Buy to Let for retirement

Jaco70

atush said:

"Pros : The rents pay the mortgage, meaning you don’t have to dedicate a large chunk of other earnings (I run a small unrelated business) to building a pot."

This is a con.  Because if it was earned income (or you have other earned income you culd replace with excess rentals) you could be getting tax relief on this income. Building a pot, if you have BTL or not is a Good thing.
Increased taxes on BTL plus no tax relief means nowadays, BTL is worse than a pension (esp if you have an employers pension)

"You don’t spend your pot (the properties) on buying an income, in the way you do with an annuity, so therefore you should in effect leave your pension pot and income to your loved ones."

You dont have to buy an annuity

"Cons : You are managing your own pension, in a way that you don’t have to with a standard pension."

You dont have to manage your own pension if you dont want to.  use trackers. PPs with funds or hire an IFA.  As for bad tenants and void periods, this is another risk of BTLs.

I think most of your comments regarding the advantages of pensions have already been said on here, and I don't disagree at all as I am happy to admit that I don't understand pensions, although I am learning. I think my point about not having the spare funds to build a decent pension between the ages of 20 and 40 is still valid though.
With regard to your final point, I think you misunderstood there. I was saying that owning BTL has the disadvantage of having to manage your own pension, not that that is a disadvantage of a DC pension.

atush

If you dont have enough money to invest in a pension from 20-40 then you are spending too much.  Cut back.  Esp in these days of auto enrollement and mandatory employer contributions.

And i have 3 boys in their 20's all of whom pay into pensions.

Jaco70

atush said:

If you dont have enough money to invest in a pension from 20-40 then you are spending too much.  Cut back.  Esp in these days of auto enrollement and mandatory employer contributions.

And i have 3 boys in their 20's all of whom pay into pensions.

Thank you, that’s very helpful. I’m 49. I will take it on board though.