Something that doesn't seem to get mentioned

AD9898_2

Seriously, does anyone think pensions will be any use to anyone in 20+ years time ? Better to learn how to be completely self sufficient and to get yourself a shotgun and learn how to use it.

spadoosh

wotsthat wrote: »

Young people don't save for pensions because they are young and think;

a) they won't get old
b) the pensions fairy will visit them if they do

Most people can afford to save. Whether they choose to or not is a different matter.

I like to believe i am a 'young person' and do not pay into a pension. Im 24 and have pretty much been in full time employment since turning 16 and never once paid into a pension. The main reason behind this are simply because I do not see it as a worthwhile investment.

If i paid into a pension i would only ever likely see increases in costs and reductions in my lump sum or pension payments. Fewer and fewer people are investing in pensions and they simply aren't sustainable.

So you go and enjoy your pension but please dont be ignorant in the fact that i will not pay in to prop up your pensions to then be dealt the bad hand when its my turn.

Appologies to those who might find this selfish but there are other more sustainable and reliable investments out there than pensions and i would rather spend my time and money persuing those.

Interesting point though OP

Old_Slaphead

ringo_24601 wrote: »

25k for a software field engineer is pants. Should be more like 35k+5K

Maybe it's £25k because your employer in subsidising your pension by around 25% - and you're not taking advantage of this money ??

nollag2006

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I'm the only one, out of my 4 best mates with a pension...

Are you also the only one who lives with their parents?

Graham_Devon

nollag2006 wrote: »

Are you also the only one who lives with their parents?

You keep telling me I live with my parents as some sort of stock answer. I'm not sure why. Maybe you know something I don't, but it's starting to freak me out wondering where exactly they are hiding.

pqrdef

wannabehermit wrote: »

Disposable incomes are far lower than they were 10-20 years ago

This has got to be a joke?

What's changed is that lifestyle expectations have risen faster than incomes. People now regard as essential many things that people didn't used to buy.

Graham_Devon

pqrdef wrote: »

This has got to be a joke?

What's changed is that lifestyle expectations have risen faster than incomes. People now regard as essential many things that people didn't used to buy.

What's actually risen is the debt used to fund todays lifestyles.

Mortgages, credit cards etc. It all allowed people to buy now pay tommorow, a phrase which it was difficult to get through an ad break without hearing in the noughties.

You'd come home ot another leaflet from the Halifax telling you you too could take you long deserving family on holiday with just a 5k loan. I remmeber them well, don't get them anymore though, just get told about my water pipe lacking insurance every single month now instead.

People of my age have debts that previous generations of that age never even considered. A lot of it was wasted cash. However, all these luxuries that people talk about are not really luxuries, they are just how we live life today. No good looking back at the 70's and suggesting people didn't have those things then. I'm expected to have internet and a mobile for my work for a start. Children are expected to have it for their homework. It's not exactly therefore luxury stuff is it.

Voyager2002

wannabehermit wrote: »

Not true at all. Certainly not where I'm sat anyway. I'm 31, DH is 33. We don't save for a pension because we can't.

Older people (i.e. people of my parents generation) don't seem to understand that just because they could buy a house, have holidays and put into 4 or 5 pensions on one income doesn't mean we can. Disposable incomes are far lower than they were 10-20 years ago and people who are in my position are pretty much living hand to mouth.

We know we need to put money into a pension, but we also need to eat and that comes first.

No, disposable incomes have never been that much higher than they are now.

What your post reveals is a lack of knowledge about how to live cheaply: the kind of skills that are discussed on the Old Style board here. Back in the 60s and 70s, families were able to put money into pensions and mortgage repayments because many of them did not have a car, and those that did only used it when necessary. Children got to school on foot or by bus, and so expenditure on petrol was much lower. Food was prepared in the house from unprocessed (affordable) ingredients: ready-meals were virtually unknown, take-aways were an unusual treat and restaurant meals a rare luxury. Telephone calls were expensive and so made only when really necessary. Of course, living like this demanded a great deal of time and trouble, which was generally provided by the unpaid labour of women (who typically were employed for fewer hours than were men, at far lower wages, and so began work again when they returned home).

In short, the corporate advertising machine has convinced many of us that "survival" means living at a far higher level than what was regarded as luxury until recently. And the fact that most households are no longer subsidised by 'free' female labour means that they need to buy in substitutes for this, such as more expensive prepared food rather than cheaper unprepared ingredients. The sad thing is that few people recognise that these are choices, and possess the skills to use time instead of money as required.

[Deleted User]

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Maybe it's £25k because your employer in subsidising your pension by around 25% - and you're not taking advantage of this money ??

I earn a good deal more than 25K thanks... this was a referral to the OP's example of a rubbish salary for the job it entails

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Once I turned 30 my dad kept nagging incessantly for me to sign up to my employer's pension (it's a final salary one, but not sure how good that's going to end up being). So I did to shut him up. I'm not confident it will ever be worth it.