I'm 42, No pension, will I die in a puddle of my own S#it
Discussion
Just enjoy life - Drink and smoke more, eat all the food you enjoy, go on holidays. And when the mortgage is paid off you'll have more money to pay for drugs and w
es, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense 
es, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense OP: this is a l-o-n-g shot. Buy a safe. Then buy one a gold coin a month for whatever you can afford (e.g.krugerrand, sovereign etc). When you're 60 you'll have around 216 gold coins that can be instantly sold at, hopefully, a rate that has kept up with inflation. There will be no capital gains tax as you are selling legal tender.
JensenA said:
Just enjoy life - Drink and smoke more, eat all the food you enjoy, go on holidays. And when the mortgage is paid off you'll have more money to pay for drugs and wes, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense
+ 100. (I'm 60 nb btw) First bit of sense I've ever read on pensions on PH.es, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense Seriously slyjoe, here is a very brief explanation of the 'pensions' con.
There are 4 categories, including number 4)...don't have one or want one.
1) There is a very very small group of people....Fred the Shred is a typical one. They are central figures in the operation of the con, though not by any means all involved DIRECTLY in the companies which operate the scam. They have ENORMOUS pensions. Really huge sums. Sums which absolutely guarantee a luxurious lifestyle for them AND their dependants. There are probably even clauses allowing whatever funds are producing their colossal pensions to be retained as inheritance beyond the death of any overt beneficiaries, and further methodologies in place allowing any benefits to avoid normal taxation procedures. The type of people with this type of pension are typified by the top management of companies which make catastrophic losses, the extremely wealthy, etc etc.
2) There is a larger, though still relatively small, number of 'second circle' players.....politicians typify this category, though there are many others apart from them. They have very well thought out schemes overseen by the most able of professional advisers whose high fees are justified by their interpretation and enactment of things like tax and pension legislation. They are well connected, well advised, and their pensions are almost as bombproof (though not as generous) as category 1)
3) There is a very large group called Joe Average. Also known as 'The Mark'. That's you and me and most of us. It's our job to fund it all, either directly through our contributions, or by accepting contributions as part of what would otherwise be paid as real money in a salary package. To cut a long story short, the AVERAGE pension fund which buys an annuity in the UK is about £25k. That probably produces a pension of between £100 and £125 a MONTH. Even without talking about inflation, it's hardly going to provide the sunshine lifestyle portrayed by the grinning silver fox and his slim pretty bikini'ed pensioner partner on the front of the brochure, is it? No. It's going to buy 10 fags and a cup of tea a day. And of course, if you live long enough to receive it for a while, after not too long, it'll buy 10 fags and a cup of tea a week! If you DON'T live long enough, or WHEN you die (and you must admit it's unlikely you won't DIE), the annuity company keeps (or STEALS, if you prefer calling a spade a spade) the whole fund.
There are an army (hired, mostly, by category 1) )who will try to tell you that you can guard against inflation with an inflation-linked annuity, and even have a pension that pays the missus a pension if you croak. The bit they never tell you at the same time is that if you take such a pension with all the bells and whistles, you'll receive a payment so tiny that it won't be worth having. That said army are part of the industry who make the REAL profits from your contributions. They ALL have colossal prime site and internally luxurious office buildings, are staffed by people on at least average salaries, and are run by people in category 1).
I can't remember what Fred the Shred's pension pot was. Something north of TEN MILLION quid I think. So before you start becoming a contributor to his chums' ten million quid pots, think of the £25k pot you MIGHT obtain alongside it. Of course, you're late to the game. So either prepare to live a sacrificial life to build Fred's Pot, or prepare to scrimp and scrape a pot that'll provide you with so little before it's stolen that you will be very angry with yourself for being silly enough to fall for the scam.
I wouldnt bother if i were you.
My gran, a single mother who worked three jobs eventually accumulated a decent amount of wealth (due to that work ethic continuing after kids left) , not rich by any means, but above the "have over £16k in a rainy day fund and you can feck off" limit set by govt. Never got anything off the state. Had to go to the equity release shysters to get enough to pay hospital fees.
My 'grandad', a gambling alcoholic who deserted my gran and three kids gets everything paid for by the govt. New kitchen, new bathroom because he's 'disabled' (no more so than any other 85 year old, but registered that way) and pretty much everything else gratis.
Save anything and either the govt or the banks will steal it. TBH i'd just buy a bar of gold every few months and bury it in the garden. If they dont know about it it wont stop your benefits.
My gran, a single mother who worked three jobs eventually accumulated a decent amount of wealth (due to that work ethic continuing after kids left) , not rich by any means, but above the "have over £16k in a rainy day fund and you can feck off" limit set by govt. Never got anything off the state. Had to go to the equity release shysters to get enough to pay hospital fees.
My 'grandad', a gambling alcoholic who deserted my gran and three kids gets everything paid for by the govt. New kitchen, new bathroom because he's 'disabled' (no more so than any other 85 year old, but registered that way) and pretty much everything else gratis.
Save anything and either the govt or the banks will steal it. TBH i'd just buy a bar of gold every few months and bury it in the garden. If they dont know about it it wont stop your benefits.
groak said:
JensenA said:
Just enjoy life - Drink and smoke more, eat all the food you enjoy, go on holidays. And when the mortgage is paid off you'll have more money to pay for drugs and wes, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense
+ 100. (I'm 60 nb btw) First bit of sense I've ever read on pensions on PH.es, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense Pensions are a money pit that later gets filled in.
Get away to Thailand, Vietnam etc and use your money, or stay and get raped by the UK government/banking industry.
Constant worry at the back of my mind.
I'm self employed so no company pension. I do a few hours a week for an LEA so I have 10 years worth of part time contributions to a teacher's pension, but that will be worth buttons. Other than that, some investments, a small mortgage, and perhaps due some inheritance.
It seems that, given that I am late 30s, I would have to pay an insane amount each month just to get a small pension at the end of it - if indeed the company doesn't go bust, or piss it away, etc.
Is there any point in me starting a private pension at this stage and putting away 1-200 quid a month, or would I just be better off sticking it in a savings account?
I'm self employed so no company pension. I do a few hours a week for an LEA so I have 10 years worth of part time contributions to a teacher's pension, but that will be worth buttons. Other than that, some investments, a small mortgage, and perhaps due some inheritance.
It seems that, given that I am late 30s, I would have to pay an insane amount each month just to get a small pension at the end of it - if indeed the company doesn't go bust, or piss it away, etc.
Is there any point in me starting a private pension at this stage and putting away 1-200 quid a month, or would I just be better off sticking it in a savings account?
I'm 48, run my own business and have a pension fund worth bugger all.
I do however only have a handful of mortgage payments left on my house. I have always overpaid the mortgage by some amount in a monthly basis and the mortgage that was due to finish in about 13 years has sod all left now.
I also took the decision some years ago to buy commercial property. Sure, currently the value may not be as high as it was, but in a few years it's paid for and will not only give me a good monthly income, but will also have a value as an asset which either I will use or it will be passed on to my children.
Not as easy now as it was then with the LTV shot to pieces, but maybe worth considering (residential property equally as much as commercial) if you can rustle up a deposit?
I do however only have a handful of mortgage payments left on my house. I have always overpaid the mortgage by some amount in a monthly basis and the mortgage that was due to finish in about 13 years has sod all left now.
I also took the decision some years ago to buy commercial property. Sure, currently the value may not be as high as it was, but in a few years it's paid for and will not only give me a good monthly income, but will also have a value as an asset which either I will use or it will be passed on to my children.
Not as easy now as it was then with the LTV shot to pieces, but maybe worth considering (residential property equally as much as commercial) if you can rustle up a deposit?
Jackleman said:
We are all fked, well most of us younger ones anyway.
To get pension of £21K per year I would need to put away nearly £700 a month at the age of 33! That is not taking in to account inflation or the fact that pension ages will rise again sometime.
My plan is to build up enough and the flee the country for somewhere a lot cheaper to live!
the key with pensions has always been to start early - if you haven't started paying in to a pension by the time you are 30 you've missed the boat - even in the public sectorked, well most of us younger ones anyway.To get pension of £21K per year I would need to put away nearly £700 a month at the age of 33! That is not taking in to account inflation or the fact that pension ages will rise again sometime.
My plan is to build up enough and the flee the country for somewhere a lot cheaper to live!
and for the 'knockers' that's an interesting figure given that the 'contributions' for a less than 15 k pension from an NHS worker would account for 600 and some GBP/ month between the employer and employee contributions ...
Most pension funds are a waste of time. Stopped paying into mine a few years back, what a fking con. I just wish I'd invested in gold. I was sooo close to putting most of my savings into gold when it was around $640 / ounce. Spent months researching it but in the end I couldn't get past the idea I was effectively giving some faceless organisation all my money via a website. "Hi Carmonk, thanks for your life savings, you now have loads of gold somewhere and it's all really safe, honest!"
king con. I just wish I'd invested in gold. I was sooo close to putting most of my savings into gold when it was around $640 / ounce. Spent months researching it but in the end I couldn't get past the idea I was effectively giving some faceless organisation all my money via a website. "Hi Carmonk, thanks for your life savings, you now have loads of gold somewhere and it's all really safe, honest!"mph1977 said:
the key with pensions has always been to start early
That was true if you retired up to the late 1990s.It' bunk today, if the fees, poorly performing market or badly managed funds don't get you, Brown's pension dividend tax will.
From 1997 to 2007 the value got out of a pension (from the same amount put in) was 25%, than if you'd started a decade earlier and retired a decade earlier - in 1997 in this case. It was in the Telegraph if you want to look it up.
Then you have QE.
Oh dear.
Your annuity will therefore buy about half the number of bonds if should (about - timing is crucial), so you end up with 50% of 25% or 12.5% value for money. Worse then stuffing pound coins into the mattress.
That's why buy-to-let is popular - all that pension money is now going into property that you a) have control over. b) can redeem at will and c) could just keep to live from the rent. It's a no brainer - hence the rocket rise of BTL.
BTL _also_ allows you to sell up and emigrate if need be, taking a big lump sum - try that with a pension.
The puddle is more likely to be piss than st, surely?
When you get to retirement age the two best options are to be very wealthy or absolutely broke. Whilst being very wealthy is probably the better option..., being poor works as the state will look after you. What happens if you have some savings is that you get no help until you have nothing left, then the state will look after you.
Whilst I am still working on plan A, I've never bothered with a pension as such because I believe that the only pensions worth having are public sector or blue chip final salary, none of which are available to me. I have managed to accrue substantial assets, none of which have ever, or will ever, go anywhere near a pension scheme.
t, surely?When you get to retirement age the two best options are to be very wealthy or absolutely broke. Whilst being very wealthy is probably the better option..., being poor works as the state will look after you. What happens if you have some savings is that you get no help until you have nothing left, then the state will look after you.
Whilst I am still working on plan A, I've never bothered with a pension as such because I believe that the only pensions worth having are public sector or blue chip final salary, none of which are available to me. I have managed to accrue substantial assets, none of which have ever, or will ever, go anywhere near a pension scheme.
JensenA said:
Just enjoy life - Drink and smoke more, eat all the food you enjoy, go on holidays. And when the mortgage is paid off you'll have more money to pay for drugs and wes, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense
I regret to say there is much truth in this. es, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense There is a fundamental problem in the UK with the benefits system supporting reckless behaviour. It has moved from assessing need to subsidising want.
It is a fact that the UK system does not distinguish between a life ruined by gross debauchery and waste, and the individual born with a disability.
If this continues as it is our country can only degenerate.
Steffan said:
JensenA said:
Just enjoy life - Drink and smoke more, eat all the food you enjoy, go on holidays. And when the mortgage is paid off you'll have more money to pay for drugs and wes, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense
I regret to say there is much truth in this. es, you can buy a nice flash car to drive around in on the few occasions when you're sober. If you slip up and manage to live beyond 60, don't worry, sell the house off and have a decadent few years in Thailand, marry a young Thai girl, live a life of bliss, have a heart attack in a moment of frenzied passion and die with a smile on your face, and if it all goes wrong and you are still alive, don't worry, come back to the UK, and because you are pennyless, you'll be given a nice little warm flat, rent and council tax paid, no medical fees, free transport, and you can relax and look back on what a wonderful life you've lived instead of worrying about how long your pension will last, and struggling to to pay the gas, electric, and council tax. You know it makes sense There is a fundamental problem in the UK with the benefits system supporting reckless behaviour. It has moved from assessing need to subsidising want.
It is a fact that the UK system does not distinguish between a life ruined by gross debauchery and waste, and the individual born with a disability.
If this continues as it is our country can only degenerate.
JQ said:
The one thing that worries me about this thread is the number of people who consider paying their mortgage off a savings plan. Is everyone intending to sell up and move into a bedsit when they retire?
no but perhaps moving from a 3/4/ 5 bed family home into a 2 bedroom house / bungalow mph1977 said:
JQ said:
The one thing that worries me about this thread is the number of people who consider paying their mortgage off a savings plan. Is everyone intending to sell up and move into a bedsit when they retire?
no but perhaps moving from a 3/4/ 5 bed family home into a 2 bedroom house / bungalow Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff