Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[Docca]

the 21% employers contribution

The how much now ?!

Civil service pension. Shit wages, good pension

Yeah, my lot double my contribution.

I’m hoping to retire at 60. Would love to move to Cornwall.

[Horse]

On another note I also need to find £100-200k to put the kids through university,

It should hopefully be kncoking on the door of £100k by the time she's 21.

If she turns out to be a goodun' she'll get a nice surprise.

Don't use it to pay uni fees (if the same system is still in place). I don't know which government set up this system, but a vast amount of it won't ever be paid directly by the students. They store up the debt, then only pay any back if their earnings go over a threshold. After 30 years it's written off, presumably the taxpayer will have to cover it (so all taxpayers, not just students).

[ZRX61]

My pension prospects are based on how much cash I have in the bank, which today is around $700 (if I ignore how much I need to pay off my credit card.)

[Nobby]

I've had this conversation with mates some 30 years ago. A few had the mindset to live life now and never mind the future. Yes they had newer bikes and some nice holidays. I had bikes and holidays , but I also started a Pension and a pot for a rainy day.
I can't talk to them about money now. They know the score. I've got piece of mind and a pot, whereas they've got nothing to Piss in.
I'm always on at the young uns at work to put something by. Something is better than nothing.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Don't use it to pay uni fees (if the same system is still in place). I don't know which government set up this system, but a vast amount of it won't ever be paid directly by the students. They store up the debt, then only pay any back if their earnings go over a threshold. After 30 years it's written off, presumably the taxpayer will have to cover it (so all taxpayers, not just students).

Yes...i know. How do you think I know?

Mrs D is still paying hers nearly 20 years later.

[Yambo]

I've had a little chuckle reading this thread. Some of you hate pensioners (the Toxic Elderly) so much that you give the impression that you're never going to be one and here you are telling us how toxic you intend to be!

However, this Toxic Elderly person hopes all your pension wishes come true. Just remember, when you do eventually retire, you might want a hobby or two to see you through the day (not too expensive ones though), or of course a little job stacking shelves in Tesco's.

[weeksy]

The how much now ?!

Civil service pension. Shit wages, good pension

Yeah, my lot double my contribution.

I’m hoping to retire at 60. Would love to move to Cornwall.

Our place does the same

[Mr. Dazzle]

so I favour just saving up a whacking sum of money if you can and draw it down when you need it.
I have a couple of private pensions from old employers, but like everyone else has said they're not worth much.

That's essentially what a SIPP is, and what every company pension I've had is bar one....the remaining one is a gold plated final salary scheme.

No-one can raid a SIPP cause its an account for just you, there's no fund.

Employer schemes may not be worth what they were in the final salary scheme days, but they're not affordable now. I dunno why people are saying employer pensions are not worth much, my experience is very different. Employers at least match your savings if not more and you get tax relief on what you pay in. Massively better deal than just saving your own cash.

[weeksy]

I dunno why people are saying employer pensions are not worth much, my experience is very different. Employers at least match your savings if not more and you get tax relief on what you pay in. Massively better deal than just saving your own cash.

Absolutely. Mine is certainly more than 'not much' it's also the only reason i'll be able to ever retire lol.

[Docca]

Civil service pension. Shit wages, good pension

Yeah, my lot double my contribution.

I’m hoping to retire at 60. Would love to move to Cornwall.

Our place does the same

It will hopefully work out well. At the moment, I’m contributing about a bag a month so that’s mid 30k a year. I’ve had a pension since I was 21 with the NHS ( although not making those contributions all that time!).

I have to sign something this year and I’ll avoid paying something on account of I’m a clinician. I’m not sure how much or what that something is, I just saw ‘avoid’ so it’s getting signed

[weeksy]

However, this Toxic Elderly person hopes all your pension wishes come true. Just remember, when you do eventually retire, you might want a hobby or two to see you through the day (not too expensive ones though), or of course a little job stacking shelves in Tesco's.

I'd be happy enough stacking shelves in Tescos a couple of days a week.
If I didn't have to then that would be great, but there are a lot worse situations to end up in.

Ultimately, if you have a half decent house paid for and you've got enough income to feed yourself and stay warm then you're doing better than many. If, on top of that, you've got some ace memories of having it large when you were young enough to enjoy life then you're probably doing better than most.

I'm really not sure what that aspect will bring but it was mentioned by Mrs Weeksy last night too. "what exactly are you going to do when you retire" and it's really a very good Qn. Summer, i know i'll have an e-bike and motorbike, they'll take up a chunk of the time, cruising round and enjoying it. But there's obviously a chunk of time where i've got bugger all to do other than sit on the sofa.

There's thoughts of doing a Yorick type scenario, but Mrs Weeksy ain't fancying it and i can't see it being right for one of us to want to hit distant shores and one not, although i may be able to persuade her into a small place in Burgundy. But again, it's a question of "what do you do to pass the time". I'm seeing it as a small bicycle/motorbike business of some description, be that buying and selling or polishing and cleaning then buying and selling, i am not quite sure yet. But i don't see it being Tescos. Restoring 1990s bikes and 2000s bikes in 10 years time, i do see how there could be a market in that, so maybe that'll be the road to go down.
If we were to make something like Burgundy happen then it'd be things like guided bicycle tours on ebike of the vineyards, maybe doing 'FLASH' type biker haven tours/accomodation. That'd keep me busy i think, well, hopefully. I could do a weekend tour and a trip to Magny Cours, some of the roads round there are absolutely epic and property prices would mean i could stick another £200k into the pension fund instead. The more i think about it, the more viable it seems.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... Code=GBP#/

Something like this in Orgiva would do me nicely.

Or this in Burgundy

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... Code=GBP#/

[Yorick]

We both love France and speak decent French and hoped to retire there.
But the winters are just too cold. Even the most southern part.

Even southern Spain gets bloody chilly.
This was the only place to have playtime weather all year round.

[weeksy]

We both love France and speak decent French and hoped to retire there.
But the winters are just too cold. Even the most southern part.

Even southern Spain gets bloody chilly.
This was the only place to have playtime weather all year round.

I hear you, but the problem is that Mrs Weeksy wants 'seasons'. I'll sit here without the benefit of foresight and say, i don't. But it could be one of those things you never really know until it happens, maybe i'd miss the greenery and the seasons if i lived on one of your islands, maybe the blackness of the terrain would drag me down, but you know something, i don't think it would actually. I think i'd be fine with it and happy doing the same sort of thing there of running bicycle trips and tours around some/all of them, maybe even a bit of island hopping trips with e-bikes and lunch on another island, then back for the evening...

It's something to ponder but as i say, persuading the wife may be tricky. If Portimao doesn't happen, the odds are we'll be spending a week in October over on Lanz/another, we've spent 3-4 summer holidays there, it may be my chance to say "wouldn't it be lovely to live here full times" and sow the seed to her for the future, taking the capital from the house, along with the take-out from the pension would mean i could set up the 'business' side of things effortlessly in terms of cash, then just needing to fill it with customers, but with people on here and people on other forums, i think i could make that work.

[weeksy]

I'm really not sure what that aspect will bring but it was mentioned by Mrs Weeksy last night too. "what exactly are you going to do when you retire" and it's really a very good Qn. Summer, i know i'll have an e-bike and motorbike, they'll take up a chunk of the time, cruising round and enjoying it. But there's obviously a chunk of time where i've got bugger all to do other than sit on the sofa.

There's thoughts of doing a Yorick type scenario, but Mrs Weeksy ain't fancying it and i can't see it being right for one of us to want to hit distant shores and one not, although i may be able to persuade her into a small place in Burgundy. But again, it's a question of "what do you do to pass the time". I'm seeing it as a small bicycle/motorbike business of some description, be that buying and selling or polishing and cleaning then buying and selling, i am not quite sure yet. But i don't see it being Tescos. Restoring 1990s bikes and 2000s bikes in 10 years time, i do see how there could be a market in that, so maybe that'll be the road to go down.
If we were to make something like Burgundy happen then it'd be things like guided bicycle tours on ebike of the vineyards, maybe doing 'FLASH' type biker haven tours/accomodation. That'd keep me busy i think, well, hopefully. I could do a weekend tour and a trip to Magny Cours, some of the roads round there are absolutely epic and property prices would mean i could stick another £200k into the pension fund instead. The more i think about it, the more viable it seems.

I suppose you don't know until you get there, to retirement I mean.

I've always had a plan of mainly living for today and so far I'm still happy with it.
I've never fancied living three-quarters of a life for sixty years on the strength of being able to go on a couple of extra holidays a year when I'm over sixty.

It would obviously be reckless to rock up at sixty without a pot to piss in, but I've known a fair few old people in my time and I never heard one of them genuinely regret not making more sacrifice when they were younger just so they had more money today, most (if not all) have wished they'd have lived a bit more when they could.

Absolutely.... i don't believe i've held back at this stage, i've done my best and lived my pleasures as much as realistic within what i have available financially (and not ! )

[Yorick]

"Seasons" means getting 6 months cold, dark and wet. And short days.
You soon get used to not having that.

If you do get over here, I'll show you round, properly. Stuff you'd never see normally.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Great if you can get it, I'm just saying mine aren't worth much, by the time I am eligible for them they'll have been sitting there for thirty years and I'm not sure it was the best place for my money to sit.

You have to have a workplace pension scheme for all employees now in the UK, although I'll grant thats a fairly recent law change.

I agree that pension schemes are generally a bit lacklustre in what they do with your money. Most err on the side of caution, as you'd pretty much expect them to by default.

Fortunately these days most of them make it very easy to change your investment options. Of I wanted to I could put all my pension into high risk start up equities and maybe get 500% return...or maybe lose the lot I could even do it from an app on my phone.

[Taipan]

I've had a little chuckle reading this thread. Some of you hate pensioners (the Toxic Elderly) so much that you give the impression that you're never going to be one and here you are telling us how toxic you intend to be!

However, this Toxic Elderly person hopes all your pension wishes come true. Just remember, when you do eventually retire, you might want a hobby or two to see you through the day (not too expensive ones though), or of course a little job stacking shelves in Tesco's.

I might actually like a little job. We shouldn't need extra income, so I might even do volunteer work, but if lockdown taught me anything, it taught me that I need something to do and not something solitary either. As much as I like bikes, going for solo rides each day would end up boring me and I'd miss company too. I'd rather have a convertible and take the wife with me like I do now. I don't have any hobbies or such, although the occasional bit of fishing appeals.

I hate winter as it kinda shuts you indoors and I like outdoor living, hence why we'd always planned to be snowbirds. As much as I love summer and the heat, I also love spring and seeing the place wake up and the fauna come to life etc. So I think, like Mrs Weeksy, we'd miss the seasons, or part thereof lol.

I think the thing that would really stop us actually emigrating is Grandkids should we get them? Both the wife and I love kids and neither of us would want to be hundred of miles away and rarely seeing them. When i consider that, then owning a property abroad does appeal as we could flit back and forth and still be part of their lives.

To any of this we'll need our health and sadly the wife is starting to have a few issues and we both seem to have the onset, or rather onslaught , of arthritis, but that may drive us into the sunnier climes? All of the above is probably why I just think about things, rather than actually try to plan, iyswim? Man proposes, God disposes and all that...

[gremlin]

My lot shut my final salary scheme a few years back, but it's still trundling along, beating inflation (at present) and guarantees me a reasonable salary as long as I keep breathing, and I intend to uphold my part of the bargain for a reasonably long time.

In replacement, they gave me a decent DB scheme, contributing 24% of my salary into the pot. That's been running for around 3 years now. Having this second pension is, I'm advised, not such a bad thing (yeah, the FS pension being closed was a pisser, the predicted numbers were spectacular) as I can treat them separately, which gives flexibility.

There's some other bits and bobs I can dip into if needs be.

I ain't gonna be rockin' up to the golf club in a Bentley, but I think we'll be ok.

The main thing for me is not having a mortgage on Chez Gremlin and it's worth a fair bit, which means once the Gremlinette (16 years-old) is off our hands we can downsize and use that money to give up the slog if we want to. I'm currently 51 and I always said 55 was the right time to retire, but in fairness, I ain't digging ditches in winter and the money's fairly good, so we'll have to see. I'll have done 24 years at my place in March. Finish year 25 and I get a half-decent watch given to me and I think that's when I'll start to consider my options.

[Yambo]

"Seasons" means getting 6 months cold, dark and wet. And short days.

Not necessarily. We have seasons and while we get wet winters ( a necessity when your water comes straight out of the ground) it doesn't rain every day and we have a lot of beautiful weather this time of year. The rain of course helps to keep everything green and growing which is something we feel differently about (although I was amused by your waxing lyrical about how green your island was a few days ago).

Cold and dark? Meh.

The almond trees will be in blossom soon around here and locally we grow a lot of oranges - they're a winter fruit so add a bit of colour to all the green.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I'm really not sure what that aspect will bring but it was mentioned by Mrs Weeksy last night too. "what exactly are you going to do when you retire" and it's really a very good Qn. S

My 'rents both retired almost exactly 3 years ago when my Dad was 61 and my Mum 60. They both pretty much still work a 9-5, just for free now!

They volunteer a lot at the local hospital and a charity for the blind. My mum also 'teaches' various arts/craft lessons for a nominal fee - or at least she did until Covid.

For them retirement hasn't really slowed them down at all, all it means is that they're free to go away on caravan holidays at very short notice and stuff like that. I've actually joked with my Mum that she should get a job since she likes working so much, the only reason she hasn't is 'cause she doesn't want to steal one from a young person at the moment.

EDIT: Oh, and the big thing they've started doing since retirement is running! We had to nag them to do a parkrun 5k with us (which my Dad walked), now they're doing 10k events all the time MY Dad has run more in the past year than he did in the previous 30 combined.