Age to start paying into a pension?

atush

There is teaching your kids, and there is also letting them make up their minds.

I have 3, twins doing alevels, one in Uni. All 3 are currently studying economics among other subjects. One is careful with money (the uni student), one is an entreprenuer who likes to save, plan and then spend his gains/earnings (a twin), one is a spendthrift (other twin). All 3 I taught the same lessons about money. They couldn't be more different in their approaches to money lol. So much for the "Tabula Rasa" theory of child developement I learned at Uni ;-)

gadgetmind

My daughter is very careful with money. She tends to save up her earnings (baby sitting) for months, and then buy something she really wants, with the latest example being an Amazon Kindle.

ViolaLass

Lokolo wrote: »

Understanding and doing something with that knowledge are different. I am sure his daughter will be thinking Clothes, Boys, Shoes rather than ISAs, Index Linked Savings Accounts and Pension

It's only us saddos that do

I was interested in ISAs and compound interest at that age (pensions perhaps less so but they are an extension of other things I was learning about). I first invested in shares at the age of 19.

The idea that you should learn about something only when you need that knowledge seems not very forward thinking to me. And your sentence about clothes, boys, shoes etc is just offensive (not all women/girls think that way and thinking that way does not mean that you can't also think about financial matters).

Lokolo

ViolaLass wrote: »

I was interested in ISAs and compound interest at that age (pensions perhaps less so but they are an extension of other things I was learning about). I first invested in shares at the age of 19.

The idea that you should learn about something only when you need that knowledge seems not very forward thinking to me. And your sentence about clothes, boys, shoes etc is just offensive (not all women/girls think that way and thinking that way does not mean that you can't also think about financial matters).

Oh it was a joke, get a sense of humour.

Nine_Lives

jamesd wrote: »

If you're saving for a deposit you can potentially increase your deposit quite nicely if you do well with successful S&S ISA or otehr investing. I did, but of course it's not guaranteed. You do need to be flexible about timing in case markets happen to be down at the wrong time, or you can set up a planned date and start adjusting investments to those that move up and down less a year or two before the planned date.

Don't just stick to cautious managed funds. Pick a mixture. What matters is the overall risk (up and down movement) level, not the level of each fund. All cautious managed funds are are funds that have such a mixture inside them. It's a better learning exercise for you, with more flexibility, to use a mixture and learn about sector allocation and asset allocation along the way. then you can take your time learning and you'll end up having 30 or more years to use what you learn now while the amounts are relatively low.

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately any significant change is all a little late right now - as the missus says we need to start looking to move next January. I've reduced the gains massivley by a few things:

* Only recently (2009 perhaps, but certainly 2010) have i been interested in moving money around, splitting it in sections to make the most of it. For years i simply didn't.
* From Dec 2006 for 112 weeks, i had 51 of them signed off on the sick (legitimate).
* I could've & should've gone fixed term on ISAs instead of instant access
* For years i never maxed out my ISAs & only put in small amounts - as i wasn't educated in the area

My gf also hasn't helped in areas:

* She's had to move to a new job as her old boss retired. It's a reduction of £200-£300pm. When she was on her higher wage, she was blowing a lot on nonsense (trialling make up (which she admits was rubbish herself), cash machines that charge you & other silly things like this).


We earn the same amount per month, yet from 2005 i've increased my balance 2.5x what she has as i'm a saver, not a spender.

So it's all a little late unfortunately - we only have a little over 5 months left.





But drifting back on topic. I was speaking to co-workers about pensions & the general attitude seems to be that they're [now] a waste of time. Not worth anything, not paying well, all negative comments.
Personally, i think i'd feel more comfortable seeing an IFA & actually SPEAKING to someone who SHOULD know & advise accordingly.

atush

I was speaking to co-workers about pensions & the general attitude seems to be that they're [now] a waste of time. Not worth anything, not paying well, all negative comments.

Not very bright your co workers are they?

gadgetmind

K_P83 wrote: »

But drifting back on topic. I was speaking to co-workers about pensions & the general attitude seems to be that they're [now] a waste of time.

Pensions used to suffer from high fees, coupled with a grim lack of transparency, but times have changed. They are now a great way of saving for retirement, and you have all the same investment options within them as you do in an ISA.

The tax "leverage" means they are generally better for those on higher incomes, who are at risk of having to pay higher rates of tax, but they still work well for others.

Ignorance is interesting. Some people are ignorant in some areas simply because they haven't yet acquired the knowledge to fill that void. Other actively maintain barriers to prevent information seeping in and relieving their ignorance.

Let's just say that I have more sympathy for the former than the latter.

dunstonh

I was speaking to co-workers about pensions & the general attitude seems to be that they're [now] a waste of time. Not worth anything, not paying well, all negative comments.

Workplace myths are usually wrong. You just have to look at the take up rates from employer schemes even where the employer gives around 10% free money away. People still turn it down saying its rubbish.

gadgetmind

dunstonh wrote: »

Workplace myths are usually wrong. You just have to look at the take up rates from employer schemes even where the employer gives around 10% free money away. People still turn it down saying its rubbish.

People here can start at as little as 2%, contributed via sal sac, with employer boost of 10% and a match plus, and still the silly sods don't do it.

I asked one person why they still hadn't do it and it seems they needed to buy an expensive fire place. Ah well.

SAHD_Jim

gadgetmind wrote: »

People here can start at as little as 2%, contributed via sal sac, with employer boost of 10% and a match plus, and still the silly sods don't do it.

I asked one person why they still hadn't do it and it seems they needed to buy an expensive fire place. Ah well.

where I worked, if you chose to start the company GPP after 6 months, they paid in £500 to start you off and then 5% every month and matched the next (up to) 5% that you paid in. So you got 15% paid in every month for a 5% contribution.

Still about 30% of staff didn't sign up. Unbelievable, especially as the firm is a pension provider :eek: