Help: Husband's Personal Pension is worthless

DairyQueen

Blusoop wrote: »

Full time work could be tricky for me with receiving carers as you are only allowed to earn £120 pw. But I'm wondering if I worked in a school I could earn more pw so long as over the year it worked out at £120 pw?

DWP may allow you to average your earnings over a 'cycle of work' (i.e. annual term-time only) in order to avoid exceeding the £120 max weekly earnings. However, this is discretionary so definitely check with them as usually the max is imposed week-by-week.

The good news is that the £120 is net of 'allowable deductions' and you can deduct 50% of contributions paid into a work or personal pension before the max is applied. You could therefore earn (say) £180 pw and pay £120 of that into a pension whilst still qualifying for carers allowance (£60 of the pension contribution would be an allowable deduction and keep you within the max £120). Here.

cloud_dog

Blusoop wrote: »

Full time work could be tricky for me with receiving carers as you are only allowed to earn £120 pw. But I'm wondering if I worked in a school I could earn more pw so long as over the year it worked out at £120 pw?

Whilst our DD was young (just starting school) my OH got a job as a lunchtime supervisor (dinner lady:)). This provided approx £180pm, and she was enrolled in the LGPS (very very small amount of money but that is not the point). She was able to get to know the school and importantly for the school to get to know her. They had vacancies for teaching assistant, and when she applied they paid the course fees.

She is now a TA Grade 3 (I think is the term), and whilst the job she does is nothing like her employment prior to a DD it is one that fits around school term time and one she gets immense satisfaction out of.

Is either of these worth considering?

atush

Blusoop wrote: »

bostonerimus

Your projection may well be lower than you'll actually get because the same current low interest rates that give very large pension CETVs will give low income projections. You also have time to save. So take all the money you were paying in mortgage and invest it in either a pension plan or your ISAs./QUOTE]

Which would be best add to pension plan or put it in an ISA?

Maybe when I sort out my employment I should plough a good whack of the money into my pension which I probably only paid into for 2 yrs. And start making payments from my DHs wages into an ISA?

Yes you should do this. Every 100 into the pension will cost you 80.

atush

Dox wrote: »

Bit of an intrusive question, surely? Can't see how it is relevant to helping OP.

All the questions we ask for pensions ae a little intrusive.

In this case the OP is on carer's allowance so one assume the child has some sort of condition ie is disabled.