morrisons pension scheme

bailey46

i am a fulltime morrisons worker 23 years old and want some pension advice. i have been with the company for 2 years and am thinking of joining its pension scheme. i know its through the hsbc and was just wanting to know if anyone here is a member and if this is a good scheme to join or if the goverment pension is a better way to go?

i know the morrisons pension relates to the stockmarket and want to know whether the money i contribute out my wages is secure and will get it back at the end even if the company goes down hill or if they change the pension terms and conditions due to the current climate.

the leaflet in store is very vague and i dont feel comfortable to ask my HR team, thanks

JoeCrystal

Okay, let answer these questions one by one.

1. Join the Pension Scheme. No but, No What If, Just join it. You will be glad of it. The Government pension is what you get anyway if you pay NI for next thirty odd years.

2. Your money will be invested into funds. And these funds get invested into different assets. Could be shares, bonds and various other investments. There is also lazy investor funds for people who really do not want to bother with deciding what to invest.

3. The value of funds will rise and fall like any investments but it can and will be only way to ensure your fund to grow hopefully ahead of inflation and provide bigger sum to draw upon as pension when you retire.

4. You would not get your money back. You cannot 'cash it in' as it is. These money are held in trust for your benefit to used for your retirement. If the company collapse, your pension fund is safe as it is with pension provider and should be ring fenced. If by the time you retire and the tax free lump sum is still around, then you can take 25% of fund as lump sum tax free.

5. I am not sure if Morrisons pay any contribution into it, but if they do, then seize the free money. See it as pay rise but it go into your pension instead. As for term and condition, at the moment, as it is defined contribution pension scheme, the only thing your employer can change is how much they will contribute into.

But please, ask more questions if you want to have more understanding. But it is important to take advantage of employer's contribution if any and start early!

Cheers

Joe

Loughton_Monkey

bailey46 wrote: »

.....and am thinking of joining its pension scheme.....

...and every minute you think about it, you are wasting valuable tax relief, employer contributions (I assume), and investment growth towards retirement. So just join.

Virtually all pension schemes "relate" to the stock market. Pensions are very long term investments. If you have a pension related to, say, cash savings accounts, then all you'll get back is an amount far less than you paid in, in 'real terms'.

There are many 'financial facts of life'. One of these is that unless you invest around 20% of your lifetime earnings for your retirement, you will need to envisage a rather poor retirement. Another fact is that the later you start, the more 'uphill' the battle becomes.

AndyinLondon_2

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

...and every minute you think about it, you are wasting valuable tax relief, employer contributions (I assume), and investment growth towards retirement. So just join.

Nothing to add except to echo that. I spent 6 months thinking about joining the company pension scheme when I started my current job. In reality I was lazy and never bothered to fill the forms in. This caused two problems:

1) I missed out on six months worth of employer contributions, tax relief
2) When I did start contributing, it felt like I was taking a pay cut

So sign up ASAP. The State Pension is not much and will probably be worth even less (in real money terms) by the time those of us who are (reasonably) young reach old age. That's assuming you want to work to 67 or whatever state pension age has risen to in 30/40 years!