ooooo what to buy myself

elantan

so my company have started the NEST pension plan for it's employees, i spose i really should be grateful as before this they were not willing to put anything into a pension at all, yes i didnt get a wage rise this year ( or last year or the year before etc) but atleast i get some pension contributions

now i am 40 and only working part time ( cant get a full time job in my field for love nor money) i do try and pay what i can into my pension but with only taking home £800 a month it is quite hard and actually impossible when i have paid my share of the household bills.

anyway enough moaning about that it is what it is and i am doing the best i can to put myself into as good a position as i can, my company currently pay £8 a month into my pension and i pay £8 a month into my pension

it did get me wondering what exciting thing i could spend my whole ohhh it must be what £1 a month or so( when i come to retire) on, and what benefits will that mean that i will no longer have access to

so i'm thinking a whole £1 a month ermmmm maybe a current 10p sweetie ?

anyone else had thoughts along this line?

Lokolo

Perhaps you should think about when you're going to be able to retire because from the sounds of things you aren't planning to!

elantan

oh no i am planning and doing the best i can ...it may not be as good as most people, but with only earning £800 a month it is quite hard

i'm just thinking about my NEST pension here

annie1975_2

elantan wrote: »

oh no i am planning and doing the best i can ...it may not be as good as most people, but with only earning £800 a month it is quite hard

i'm just thinking about my NEST pension here

£800 is nothing is it.This government go on about "Oh you should be saving for your retirement"....Urmmmm hello people need to pay bills and put food on the table first before thinking about retirement.And there wont be much (if anything) left out of £800 when bills have been paid,.

elantan

theres nothing left at all from my wages, thankfully my husband earns more than me and covers the bills i can't, but it doesnt allow me much left to save money for retirement.

in the meantime i am applying for every job that is suitable and hopefully one day my situation will change

atush

I think new employment s the answer. Where yolou can work a full week, not part time.

16 quid a month going into your pension isn't enough.

elantan

no it certainly isnt Atush, and i am looking have been for over a year now,

i do have other money going into a personal pension and i do save a small amount in an i.s.a for early retirement ( i plan on retiring 5 years early .... so that i am retiring at the same time as my husband)

but all this has only been possible because my husband earns a better wage than me. if i was to rely on my wage alone i would not manage to survive never mind be able to save for pensions

that was not the reason for my thread though

it was more a tongue in cheek look at how "great" these pensions can be for people £16 a month is not enough to tide a person over when they retire i think i would genuinely get a whole £1 a month and that would buy me very very little

i am sure i am not the only person that finds themselves in this situation either

dunstonh

elantan wrote: »

oh no i am planning and doing the best i can ...it may not be as good as most people, but with only earning £800 a month it is quite hard

i'm just thinking about my NEST pension here

What is it that you are doing then as you say you have nothing left over? Is NEST better than what you are doing? After all it does in effect give you free money whereas other options do not.

elantan

well halfing bills with hubby looks something like this

mortgage £278
council tax £110
gas and electricity £70
food £140
car payments £123
diesel £80
insurances £56
visa's £175
car insurance £12.5
house insurance £16 ( we got burgled and our premium went up)
mobile phone £35 a month

then ofcourse there are the other things i try and contribute to


pension wise what i am currently trying to do is put 12.5% of my wages ( pre tax) into my personal pension, this doesnt always happen sadly if i have to pay the bills, the only help i get with that is the tax stuff from the government, with the NEST plan my company will only pay 1% no more so i do take whatever money i can from them as although £8 a month isnt a lot it is better than what i was getting before

i know being 40 i should be putting roughly 20% of my wages by but that is just impossible at this stage for me, i am actively seeking a new job so that i can pay more into my pension

i know for some people £800 a month can stretch really far but for myself it doesnt

jamesd

Assuming you continued at £16 per month growing with inflation for 28 years until state pension age at a real (inflation-adjusted) growth rate of 4% you'd have £9768 at the end. Enough for about £40 a month if using income drawdown. Or a lump sum of about £2442 and monthly income of £30.

If the growth was 5%, about the long term UK stock market rate, it'd be £11,468 and £48 a month.

Not huge numbers but not too bad considering your out of pocket cost will only be £6.40 a month. If in normal health around half of people would live to get the income for at least 20 years, likely to be more like 25-30 by the time you get there.

The rules for auto-enrollment are deliberately set up so that those who are on low incomes don't end up paying much in. That's to try to keep the cost from being excessive for them. Seems to apply to you.

In your case, best to just stick with whatever your employer will pay into NEST and what you have to do to get that and put he rest somewhere else as you're already doing.

The NEST default investment option is probably bad for you. They may have put you into a low risk option instead of a higher growth one. Best to check and switch if they have done that. Unless you really do want low growth.

elantan

have to admit i didnt know it would be as much as that , it would also only be for 23 years as i plan on retiring early ... and yes for £6.40 a month that isnt too bad... fingers crossed that when i get a new job it will be much better... i really sympathy for other people though that may land up with just that per month, and i have no doubt it will take me over the limit for any further government help

i doubt it if i will live the 25 to 30 years sadly ... probably lucky to last 10 tbh as i have had a mini stroke so far ... so i think that no doubt i will die younger than the average person, but i do understand what you are saying about getting it for the long term