confused

lizjay

Can anyone offer advise or guide me to a site for help. I'm a 56 year old female in part time employment earning £250 per week. I have just been enrolled into the workplace pension and i'm just not sure if this is worth my while financially. I intend to try and retire at around 66 so in ten years time when I will have my State Pension to fall back on plus my husbands private pension. The money I will pay in over the next ten years will probably never be recouped so is it worth it. can anyone help please?

AnotherJoe

lizjay wrote: »

Can anyone offer advise or guide me to a site for help. I'm a 56 year old female in part time employment earning £250 per week. I have just been enrolled into the workplace pension and i'm just not sure if this is worth my while financially. I intend to try and retire at around 66 so in ten years time when I will have my State Pension to fall back on plus my husbands private pension. The money I will pay in over the next ten years will probably never be recouped so is it worth it. can anyone help please?

I dont see how anyone can help (with one proviso) without knowing details of the employers pension scheme.

The proviso - To say the money you put in "will probably never be recouped" is almost certainly not only wrong, but to coin a phrase "not even wrong" since you'll most likely get back much more than you put in.

xylophone

The money I will pay in over the next ten years will probably never be recouped so is it worth it

Why do you think this?

You contribute, your employer contributes and your contribution receives tax relief.

Have you read the information supplied by your pension provider?

lizjay

Oh sorry I will be contributing 1% as will my employer until 2018 then 5% and 2% by employer then in 2019 8% and 3% by employer.

lizjay

the pension provider is nowpensions.com and yes I have read the information but I think i'm having a senior moment because i don't really understand it sorry.

xylophone

Have you yet obtained a state pension statement?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-a-state-pension-statement

Over the next ten years you and your employer will be contributing to the pension scheme and you will receive tax relief on what you contribute.

This means that for every £80 you contribute to your pension, the government will contribute £20.

The contributions will be invested through the scheme.

It is very unlikely ( investment performance would have had to have been disastrous) that you would not realise at least the value of your contributions at retirement.

You can keep an eye on your fund value as you go along. http://www.nowpensions.com/help-centre/faqs/administration/do-now-pensions-tell-the-member-how-much-they-have-in-the-fund

lizjay

Thankyou thats been very helpful sorry if I sounded a bit of a twit

xylophone

You didn't sound like a twit!

It is the case that your pension will be dependent on investment performance.

However, your contributions are augmented by those of your employer and the government and you would certainly hope that after ten years your benefits would exceed your contributions.

Do check your state pension situation.

atush

Basically, think about it like this.

For every 8 quid you put in, the govt will make it up to 10. And then your employer will add 10. So you will get 20 into your pension at a cost of 8 to you.

Does that sound good? Does that sound like free money?

And then the money is invested, and will grow over the decades.