state pension question, and help please

allan673

hi,
i have a question about state pensions.
i am 38 years old and i have worked every week of my life since i was 16. i have never claimed a penny from the state.
when i retire (67 i think state pension age) will i get more than someone who has never worked a day in there life? or the same amount?

im confused how it all works. my wife is exactly the same as me and has always worked.

im worrying now, as i have been in a final ssalary scheme for the last 10 years ( i paid about £35 per week and they paid about £52), but was made redundant.
i found work straight away luckily but my new employer only has a stakeholder pension where we both pay 4%. salary is now 25k plus 5k shift allowance.
im worried i wont have enough pension when i retire, i am clueless about it all.

do i up my pension? not even sure if i can. standard life stakeholder.
or do i start a savings plan????

thanks a lot,
i will respond to your help.

hugheskevi

when i retire (67 i think state pension age) will i get more than someone who has never worked a day in there life? or the same amount?

More, under the current system. But the system is proposed to change, so a fair chance it will be the same.

But, even the current system is changing such that the difference is shrinking, as there are more credits available within State Second Pension.

It is proposed that (pretty much) everyone will get the same in the future though, with the changes likely to commence from about 2015 or so.

im worried i wont have enough pension when i retire, i am clueless about it all.

Start by playing around with calculators like this.

Gather up details of all your pensions, and get a State Pension forecast.

do i up my pension? not even sure if i can. standard life stakeholder.
or do i start a savings plan????

Depends on your needs, which are individual to everyone.

First thing is to work out how much you need to save in longer-term investments, then work how much you want to contribute, and then work out the best way of doing this. The best way is likely to be either in a personal/Stakeholder pension or in a stocks and shares ISA.

If you haven't already done so, carefully read through your new pension documentation to see if your employer will match any extra contributions, or whether they offer salary sacrifice (also known as SMART pension or salary exchange). Any of these things make additional pension contributions to the scheme more attractive.

atush

In the fist instance you are asking about the State pension. And yes, given al things being equal, a !!!!!! who doesn't work would get the same as you (if they met the 30 years requirement of either working or claiming bennies). I think, as I have helped other claime but never claimed a penny myself.

But then you talk aobut your FS pension for the last ten years This is a pension seperate and above what your state pension will pay you (so add the 2 together) and no, those who don't work won't get that bit. And some who do work will get less than you ;-)