Do you stay in job just because of good pension, 30 years to go

27col

I read somewhere recently that "Life is what happens while you are busy making plans."

Wellgood

All

Thanks soo much for taking the time to reply. There has been some useful views/perspectives

I think for the moment I will sit tight as I don't mind my job (How many people really love their jobs? )
I am relatively comfortable as wife works too and there are always other ways of making extra money i.e. ebay, second job,etc if we really needed more money. Plus costs like childcare will soon reduce/disappear over the next few years.

Also if I did move for a higher salary then it would likely mean more responsibility, hours, stress,etc,etc and I like to agree with some of the posters above on making sure you still enjoy your life and not to plan too much into the future as you might not even get there ( saying that surely my wife/kids would get some of this pension benefit if i died?)

From CLAPTONS response it looks like I would roughly need to contribute between myself and employer approx 500 quid per month meaning it would probably not be worth me moving for less then 7k pay rise just to break even

Thanks again.

PS 1 - I work for a global company in the private sector

PS 2 - Given the circumstances I have explained above would you all stay or go? Please reply "STAY" or "GO" if you can be asked

Voyager2002

I can certainly be asked...

Personally I would make the decision to stay or go based on what I would actually be doing, and how interesting I would find it. I have twice left "good" professional jobs with security and pensions, once to work in disaster response in Southeast Asia for about sixty pounds a month, the second time to return to full-time study.

bigadaj

Your response seems to have made your mind up, which is fine and appears good for you. Also working for a large global firm has additional benefits, normally supportive if there are illness or similar problems, and if there are redundancies then terms for these ate frequently very generous.

Archergirl

If you were advising someone else, what would you say to them, stay or go?

olly300

Wellgood wrote: »

PS 1 - I work for a global company in the private sector

PS 2 - Given the circumstances I have explained above would you all stay or go? Please reply "STAY" or "GO" if you can be asked

I've worked for 2 firms in the private sector, one multi-national while the other was much smaller, who got rid of their final salary pension schemes. I know about 15 people of whom 3 are good friends who worked for another private sector firm who got rid of their final salary pension scheme. Most of them now work elsewhere doing work they are much happier doing.

Therefore unless you are 10 years off from retirement I wouldn't count on any firm retaining their pension scheme, and even then they could make you redundant.

Finally my own mother died before she could claim her final salary pension. I actually got a pension out of it because I was a dependent child in higher education even though I could have worked to get the money and if I was that desperate one of my older siblings would have loaned it to me.

If she had retired early, even if she had died at the same time, she could have enjoyed herself rather than working until she dropped. I actually remember that until her department restructured, which was luckily just after she could have taken early retirement, she didn't like her job.

property.advert

Some seriously hard questions.

My gut feeling is that you don't have enough income per se and if you are only on 25k at age 35, then are you really going to get any more in the future ?

If you got £35k, you'd have to put so much away that you simply would not. You'd spend it.

I don't know what you do but is £25k a decent salary for what you do with your experience and at your age ?

How long have you been there ? How many years in the pension scheme already ?

What do you do for housing ?

What about your other half ?

More information needed really.

mulronie

A final salary pension isn't the be all and end all. I'd put money on your final salary scheme being closed by the time you hit 40 anyway, they are definitely on the endangered species list - even the public sector is due to move away from final salary soon.

If money is your motivation, the question you need to answer is: what salary and benefits would a new job need to offer to get you to move? There IS a right answer

You'd move for a £100k job with a defined contribution pension, surely? £80k? Probably. £50k? Probably. Keep working down until you say "stop" and see if you can get a job elsewhere, that you'd enjoy, paying you that figure or more.

tiernsee

GO

I need to be challenged and not stuck in a rut. Ten years ago I was in a private company with a final salary scheme (60ths) and went through the same thoughts as you did. I left and over the ten years my career has moved on and now, ten years later, find myself back at the same company as a Director. The final salary scheme went some years back and they now have a defined contribution scheme (which is still pretty good) - if I had stayed there is no way I'd have ended up being a Director (internal promotion is very limited) - the experience I got outside of the company meant I could jump quite a few rungs of the ladder. I think the key thing is to enjoy what you are doing, take control of your life and really review your work - how would you feel if fifteen years later you were still doing the same role for not much more money - would you rue the missed opportunities? Good luck with your decision.

Taadaa

Don't forget that you have based your calculations on the assumption that you will get a 2% pay rise per annum. Not necesarily the case. And you could be made redundant before you get there anyway.

Also not sure if you are a boy or a girl, but if you are a girl and you take AML this is non reckonable service so will not count towards your pension. Not sure what the circs would be if you were to take unpaid paternity leave ie 'swap' with the mother.

I am in a similar situation to you. I have a final salary pension, been paying in for 15 years but it's only worth a couple of grand pa at the moment. I am only still around because of the mat leave benefits. Intend to leave and start earning more at the earliest opportunity, although I know that when I move into consultancy I could earn as much in 3 days as I currently earn a month.