Sorting my pensions out - planning at 39
Discussion
I'm 39 and have 3 pension 'pots', 2 from old employers and 1 from my current - looking at my 'projections' is somewhat sobering as I assumed I'd be reasonably well covered, having paid in to a pension for most of my adult life - it seems like I'm on track for about £13k a year though!
Currently, I pay a little under £700 a month into my current employer's pension, which includes their contribution. I pay the maximum amount in which they will match.
My old company pensions (HSBC and Standard Life) are sat dormant - I no longer contribute anything to them. They are both defined contribution pensions and have seen a little growth lately, but nothing groundbreaking. They only give me a very limited choice of funds, but I understand the fees are quite low on the Standard Life Pension, and 1% on the HSBC (which seems high). I'm stuck with my current (L&G) pension.
So, at 39 I'm panicking a little about having enough money when I'm old and grey(er), so have a few questions on my pensions:
Should I combine the HSBC and Standard Life pensions into something more controllable (Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP or similar)?
Should I combine all of my pensions into the current company one (L&G SIPP)?
I wondered about paying more into a pension, but I think I'm better off ploughing money into an investment ISA as I can at least access it if I need to. I'm not a great saver though to be honest.
My total pot isn't massive - about £100k - so I have some work to do! I don't intend my pension to be my only retirement income/investment - but it needs to form a core of it.
Luckily my Mrs has a decent work pension too (although a smaller 'pot') but having stayed at the same company all of her career so far means she doesn't have the need to change providers. We both aim to have about 28 years until retirement (I'm older than her so will plough on until 67 and she will retire at 55). We're both in professional roles, so will probably end up doing some kind of part time advisory/contracting roles rather than fully retire.
It would be nice to build up a reasonable 'pot' between us, then do something a little more property based with it - can SIPPs be combined to invest in commercial property?
Currently, I pay a little under £700 a month into my current employer's pension, which includes their contribution. I pay the maximum amount in which they will match.
My old company pensions (HSBC and Standard Life) are sat dormant - I no longer contribute anything to them. They are both defined contribution pensions and have seen a little growth lately, but nothing groundbreaking. They only give me a very limited choice of funds, but I understand the fees are quite low on the Standard Life Pension, and 1% on the HSBC (which seems high). I'm stuck with my current (L&G) pension.
So, at 39 I'm panicking a little about having enough money when I'm old and grey(er), so have a few questions on my pensions:
Should I combine the HSBC and Standard Life pensions into something more controllable (Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP or similar)?
Should I combine all of my pensions into the current company one (L&G SIPP)?
I wondered about paying more into a pension, but I think I'm better off ploughing money into an investment ISA as I can at least access it if I need to. I'm not a great saver though to be honest.
My total pot isn't massive - about £100k - so I have some work to do! I don't intend my pension to be my only retirement income/investment - but it needs to form a core of it.
Luckily my Mrs has a decent work pension too (although a smaller 'pot') but having stayed at the same company all of her career so far means she doesn't have the need to change providers. We both aim to have about 28 years until retirement (I'm older than her so will plough on until 67 and she will retire at 55). We're both in professional roles, so will probably end up doing some kind of part time advisory/contracting roles rather than fully retire.
It would be nice to build up a reasonable 'pot' between us, then do something a little more property based with it - can SIPPs be combined to invest in commercial property?
mjb1 said:
I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong but how can your company pension also be a SIPP (unless you're a one man band ltd company). Do you mean you have a SIPP as well as the company pension, or just that your employer is making contributions to your SIPP?
I'm a similar age to you and you are in a much, much stronger position than me by the sound of it.
Is your 13k projection inflation adjusted - are they saying you should (or might) get the future equivalent of 13k today, or just 13k in 28 years?
Comes down to how you want to live in retirement. If you're mortgage & rent free by then, you could live in relative comfort, and it sounds like between you, you'll have at least double that to live on.
It's a 'group SIPP' which may be something different?I'm a similar age to you and you are in a much, much stronger position than me by the sound of it.
Is your 13k projection inflation adjusted - are they saying you should (or might) get the future equivalent of 13k today, or just 13k in 28 years?
Comes down to how you want to live in retirement. If you're mortgage & rent free by then, you could live in relative comfort, and it sounds like between you, you'll have at least double that to live on.
I assume the £13k is inflation adjusted! I hope so anyway.
I would hope to be mortgage free by then - although kids may need a leg up, so I suspect I'll still have some outgoings other than bingo and cruises.
RizzoTheRat said:
LeoSayer said:
Don't forget the state pension.
Being only a few years older than the OP, I'm not holding out a lot of hope for the state pension still existing by the time we get there.I'm in a very similar position to the OP so interested to see what people suggest.
Sparkzz said:
You've got £1400 per month going into a pension pot. Your lovely missus has the same presumably.
Your pot alone is worth over £1M.
I don't understand why you people worry about investments etc. You have a good pension pot, you can take £250K on retirement.
If your so worried, you should keep her on until she's 67 too; less supple then, less likely to have an affair when your 'consulting'
Nah, it's £700 a month all in. The Mrs has a similar amount.Your pot alone is worth over £1M.
I don't understand why you people worry about investments etc. You have a good pension pot, you can take £250K on retirement.
If your so worried, you should keep her on until she's 67 too; less supple then, less likely to have an affair when your 'consulting'
I definitely havent got £1m - more like £100k. A quick Excel with 3% growth pa and some assumed pay increases shows it could be worth £700k.
That's a good plan... keep her working and bringing in the £, while I play golf. Best advice on the thread
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