35 no pension.

pKaTz

i dont have a mortgage. Live with my parents and contribute to the bills.
I know that this situation will not continue forever, so want to sort out my pension while I can.
I do own half the house with my father, as have finished paying off the mortgage.

I think most people on a low wage will be paying rent or something similar, and therefore will be unable to prioritise saving for the future.

MacsReturns

pKaTz - I think you're doing well already, socking away the savings you do. It seems to me that you're ahead of the curve compared to most people here. You've mastered the fundamental issue - you're living within your means, comfortably. Whether you're ahead of the crowd or behind it, asking a member of the crowd for advice will leave you with the same answer: "Follow the crowd".

As I said, I think you're ahead of the crowd. Join the dots

Good luck, sounds like you've earned it.

pKaTz

MacsReturns wrote: »

pKaTz - I think you're doing well already, socking away the savings you do. It seems to me that you're ahead of the curve compared to most people here. You've mastered the fundamental issue - you're living within your means, comfortably. Whether you're ahead of the herd or behind it, asking a member of the herd for advice will leave you with the same answer: "Follow the herd".

As I said, I think you're ahead of the herd. Join the dots

Good luck, sounds like you've earned it.

Thanks mate.
But I know I have a long way to go.
As well as securing my future, I have to secure the future of my son too.
what with study/uni, house buying, and marriage all big costs this is something, along with my pension that I have to plan for.
hopefully by monday I will take this info to the IFA, and will put me on the right path. Although I know it will probably take a few more sessions with him.
But if all I am after is some thing that tracks the FTSE for my pension, can't one of you point me in the right direction.?

MacsReturns

If you fancy a FTSE tracker, then you can buy appropriate funds through a lot of different packages - I don't know the whole market (I think Dunstonh is your man for that...) but having said that a tracker is a tracker is a tracker. What varies is the fees you'll pay. For my money, if I was looking for a tracker I'd buy it within my S&S ISA as I believe that would entail the least fees. The fewest number of hands it passes through between the market and your account, the fewer slices get skimmed off the top. I'd seriously consider looking at some of the online brokers (iii, HL etc) and see what they have to offer.

IMHO the difference between rich and poor is not the top-line income, but the excess of income over needs. You can attack that equation from either end. A look at the DFW threads shows you that much, where you'll see people in serious trouble with incomes many times your or mine. The big factor in your favour is time, 30 years is a long time in the world of compound interest - I'm a few years closer to retirement, but even so with my sub-optimal income, I'm still hoping to get out before I get old. Focus, prioritise, work out what's right for you and your family, but don't forget to live along the way.

pKaTz

thanks mac.
Thats what I'm after - a pointer in the right direction.

jem16

MacsReturns wrote: »

if I was looking for a tracker I'd buy it within my S&S ISA as I believe that would entail the least fees.

Fees would be exactly the same no matter what tax wrapper was used. The only difference would be how the tax was handled.

MacsReturns

jem16 wrote: »

Fees would be exactly the same no matter what tax wrapper was used. The only difference would be how the tax was handled.

Thanks for the correction, Jem - points out the bit I forgot to say, that it's an execution-only service and by doing my own research I wouldn't be paying any fees for advice, either upfront or ongoing You're right to point out it's not the fact that it's an ISA that makes the difference, but different ISAs do have different fee structures (ie annual fees, inactivity fees etc). See the differences between iii, HL and SelfTrade for illustration.

As ever, DYOR, shop around, and really consider whether a product you can't understand by yourself is the right thing for you. (Something Lehman's should have considered... )

pKaTz

Saw the IFA yesterday evening, for nearly 2 hours!
gave me some clarity.
ie. with a pension, you generally buy an annuity[sic] when you retire and then this is your income in retirement above the state pension. If you die, it can be transferred to your widow. And if she dies it is gone. You can draw 25% of the pension fund though as a tax free sum. - this was all pretty much covered in the forum here, but I understand it better now.

With an ISA, I need to decide why I am saving in cash ISA's. If its for retirement and long term, then really should be S&S ISA. Which I agree with, as on the whole the S&S's should increase over the long term - and I have over 30 years to go.

He did give an option to do a stakeholders pension with scottish widows, and said that the fee is normally equal to the first 3 months contribution, then the amc will be 0.5% for the pension. OR they can charge 1% instead of 0.5% over the life of the pension. He kind of hinted that it would be better to pay the fee in a lump sum, rather than over the life of the product.

Also, I need to get some life / health / sickness cover in place. - so this is where I am going to start.

He did point out that I was saving a large proportion of my salary in cash savings, and as well as having some ISA, I could still contribute to a pension.

on the CTF - he said as its a long term thing, then again S&S, which I am going to look at doing. .

So rule of thumb is about £200 a month for me. As for my wife, she had a letter recently inviting her to the company pension , so I will look at that later today. ATM though, I need to get some insurances/assurance in place, first, then look at the pension.

marklv

pKaTz wrote: »

Thanks.
You seem to be the prevailing provider of Sensible and to-the-point advice on here.

Nope. I dont think £5000 would be sufficient.
So does that mean walking in to a bank for "a chat". are there any that I should avoid?
I bank with lloyds, halifax, A&L. does loyalty as a saver count towards anything.

State pension is actually £6,000 - still not sufficient.

pKaTz

After going though my particulars we agreed that I would need around £10,000 per year.
So am I right in thinking, that if the State Pension is £6,000, I would only have to try and aim for £4,000?

I know that the pension amounts, and tax %'s etc can't be foreseen as it would be in 30 years time, but I am thinking about as things stand.