Pension

[Mottie]

The FIL took early retirement and spent a lot of time enjoying the sunshine and easy life out at their second home in Spain. Just as well he did because just one month after his 65th birthday when he would have retired, he died.

 

[motorbiking]

One of the best things I did money wise was focus on the mortgage in my 20s and early 30s. Every year you pay it down early, compounds saving you huge amounts of money.

 

[Mottie]

That's highly likely but I would like to see my girls are OK if that was to happen.

Get a life insurance policy and some savings then. They wouldn’t get any of your pension if you died would they?

 

[crystal ball]

The FIL took early retirement and spent a lot of time enjoying the sunshine and easy life out at their second home in Spain. Just as well he did because just one month after his 65th birthday when he would have retired, he died.

My mate spent all his working life looking towards retirement, as well as working he built a couple of houses and did cash jobs most weekends, a couple of years after eventually retiring he contracted cancer, and pulled through but could easily have gone the other way, on the other hand my FIL retired at 60 and died last year aged 91, fairly good health up to a couple of years ago

 

[Bodd]

The FIL took early retirement and spent a lot of time enjoying the sunshine and easy life out at their second home in Spain. Just as well he did because just one month after his 65th birthday when he would have retired, he died.

I won't be doing that on my pension. Happy he enjoyed it.

 

[Bodd]

Get a life insurance policy and some savings then. They wouldn’t get any of your pension if you died would they?

My other half would.

 

[motorbiking]

I won't be doing that on my pension. Happy he enjoyed it.

If you can come up with a semi retirement plan, you'll be amazed how much better off you'd be just easing out over 10 years or so. The key is to stay working in your skilled areas rather than get a job at B&Q.

 

[Diver Fred]

Most decent advisors will tell you as you are getting close to your retirement that you move the pension investments to more stable and predicatable (if lower return) assets, this of course is to attempt to ringfence your accrued pension pot.

The company 'managing' one of my pensions did exactly that - Lost £20 grand in nine months, still took their percentage and were completely unapologetic. Saw an IFA and had her review the investments, three years later I've recovered some of the losses and making a small profit but it has delayed me accessing the pension by 5 years.

Bodd :-

Get to see (talk to) 'Pension Wise' to learn all the terms used, they will talk to you once you are 50. Then go and see a IFA who knows about and understands pensions.
Me, I aim to take a small annual cash sum from the pension (typically the annual gain/return) for a few years.

 

[Bodd]

The company 'managing' one of my pensions did exactly that - Lost £20 grand in nine months, still took their percentage and were completely unapologetic. Saw an IFA and had her review the investments, three years later I've recovered some of the losses and making a small profit but it has delayed me accessing the pension by 5 years.

Bodd :-

Get to see (talk to) 'Pension Wise' to learn all the terms used, they will talk to you once you are 50. Then go and see a IFA who knows about and understands pensions.
Me, I aim to take a small annual cash sum from the pension (typically the annual gain/return) for a few years.

Thank you I'll do that.

What I get is you can talk to these people and they are a bit shy to give advice iin relation to if Virgin are bad and L&G are good for instance..

 

[Bodd]

If I were to change from Virgin to L&G would now not be a good time to do it?

 

[ellal]

I won't be doing that on my pension.

Nor will many other people after the end of the year, whether they have pensions or not!

 

[JohnD]

If I were to change from Virgin to L&G would now not be a good time to do it?

Can't see why not.

With fund prices gyrating wildly at the moment, I suppose there is a chance that prices will drop by 10% the day you sell in Virgin, and rise by 10% the day you buy in L&G, so you make a loss.

though I'd think it unlikely.

No more likely than it happens the other way and you make a gain.

 

[EddieM]

My old man retired at 51 on a full salary, index+ linked pension. He's 85 now. Been getting his pension for 34 years now having worked for only 28 and only 9 of those in industry, rest being in academia. Lucky sod.

 

[motorbiking]

My dad is similar - 6 figure index linked pension. Retired at 58, now 75.

 

[Mottie]

Thread resurrection, only because I didn’t want to start another one. A bloke I know who runs the shoot I take my dog on has never claimed his state pension. He's 73. He's still working, occasionally! He designs and builds swimming pools. He got a call a month or so ago asking him why he’d never claimed it. He said he's never thought about it because he didn’t need it! Anyway, they said you have to have it and he'd built up a tidy sum - they even added interest on to it. He's just received a payment for..........£59,200. Nice windfall!