DFWBers .... let's not ignore pensions

GeorgianaCavendish

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Stopping pension contributions should only be done once you have done everything else you can to reduce the debt - move to 0%, cutting costs, increasing income. Years quickly pass and if it will take you a while to get rid of the debt that is a lot of compounding to pass up, let alone the 6% your employer is contributing. I would definitely not recommend you stop paying into your pension.

This is what I suspected, thank you for confirming!

CapricornLass

Personally for me pension contributions were a priority payment. Contributions made early on in your life dont have to be as large to reach the same amount as if you waited for several years, simply because it has longer to build up I'm not sure of the figures exactly, and no doubt someone else will be able to quote them, but I do know the amount you have to pay to achieve a set amount at retirement increases with age over a very short time period, e.g. a 25 year old would have to pay £100 a month until 68 get £10Kpa, but if payments are put off until age 35, then they would have to pay £200.

If the employer is offering a pension plan, then it is sense to join that and to pay into it. I appreciate that its not so easy if you are funding the plan yourself. However, I think it's important to at least pay something into a pension. If you can only manage a small amount at the moment, then fine. You should review it and increase the amount when you clear the debt., or in smaller increases as your pay goes up. The main thing is to start, and to start as early as you can.

angelpye

Hi all, I haven't got a pension I pay into right now and it does worry me. I do know that I paid into two plans with previous employers but have no idea what to do about them and only know who one was with if I can still find the paperwork. Having only just got my sensible finance head on I realise I need to address this. Do I contact old employer to find out who with? If so can I consolidate them and set up a payment? I have no idea how any of this works

another_casualty

angelpye wrote: »

Hi all, I haven't got a pension I pay into right now and it does worry me. I do know that I paid into two plans with previous employers but have no idea what to do about them and only know who one was with if I can still find the paperwork. Having only just got my sensible finance head on I realise I need to address this. Do I contact old employer to find out who with? If so can I consolidate them and set up a payment? I have no idea how any of this works

I would suggest contacting your pensions dept. In both companies you previously worked for . Ask them to send you paperwork to your home address . If you are working currently, you could ask to see the pensions person and they could advise you what to do with your 2 pensions .

another_casualty

I have left my last company in November . That means I'll have a few months shortfall I guess. It means I have 3 pensions not worth much, just sitting there right now.
One other thing: is it true that , you're supposed to get an annual statement from your pension company ?

angelpye

No current employer but have also posted on Pension forum to see if they can advise. I did the search through the guide on here but it didn't come up. Will email company tomorrow. Thanks for reply

ani*fan

another_casualty wrote: »

I treat it as a necessity . I made one or two mistakes by transferring one pension to another as I was naive and in my late 20's.but that's another story. Good topic

Do you mind me asking what the mistakes were? I'm pondering doing something similar.