The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

wondercollie

I know the feeling @daz378.

If I leave tomorrow, my pension takes a hit.  If I survive to 65, I'll get around $1300/month and then my government pension.  Hubbie's pension has survivor's benefits., so that's a comfort.

The sad thing is, his Mum's house is worth over $5million and his share is $1.25million.   He just has to outlive her as she wrote the will so that only her surviving sons will inherit.  Nothing to her grandchildren.  She's 95 this month. 

My Mum's in roughly the same boat.   My Mum has left her money to our sons, so they are going to be alright.   

Floss

@daz378 I feel your pension pain and have added in a mortgage until I'm 67. Due to a 2nd marital breakdown & divorce I also have a large legal bill being slowly paid off.

2nd ex-husband did (eventually) transfer some of his pension fund to me but even with whatever is left in state pension pot and 14 years of NHS pension plus a couple of others, life doesn't look rosy for me in retirement. 

thriftwizard

I have no pension at  all, bar the state pension (I always paid my contributions) thanks to having had to stay home with DD2 when I might otherwise have returned to the workplace. It's lucky I enjoy what I do, for as long as I can keep on doing it, but it is quite physically demanding. (She says, wilting gently after setting up the stall for the weekend, 20 miles up the road...) That said, there are plenty of people much older than me still trading! Many of them thespians who may well have been absolutely excellent but never made the big time, and a number of "broken" teachers & nurses, amongst others. No pensions for theatricals, and not much for those who couldn't complete 30 years unbroken service, for whatever reason... OH does have a pension & is busy clocking up another one, but seems to think that I could survive on half of that if anything happened to him. Which of course I could, if there were only me to consider, but we do still have 3 young people living here too... I suspect the feather-bedding would have to end! We've never charged them rent, encouraging them to save up for deposits and acquire useful skills instead, but have never had any help for DD2, who only has a GP-level diagnosis, as there's no money for adult autism services on our county.

I know my mother worries about what would happen to me if anything untoward should happen, as whatever she leaves will be split amongst 8 of us. But I try to reassure her that she gave us a much more precious gift than mere money; she gave us the tools to survive & thrive with very little of it. And that, in my opinion, is a gift without price. I may not be able to afford the constant international holidays some of my siblings enjoy, but I do enjoy lots of other things & consider I have much to be thankful for. Long may that continue!

Thriftygifty

We also don't have pensions other than state pensions. It is a worry and something we need to sort as it is constantly at the back of my mind but with 3 little people and me unable to work full time for the moment, it's weighing up planning for the future/living for now.  Thankfully husband doesn't have expensive hobbies neither of us drink or smoke however we have spent a small fortune on shoes for the children this week by the time you get school shoes, trainers for PE and wellies for forest school and shoes for home it's scary the amount it adds up to. My shoes on the other hand I will be walking out of until they are replaced!

I haven't been staying on top of the larder so supplies are dwindled, there is alot of stuff in there baking wise I need to use up.

DS has declared that he wants a birthday party it will be his first party, who knew children's entertainers were so expensive although probably worth it. Must get my money saving head on and figure this out without it looking as though I have scrimped, I just have a horrible feeling that a large amount of children won't attend nor let us know if I book somewhere like the zoo, urgh decisions. 

euronorris

Thrifty, does your husband not have a work pension?

Daz, DB schemes have a Normal Retirement Date (NRD), and if you claim before then, early retirement reduction factors are applied. That coupled with you stopping working would have a significant impact on the amount you would get. Though your job sounds very demanding both physically and mentally, so I can see why you are looking forward to retiring ASAP.

Any payments into a pension one can afford are better than nothing. Same goes for life assurance for those with kids. I know it's often the last thing people budget for, as the cover you actually need can be very expensive (depending on age and health), but any cover is better than none.

I am moving job. I was contacted again by a company that tried to recruit me 3 years ago. My current employer increased my salary at the time and made a bunch of promises about progression, which they then failed to follow through on. So, I'm moving to the other company with a proven track record of progressing employees internally. Better pay, better benefits, better progression. The company is doing very well, but even so a bit nerve wracking moving during a pandemic. All the same, I'm looking forward to it now. I have a 3 month notice period though, so won't actually move until early November.

Thriftygifty

@euronorris DH has a very small work pension that the Gov bought in for all companies but its hardly anything DH was looking at changing jobs so we never sorted it then the pandemic hit 🙄. We have life insurance but again need to look at that now we have DS3. We have alot of life admin to do! It's been a struggle since my Dad went that everything has just been swept under the carpet, I think it's time I need to lift it and sort ASAP. 

Congratulations on the new job that sounds exciting 😊. 

greenbee

@euronorris - I changed jobs in October, and it was fine, so hopefully your move will be too. I haven’t met any of my new team, as they’re all in North America, but I’ve worked remotely for years so it isn’t really an issue now they’re all finally getting the hang of it!

I don’t think it’s ever worth taking counter-offers… if your employer can’t give you pay rises and promotions unless you threaten to walk then they don’t appreciate you. 

Pensions are definitely worth investing in if you can - they’re very tax efficient, and you can’t accidentally spend them.

Wraithlady

greenbee said

I don’t think it’s ever worth taking counter-offers… if your employer can’t give you pay rises and promotions unless you threaten to walk then they don’t appreciate you. 

I got given exactly that advice by a recruiter, and I'm convinced they were right.

In my previous job, we had three years of pay freezes and cutbacks and, when I asked for a pay rise, I was told 'there wasn't any money spare' to facilitate that. Handed my notice in , and suddenly, there was magically enough money to give me a pay rise.

I didn't accept the offer, and am now in a better job. 

euronorris

Yes, was a lesson learnt for me. I very much liked the company I'm currently with back then, so was happy to stay. But not now. They've had their chance, time to move on.

Thriftygifty, that's understandable. Life admin can feel overwhelming at the best of times. I put multiple reminders in my phone calendar now, or it doesn't happen!

daz378

Yea I'm aware of penalties before NRD.. and 61  10k a year would cover my basic Bill's   if I needed too  and augment with a part time non pressure job....plus I'm saving  every month so in 5 years   will hopefully have a few grand to fall back on .  ..but if I'm still happy to do the job   will stay on as long as I can