I'm 42, No pension, will I die in a puddle of my own S#it

[Deva Link]

B120WNY said:

Any advice?

..become an MP.

[HoHoHo]

Deva Link said:

B120WNY said:

Any advice?

..become an MP.

Or a hooker

[RacerMDR]

B120WNY said:

Class thread...

Like so many on here, I too am beginning to think more about the future and investments etc.

Having had quite a decent paid job (above avg with co. car etc) with (defined cont) pension etc, I decided to go freelance to get a better cash take home pay, just as the financial world appeared to start going to rat st again. I have a few little debts (4k) to pay off by xmas, but hope to start the new year with a bit of an investment plan.

Id like a bit of advice on my situation too, Im 30, and have a flat of my own, mortgage of about 70k, and a value of about the same, taken out at about 115% back in 2006. Im moving out in the new year into a mates rented house, and will be renting out my flat. Strange decision maybe, but i really want a house, drive garage etc, even though it is a couple of hundred quid extra over i dont really need to spend. Decision made on that one. Will overpay on my mortgage once Ive moved out.

Ive got a couple of pension pots from previous employment, worth about 12k each on last update (uh oh!)

Will start 2012 (unsecured)debt free with an idea to invest in a) my flat (overpayments), b) max out the ISA (mix of cash and S&S, unsure of % split) c) a cash savings account to put towards a deposit on a house at some point. Plan to meet a missus at some point too...

Ive lived my twentys by generally spending what I earned on cars, holidays etc and intend for my 30's to be more prudent, although will still live a life worth living.

All a bit scary really, its the unknown unknowns that does it !

Any advice? An IFA I know said to get an aim for retirement age and size of pot and work towards that.

I was recently in a similar position to you - although older. I got invited into Private Banking - and sat with three experts. In short - it amounted to pay off all debts (which I did) and you are doing......not rocket science.

Next bit was - do an ISA to the max you can each year - as it's free money (tax wise)
Do a pension - which I set up.......
and get some life cover for the mortgage (which I didn't have - but now the flat is in negative equity if I croaked I didn't want whoever I left it to, to be liable for anything - currently my folks as i'm not married)
Oh, and do a will.

It was free advice obviously - as they make money on the products.......I do feel better for doing it - but it did make me think about my spending practices......the amount of cars and bikes and motorsport i've spent money on is outrageous.

Now i'm trying to find a happy medium of still having loads of fun, but not pissing 100% of it against the wall, or petrol pump.

[Deva Link]

HoHoHo said:

Deva Link said:

B120WNY said:

Any advice?

..become an MP.

Or a hooker

I'm not sure there's a fabulous pension available to hookers? Except for in Greece. Probably.

[HoHoHo]

Deva Link said:

HoHoHo said:

Deva Link said:

B120WNY said:

Any advice?

..become an MP.

Or a hooker

I'm not sure there's a fabulous pension available to hookers? Except for in Greece. Probably.

Might not be, but it'll be good fun regardless

[DonkeyApple]

HoHoHo said:

Deva Link said:

HoHoHo said:

Deva Link said:

B120WNY said:

Any advice?

..become an MP.

Or a hooker

I'm not sure there's a fabulous pension available to hookers? Except for in Greece. Probably.

Might not be, but it'll be good fun regardless

Until one of your truck driving punters chops you up. Most hookers have no need of a pension

[sadako]

I am going to turn 32 soon. No house, no pension, the tail end of some debts that I am desperately trying to pay off and no savings. I make 20k a year and I am assuming that I am totally boned as far as my future is. I also know nothing about different kinds of pensions apart from if I get the wrong one, or get one with a company that goes bust, I can lose it all.

[dontfollowme]

Is there a way to transfer pensions paid into at a previous employer to one's current employer?

[sidicks]

F i F said:

Realise I've been arguing the pension corner on this thread but essentially totally agree with this.

Take advantage of the tax efficiency that pension investments can give, BUT be very careful and buy wisely.

Invest in ISAs and the like enough to secure your low risk access to rainy day cash, but don't go mad because the real value is being eaten away by inflation.

Get rid of debt, as much as and as fast as you can.

Property, especially if there is a healthy and stable rental market demand, but again easy to get fingers badly burnt if you fall for the property porn trap and think you're now a developaahhh! Again care is of the essence.

Exactly!

I've never said that pensions are the best or the only solution for retirement planning, but just trying to dispel some of the inaccuracies and downright lies that have been presented on this (and the other) thread.

Having a variety of solutions makes most sense!

Sidicks

[New POD]

Whilst you've been pissing money up the wall for the last 20 years the rest of us have been trying to do the "right" thing.

The nice me hopes you don't die in a puddle of your own st, but I'm finding that my ugly side wants it to happen.

Personally I'm desperately trying to put money aside for pension, and children's university, and that means sacrifices.

[Globs]

New POD said:

Whilst you've been pissing money up the wall for the last 20 years the rest of us have been trying to do the "right" thing.

How did you learn to do 'the right thing' though?
At home I'll bet.

Certainly not at school. It's not taught at school because politicians find indebted people more pliable.

[dvs_dave]

B120WNY said:

Plan to meet a missus at some point too...

That right there is the flaw in your plan and why it won't work. Any wise financial plans you have in place prior to this will simply be blown out of the water and you won't see it coming.

I'm sure everyone here will be in agreement with me, but it's funny how women all of a sudden gain huge motivation to spend 10x more money than they contribute as soon as you're living together.

And don't get me started as to when you're engaged/married and there is a wedding to plan for. They think money just appears in the bank for the sole purpose of being spent on frivolities, without the meerest hint of consideration for your long term financial future together.

I was financially much better off as a single man.....just like every other man in the world.

Be warned, women are a much more expensive hobby than any car!

[DonkeyApple]

dvs_dave said:

That right there is the flaw in your plan and why it won't work. Any wise financial plans you have in place prior to this will simply be blown out of the water and you won't see it coming.

I'm sure everyone here will be in agreement with me, but it's funny how women all of a sudden gain huge motivation to spend 10x more money than they contribute as soon as you're living together.

And don't get me started as to when you're engaged/married and there is a wedding to plan for. They think money just appears in the bank for the sole purpose of being spent on frivolities, without the meerest hint of consideration for your long term financial future together.

I was financially much better off as a single man.....just like every other man in the world.

Be warned, women are a much more expensive hobby than any car!

Where men go wrong is in exaggerating their income when they first meet their wife. The key is to halve your income when asked. It's all about managing expectations wisely.

[New POD]

Globs said:

How did you learn to do 'the right thing' though?
At home I'll bet.

Certainly not at school. It's not taught at school because politicians find indebted people more pliable.

I guess so. Encouraged to get a paper round / Saturday job, make student grant (yes them were the days) last 3 terms, work in the summer, save up for a car, a deposit on a house. Tailor Wedding to suit lack of cash, go camping on honeymoon in devon, Never borrow - apart from a mortgage that went from 8.5 % to 15.5% in 2 years.
Any spare money, saved because we wanted children. Now paying 15% of income into a SIPP, which I manage like a hawk.

I think both of us having parents, who worked for what they had, helped. As my wife points out, I'd spend it all on horse power, if she'd spend it on expensive hotels, if we both didn't stop the other.

[B120WNY]

HoHoHo said:

Deva Link said:

B120WNY said:

Any advice?

..become an MP.

Or a hooker

I feel violated...

[Deva Link]

DonkeyApple said:

Until one of your truck driving punters chops you up. Most hookers have no need of a pension

In which case becoming a hooker is a solution to the OPs problem!

[King Herald]

MonkeyBusiness said:

You'd be better off investing in gold.

I'm 40 and I don't believe there will be a pension waiting for me when I retire despite paying into one.

The UK is bankrupt.

Ever since I left school in 1976 I've been regularly told there will be no state pension 'in ten years', but now, 35 years later, people are still paying in, and still receiving state pension, and I can not see it stopping any time soon.

Unfortunatly I took 'good advice' and opted out in the early eighties, ago. but then I left the country in '89 and stopped paying anything, to anybody.

I may have a pension with the American company I currently work for, but that is not guaranteed.

At the moment I'm shovelling money into building a new house, and we (wife and me) already have one that is 70% paid for, so I see that as pretty much all I have to rely on when my I'm too decrepit to earn a crust any longer.

[DonkeyApple]

Globs said:

How did you learn to do 'the right thing' though?
At home I'll bet.

Certainly not at school. It's not taught at school because politicians find indebted people more pliable.

True. But far too many parents seem to think schools exist to teach their children morality and common sense instead of these being their fundamental duties.

[Globs]

And those are the ones who actually bother thinking...

[Murph7355]

dontfollowme said:

Is there a way to transfer pensions paid into at a previous employer to one's current employer?

Depends on the provision, but typically it's possible but often not worth it IME.

I believe you get what's called a redemption value, which will typically be much less than the notional paper value. You then transfer that into a new pension (which may also cost you).

Unless there's a lot in the pot, and/or the performance is dire, I'd bet you'll be better off just leaving it where it is.