34 and no pension!!

jellykelly_2

Please help my husband has moved around jobs int he last 10yrs and every company (with exception to his current employer) have had a non contribution pension. He paid into one for a few years and stopped paying into it when he moved jobs. He then paid into another for less than two years and they sent a chq back of £1200 when he moved to his current employer (this has just been put into a savings account?!) anyway his current employer don't have a company scheme in place but under the new law will have something up and running by the end of 2014/beginning of 2015.

My problem is that time is ticking away and as we have high nursery fees etc we don't have the spare funds to pay large amounts into a pension fund. I have a been paying into a 3% workplace contribution pension since i was 23 but i'm still very worried about the future.

Is too late for him to pay into a pension to get any return from it? would it be better to invest the money elsewhere?

The only security we have is a fair amount of capital in our home but i suppose thats not great in a volatile housing market!!

Please help!

mania112

Paying into a pension is always the right thing to do.

As much as possible as soon as possible is the best advice, don't give up just because you think he's too old to start now, otherwise he'd be left with nothing in retirement, rather something.

Start a Personal Pension now, and accept the terms of the workplace pension when that begins.

jellykelly_2

Ok i suppose he can pay into the old pension he had, can he pay in the chq from the other too? The problem is that came with a letter to say it was tax deductable, so how does that work?! i'm useless with pensions...sorry!

mania112

He can pay in any amount up to 100% of salary (or £40,000 if that's lower).

He will be given tax relief based on the top rate of tax he pays. If he's a 40% tax payer he'll get an extra 40% paid in, and 20% tax = 20% extra.

The cheque which is now in your savings, can be paid back into the pension as a lump sum - so long as the amount is less than he earns this year.

mania112

Just seen the cheque was for £1200 - presumably he earns more than that, so it's fine to pay back in.

xylophone

Ok i suppose he can pay into the old pension he had, can he pay in the chq from the other too? The problem is that came with a letter to say it was tax deductable, so how does that work?! i'm useless with pensions...sorry!

I am surprised that he wasn't offered the option to transfer it to a pension scheme of his choice.

You mention old pensions - deferred final salary? He also has an old DC plan?

If he has a deferred FS/Defined benefits pension(s), this/ these can be left in place - he should advise the administrators of any change of address.

i suppose he can pay into the old pension he had,

Which old pension?