Soon every employee must pay into a pension - will you opt out? Poll discussion

98jdougl

To be honest, I'm not really sure at the moment... will need to sit down and go over it all in more detail although am leaning towards not opting out... however it may change from choosing not to opt out to forgetting to lol

Taffybiker

Fantastic idea. I've paid my stamp all my working life to be sure of a state pension, now I can pay extra again to get something I have already paid for.

WinnyWoo

scarlet_shoegal wrote: »

Unfortunately, because pensions began shortly after the war and there was no money in the pot for them, each working generation pays the pension of those who are already retired. That basically means your NI contributions are currently paying for your grand parents / parents retirement, the same as they paid for theirs. The problem we're facing is that in future years, there won't be enough people working to meet the requirements of those that have already finished work. It absolutely seems unfair, but it's the reality of the situation. The money is going to run out and if you want a decent retirement, you're going to have to pay for it yourself or take pot luck at whatever the government of the day can afford to pay you...

I agree with everything you say EXCEPT pensions started in 1908! before WW1

cw18

Another poll without an option for me.......

I need a 'will probably opt out, as already have preserved pensions that should be sufficient'

Having started a new job in the last 6 months I'm waiting on details of the current company scheme (keep meaning to chase it up - must remember to do so tomorrow) so I can decide whether to pay in to that or not. I suspect the company scheme will be better than the government one (in which case that will be the one I consider), but I'm not sure I can afford to pay into either.

This isn't actually as critical for me as it sounds though, as I've contributed to good (mainly index linked final salary) company schemes in the past (plus an AVC scheme), and have preserved pensions with them. Looking at my latest statements from these, I should already be looking at enough of an income without scraping around (and going without) to pay into yet another !!

dazandemma

I've already got a pension with my work, I currently pay 10% and my Company matches that, so 20% in total. I've been paying into my company pension since I started at 18, I'm now 26.

When I first started I paid 4%, then each year with my pay review I increased my pension by 1%, so that I didn't notice the extra cash come out my pay packet.

I stopped at 10% as that is the max my company will match, plus the last 2 years I've not seen much in the way of pay review with all this recession business.

mjohnsonuk

I think everyone paying into a private pension is a great idea!
But i`d like to see a bit of a change - I think that when you are 18 a pension account is opened for you then once you start earning you opt to pay in a percentage of your choice (up to a pre-set max) then the company you work for then matches this payment (up to a pre-set max)
For Example:
Person A pays 10% of his wage (15% max)
Company A matches 8% (8% max)
This is fairly straight forward but the twist Person A leaves their job after 10 years - instead of their pension being frozen it moves with the employee (including all company contributions) then when Person A starts the new job with Company B, they then comtribute into the pension.
Therefore no more frozen pensions plus the companys can not dip into the pension scheme once the money is in there it is in there the pension continues to acrew interest for the full term (working life)
What do people think of this method? Fair?
I once worked for a company that when times were good dipped into the pension pot then when times were tough they said they couldnt afford to contrabute enough for the pot therefore putting peoples pensions at risk, also if that company A goes bust it means you dont lose your pension contribtions (I think this happened to Ford/Jaguar employees a couple of years ago!!)

When you die this money should transfer to your next of kin not half of it plus you should get a reduction in the NI contrabutions made eg opt out of the goverment state pension (why pay twice) and there should not be a minimum age for retirement calculations should be made based on you age to contrabutions then if you have contrabuted enough into YOUR scheme and feel you can suvive on the amount of money per month then you can retire - you should not be penilised for retiring at 55-60 or be forced to work until 65-70 - YOUR MONEY YOUR LIFE YOUR RULES

relaxtwotribes

1. The Government needs to borrow £175 billion per annum.
2. The Government forces you to save more.

Can't anyone else see a link there?

Paul_Herring

relaxtwotribes wrote: »

1. The Government needs to borrow £175 billion per annum.
2. The Government forces you to save more.

Can't anyone else see a link there?

Nope. The money you save in a pension can't be used by the government. Besides, the government wants you to spend more to increase GDP. The last thing they want is for everyone to save.

relaxtwotribes

Paul_Herring wrote: »

Nope. The money you save in a pension can't be used by the government.

So, no pension fund invests in gilts?

Besides, the government wants you to spend more to increase GDP. The last thing they want is for everyone to save.

How do you think investments in the country's future wealth creation are made? Certainly not by spending.

wildthing01

i'm really thick with things like this - i already pay into a public sector pension, so will i also have to pay into a private one on top of this? cos if so, i'd rather not...