Pension paid into for 1 year, can i claim £ back

Shilo_2

I've started two pensions over the years, the first when I was 18, (18 years ago) into which I paid around £500 then stopped due to financial reasons. The second when I was around 30, into which I paid around £700 then stopped again for financial reasons. I still get correspondence from both Standard Life and Legal & General.

Can I Claim back the £1200 I’ve paid into these pension plans now?

Thanks

Rich1976

Shilo wrote: »

I've started two pensions over the years, the first when I was 18, (18 years ago) into which I paid around £500 then stopped due to financial reasons. The second when I was around 30, into which I paid around £700 then stopped again for financial reasons. I still get correspondence from both Standard Life and Legal & General.

Can I Claim back the £1200 I’ve paid into these pension plans now?

Thanks

No once you've paid it in thats it until you retire.

Rich1976

Rich1976 wrote: »

No once you've paid it in thats it until you retire.

You could of course transfer one of them to the other providing the insurance company allows transfers of that amount. At least then you would only receive one lot of paperwork each year instead of two.

dunstonh

Part of the contributions would also have been tax relief and you have also had tax free growth (and income for a while). The Govt doesnt allow you to access the money early because of the tax benefits.

If you are in your 30s (or older) and only have £1200 or so put aside for retirement you should perhaps consider doing something about it ASAP. The basic state pension of £4500 a year doesnt go very far.

Shilo_2

Thanks all.

Dunstonh, I've decided that property will be my pension. I'll try and transfer one to the other if i can though.

Dithering_Dad

Shilo wrote: »

Thanks all.

Dunstonh, I've decided that property will be my pension. I'll try and transfer one to the other if i can though.

Ah. Then I'd look forward to living in poverty for the last few years of your life...

EdInvestor

To be fair, if the OP is not contracted out, has worked throughout and is on average or better salary, he will be likely to get double the basic state pension - or more - because of his S2P/SERPS top up.

If he has property investments on top of that, he should be in line for a pension that is more than the average (currently 12k pp per year).

If he has no employer contributions into a pension he would be best to max out his stocks and shares ISA for additional retirement savings, as he will have used up his tax free band with his giant state pension.

Dithering_Dad

The trouble with property investing is that unless you have a large lump sum in the first place, the only way to do it is to borrow a large amount of money in the form of a mortgage. As the OP has twice had to stop paying into pensions due to 'financial reasons' it follows that there is a high likelyhood that these 'financial reasons' may occur again.

The thing is, with pensions or ISAs, if you stop paying into them, you still have the capital. With investment based on debt, if you stop paying into them you lose them and probably everything else you have.

I'm amazed with the number of people on MSE who are still thinking of investing in property to fund their mortgage. Not only has the BTL horse bolted, but the stable door fell off and the whole farmyard has burned down!

EdInvestor

Dithering_Dad wrote: »

The trouble with property investing is that unless you have a large lump sum in the first place, the only way to do it is to borrow a large amount of money in the form of a mortgage.

Yes.This is called a "geared investment".

An additional advantage with property investing is usually that someone else (the tenant) services the loan (by paying rent).

Additional benefits include:

#The investment receives excellent tax breaks
#Though not as liquid as shares or cash, it is much more liquid than say a pension
# Value of the asset and the income arising is likely to increase long term
#Comparatively low risk for a geared investment as lender will not require margin payments as long as loan is serviced
#Investment style is reasonable easy to understand for average person and legal side is pro-investor
#Reasonable infrastructure now exists to facilitate investment (specialist lenders with compettiive products, estate agents, insurers, growing pool of tenants etc.

With investment based on debt, if you stop paying into them you lose them

Most landlords will have at least 15% equity in a letting property, ifr only because most lenders require 85% LTV

Not only has the BTL horse bolted, but the stable door fell off and the whole farmyard has burned down!

It's certainly not the no-brainer it was when rental yields were well into double digits, but there are still parts of the country where it's worthwhile.

Dithering_Dad

I love ED, I really do. I have never met anyone so optimistic in my life. In Ed's world, nothing bad ever happens.

In real life though, people like this exist: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=6936285&postcount=1

Someone about to get a BTL by remortgaging their house to get the deposit, have done next to no research in the rental market and will be paying £180 per month to subsidise the property because the rental yeild is not high enough.

I don't think this person is an isolated case. The OP (and I apologise if I have made incorrect assumptions about you) has had two attempts at securing a pension, both times he has stopped for 'financial reasons'. It's not outrageous to think that he is in the same sort of financial state as the prospective BTL landlord on the attached link.

While I agree that for many of us who have quite good incomes and secure jobs, adding a BTL to your retirement portfolio of ISAs, traditional pensions and cash savings would probably work out nicely, this is not the case for everyone.

In fact, with the hassles of bad tenants, vacant occupancy, property maintenance, insurance payments, management charges, electican & gas checks I would say that a pension provided by property is by far too big a pain in the rectum than ISAs!

Shilo_2

I'm not using BTL mortgages, i bought a number of run down houses, gutted them, done them up and sold them at a profit (I'm an ex bricklayer, with plenty of contacts), I'm now a contracts manager for a risk assessment company...bricklaying's to much hard work!!! i used the profits to purchase more properties, and the rent more than covers the upkeep.