combined, my contributions have increased massively since going into the new scheme but I’ve always been one for ensuring I’m settled for the future, fortunately had good advice from others and immediately started putting away money I wasn’t use to.
Also contribute each month to a LISA will look at increasing each month soon won’t be a massive amount but like I get X amount each month for free it will pay for a luxuary holiday when I come to retire.
What age do people want to retire at? I’m hoping by 60 which yes is very unlikely nowadays.
I’m now in a new scheme which is a total of 21% mine & my employers contributions combined, my contributions have increased massively since going into the new scheme but I’ve always been one for ensuring I’m settled for the future, fortunately had good advice from others and immediately started putting away money I wasn’t use to.
Also contribute each month to a LISA will look at increasing each month soon won’t be a massive amount but like I get X amount each month for free it will pay for a luxuary holiday when I come to retire.
What age do people want to retire at? I’m hoping by 60 which yes is very unlikely nowadays.
Thanks to this thread I’ve contacted a pension provider from my former employer and I hadn’t changed my address with them so have had no documents for years and had forgotten all about it.
Sent off some docs to verify my identity and confirm my current address so I should now get the plan info and statements etc so I’ll know where I’m at. So thanks everyone
Sent off some docs to verify my identity and confirm my current address so I should now get the plan info and statements etc so I’ll know where I’m at. So thanks everyone
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!
I'm in a defined benefit/final salary scheme and the rarity of them makes me never ever want to change job until I retire even though I'm only in my 30s
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.
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.
My personal pensions are set at a 7. I'm late 30s and know that I have time for things to smooth out one way or another.
I'm lucky enough to be in a defined benefits scheme on career average, with a few years at final salary. If I retire at SPA, it's projected that, along with state pension I'll be on just a little less than I'm on now. I don't plan on taking a lump sum as I doubt I'll need it due to being a good saver.
At retirement age, I won't have the full 40 years in, it'll be 35 years in, so I'm pondering whether to make some AVCs to top it up. Also, I will probably want to retire early so may well make sense to pay AVCs.
I've always been afraid of being a poor pensioner, my mum didn't work very much, due to being a housewife and her and my dad divorced so it meant that she's lived off pension credit, I don't want that for myself, I don't want to be scrimping and saving when I should be enjoying the fruits of my labour after having worked all my life
At retirement age, I won't have the full 40 years in, it'll be 35 years in, so I'm pondering whether to make some AVCs to top it up. Also, I will probably want to retire early so may well make sense to pay AVCs.
I've always been afraid of being a poor pensioner, my mum didn't work very much, due to being a housewife and her and my dad divorced so it meant that she's lived off pension credit, I don't want that for myself, I don't want to be scrimping and saving when I should be enjoying the fruits of my labour after having worked all my life
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?
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.
Low-Risk tends to include cash funds and bonds.
Markets have been rit 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 ducked 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
IYou’ve read it correctly. 
You know when it’s all negative and red you should probably stop checking for the year or two.
You know when it’s all negative and red you should probably stop checking for the year or two.
Similar situation here, but I've got 10+ years on you. I had meant to look into it years ago but as usual, you think, young, free, live your life etc. Now it's becoming reality that I've only like 20 years left of working as such and it's put the frighteners up me.
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.