Cash in company pension?

dunstonh

id rather trust myself at point of cash in hand than a pension which at a random date in the future, lets say 2021, becomes worthless...

Can you explain how a pension can become worthless on a random date in future? Or are you talking about the same hypthetical date that perhaps sterling becomes worthless as well?

RichandJ

dunstonh wrote: »

Can you explain how a pension can become worthless on a random date in future? Or are you talking about the same hypthetical date that perhaps sterling becomes worthless as well?

Pub. In. Man. Said.

Rearrange to taste.

Bigsmak

Hey Everybody,

Long time member, read a lot but don't post much.

But I jut want to add this.. I think what Bendix is talking about is that fact that the original poster of the question was too lazy to just scroll to the 2nd page of the forum to find someone else asking the same question, or possible stupid that they did not realise how to do that.

As for people not understanding pensions. Well I am an IFA and its one of the most common questions you get asked when talking to the average punter about their pension; "If I need the money how can I get it?"

I think that people in the UK are not very well versed on how to look after their own finances. Perhaps personal finance should be a compulsory subject in High School. Things like Bank accounts, Credit cards, loans, Mortgages... People should be taught about these. It is not the individuals fault for not knowing, they will just never asked the right questions because they did not know that the question was there to be asked.

Anyway.. I'm not saying everyone should be an expert in the field, but there is a huge knowledge gap out there that needs to be addressed.

And insulting people is not the way to go about it!

Ginger_Red

I work in IT, and I'm constantly amazed by how little many people understand about their computers.

My view is that if you don't even understand what a firewall is, or why you need anti-malware software, you shouldn't be allowed a connection to the internet.

But I also understand that people aren't really interested in this sort of stuff and just get a new computer every few years when their machine slows down because they think it's just wearing out. They aren't necessarily stupid or lazy, they just aren't interested.

It's the same principle with people who don't bother to check the oil in their cars. It will hurt them in the long run, but they ignore it because it doesn't interest them.

Being harsh, you could say that they are being stupid and lazy, but I can understand people not paying enough attention to financial products which don't interest them.

wotsthat

im not in mine, even tho its a clearly explained pension, id rather trust myself at point of cash in hand than a pension which at a random date in the future, lets say 2021, becomes worthless...

You are joking aren't you?

Why does a pension at a random date in the future become worthless and if it did what makes you think that the cash you've carefully saved wouldn't do the same?

You've got this completely wrong. Loads of governments are looking for a way to reduce their debts - one way is to inflate them away - guess what's going to happen to your cash in hand.

Bigsmak

wotsthat wrote: »

You are joking aren't you?

Why does a pension at a random date in the future become worthless and if it did what makes you think that the cash you've carefully saved wouldn't do the same?

You've got this completely wrong. Loads of governments are looking for a way to reduce their debts - one way is to inflate them away - guess what's going to happen to your cash in hand.

Spot on,

Only two things that a Bank account will guarantee is that,

1. Your money is safe (to an extent)
2. Your interest will always be less than inflation - meaning you will have less tomorrow than today in real terms.

bendix

Bigsmak wrote: »

But I jut want to add this.. I think what Bendix is talking about is that fact that the original poster of the question was too lazy to just scroll to the 2nd page of the forum to find someone else asking the same question, or possible stupid that they did not realise how to do that.

As someone else has pointed out, most of these posts are from newbies. Somehow, these newbies have researched the internet enough to find this forum. They have worked out how to post etc etc. They are obviously computer literate.

If they are computer literate and intelligent enough to post the question, surely they would have had the savvy to research the question already. Let's face it - they have. They just found answers they didnt like and have come here hoping for some kind of magic bullet.

bendix

wotsthat wrote: »

We all know just how naive people can be but just pointing out that people are stupid and lazy isn't robust it's just rude. I find your posts really quite depressing as you seem to point out the problems but don't offer any positive ideas to combat the dire state of the general populations knowledge of financial matters.

How would you solve the obesity problem? Stand in ASDA calling people fat, greedy b*****ds?

On the contrary, I do point out postive ideas to help. Here is one: stop being so !!!!!!! lazy and show some gumption. Educate yourself. If you can find your way to this forum, you can do a bit of research on your pension. It aint freaking rocket science; it's called taking some responsibility for your future.

There, does that help?

On the obesity question - yes. That would be a good tactic.

Alternatively, we could pretend they're not larda**ses because they eat too much and don't exercise, blame it on big corporations and give them a grant to get their pants extended.

Tough love works. Molly-coddling enables and justifies.

dunstonh

As someone else has pointed out, most of these posts are from newbies. Somehow, these newbies have researched the internet enough to find this forum. They have worked out how to post etc etc. They are obviously computer literate.

The probably found the answer on another thread using google. Indeed, if you type in google "can i cash in my pension", then MSE is the third site down with multiple threads.

But I jut want to add this.. I think what Bendix is talking about is that fact that the original poster of the question was too lazy to just scroll to the 2nd page of the forum to find someone else asking the same question, or possible stupid that they did not realise how to do that.

its not just second page. The pension forum is not the busiest and we have had four new threads asking the same this week. On two occasions the threads were at the top. Hence the belief that perhaps not all these threads were actually genuine.

Peelerfart

Bigsmak wrote: »

Hey Everybody,

Perhaps personal finance should be a compulsory subject in High School. Things like Bank accounts, Credit cards, loans, Mortgages... People should be taught about these.

A good idea.

If personal finance was studied at school it could perhaps achieve the same degree of success as English.

luk wot appened den 2 the lingo wot we all lurn innit

lol lmao rofl