55 and wanting to save 1,000 a month!

Ms_Monkey

H! - I'm 55. I'm single & pay into a workplace pension but started late (only 5 years ago). I own my own home & am debt free with very low out-goings. I can save £1,000 a month & am happy to tie it up for 5 years but then may need to access it as don't think i can carry on working full-time in my 60s. Any advice about where to put my money will be greatly appreciated. Occasionally, i may be able to go up to £1250 a month. Thank you.
p.s I can't contribute anymore to my workplace pension

Zero_Sum

Depends on how much faff on you're prepared to do.

As you're putting a bit away every month, id be looking at regular savers but normally can only put in £250 a month so would need a few of them.

eskbanker

Ms_Monkey wrote: »

p.s I can't contribute anymore to my workplace pension

Nothing stopping you from setting up one of your own though if you're essentially planning for retirement, see https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/cheap-sipps/ for further details, plus the various articles at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/pensions/.

You'd benefit from tax relief on what you pay in, although may be taxed on 75% of what you take out later on, depending on what your finances are going to look like at 65+, but if you've only just started paying into a pension five years ago, you're probably not looking at massive retirement income anyway unless there are other factors not mentioned?

Ms_Monkey

Hi- many thanks, for taking time to respond.
My employer pays into Teachers Pensions. I have paid the maximum i am allowed to pay into the Teachers Pensions additional pension scheme.
My employer doesn't offer any salary sacrifice schemes.
Can i pay into People's Pension & benefit from tax relief even though my employer is still making contributions into my Teachers Pension?

Zero_Sum

Ms_Monkey wrote: »

Hi- many thanks, for taking time to respond.
My employer pays into Teachers Pensions. I have paid the maximum i am allowed to pay into the Teachers Pensions additional pension scheme.
My employer doesn't offer any salary sacrifice schemes.
Can i pay into People's Pension & benefit from tax relief even though my employer is still making contributions into my Teachers Pension?

Could be worth looking at
https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/members/working-life/paying-in/increasing-your-pension/additional-voluntary-contributions.aspx

xylophone

Why People's Pension?

Ms_Monkey

xylophone wrote: »

Why People's Pension?

Because it is a non for profit pension scheme

jimjames

£1000 a month would easily fit in a S&S ISA if you can't/don't want to use pensions

Zero_Sum

jimjames wrote: »

£1000 a month would easily fit in a S&S ISA if you can't/don't want to use pensions

Would 5 years not be a bit too short team for S&S?

eskbanker

Zero_Sum wrote: »

jimjames wrote: »

£1000 a month would easily fit in a S&S ISA if you can't/don't want to use pensions

Would 5 years not be a bit too short team for S&S?

Five years would indeed be right at the bottom end of most people's views on investment horizons but in the context of OP needing access to £60-75K of money to be accumulated between 55 and 60, it would be unlikely that she'd need it all in one big lump on her 60th birthday (although obviously if it's drip-fed monthly then most would have been invested for substantially less than five years anyway).

I suspect that the most sensible thing for OP to do is to work out a target financial plan for retirement (e.g. how much she'd be needing/wanting to have access to and how much the state and workplace pensions would be paying out, and from when for each of course) and take it from there in terms of how to close the gap between these....

xylophone

Have you obtained a new state pension forecast?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Is PP offered as a workplace pension rather than as an individual personal pension?

Had you thought of a simple stakeholder?

https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/stakeholder-and-personal-pensions/aviva/

https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/personal-pensions/contributing-to-a-private-pension-explained/tax-relief-on-pension-contributions-explained-a27f53z7qg3f

Your LGPS pension contribution will be made before tax.

A contribution to a personal pension/stakeholder will be made after tax.

https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions/managing-your-pension