Learning From Scratch!

Grubby_2

Hi,can anyone out there suggest websites that can help educate myself with regard to pensions before I take the plunge and end up with a one that may be totally innappropriate.I am reluctant to go see a financial advisor while totally uneducated in case I get taken advantage of,oo-er missus!
There seems to be such a plethora of advice that I don"t know whether I am coming or going!

isasmurf

This would be better asked on the pensions board, so that's where I'm moving it to.

Grubby_2

Thanks for that-my first post so I"ll learn!

deemy2004

Heres a good comprehensive guide to pensions

http://money.msn.co.uk/Planning/pensions/Guides/retirementplanning/RetirementPlanning/default.asp

Edwin48

Well, i did Personal Pension for years and when I retired, got peanuts. In hindsight, wish i had done ISA equivalents and bought some houses for buy to let. Hassle maybe but so long as income covers mortgage and loan repaid at maturity, who cares. Then get good pension rest of life and equity if you need it - and the pension company doesnt keep it all when you die like it will do with my pension fund; my next of kin will get nothing as a result.

I say forget pensions but i am a bitter old man who apparently retired at the wrong time (parents fault!).

dunstonh

buy to let is not risk free and doesnt have the tax advantages of pensions.

A correctly set up pension, taken out at a young age will be beneficial. Leaving your retirement planning to later in life will leave you with little hope.

Pensions are just a savings plan with certain tax advantages and a particular way how the proceeds are paid. The ultimate long term savings plan. If you feel you dont get much from pensions, you wouldnt have got much from ISAs either. Either is only as good as what you pay in.

deemy2004

Edwin48 wrote:

Well, i did Personal Pension for years and when I retired, got peanuts. In hindsight, wish i had done ISA equivalents and bought some houses for buy to let. Hassle maybe but so long as income covers mortgage and loan repaid at maturity, who cares. Then get good pension rest of life and equity if you need it - and the pension company doesnt keep it all when you die like it will do with my pension fund; my next of kin will get nothing as a result.

Thats what I keep telling people.......... but do they listen ...... :rolleyes:

Oh well, usually only learn the lesson after its too late..... :cool:

dunstonh

Thats what I keep telling people.......... but do they listen ...... :rolleyes:

Oh well, usually only learn the lesson after its too late..... :cool:

It's not quite the same thing that you usually say. Edwin said he got peanuts from his pension and wished he did buy to let or ISAs instead. If he got peanuts then he put in peanuts. It wouldnt have made any difference if it had been an ISA or pension. And as for buy to let, had the amount of the property been put into the pension, it wouldn't have been peanuts.

You cannot blame pensions for the lack of contributions. £150k in a pension fund would buy an income of £10,800. £150k on a buy to let property would have a rent of around £8000 (if you are lucky) and not risk free.

Pal

Edwin48 wrote:

In hindsight, wish i had done ISA equivalents and bought some houses for buy to let.

If we are discussing the benefits of hindsight, I wish I had simply chosen the correct National Lottery numbers for a couple of weeks back in the mid 1990s. Unfortunately investing or making plans with the benefit of hindsight is completely pointless. It is just like using past performance data to make any decision.

Advising people not to save through a pension vehicle just because you MIGHT have done better buying a property is also pointless. Who knows what the future might bring? You might even be able to invest in property through a pension policy going forward if the rules change as expected.

Debt_Free_Chick

Edwin's pension produced peanuts either, as dunstonh says, because he put little in or because he selected the wrong funds for the investment of his pension. Had he chosen those same funds for the investment of his ISA, they would have performed equally badly.

A pension is not the same as an investment. A pension is just a tax wrapper for investments. An ISA is another, different, tax wrapper for investments.

Investments perform badly ... not pensions

deemy2004

When £1000+ billion pension's black hole starts sucking the blood out of your pension funds..... Then don't come crying to me for advice about cash ISA's ...............