Am I On Track?

1813

El_Torro said:

To try to get this thread back on track, I would say it's difficult to say whether your pension is on track or not. If you're going to work for the NHS for the next 30 years and continue to pay into the pension scheme during this time, then you'll probably have decent DB pension provision to have an OK retirement. It doesn't hurt to look at other investments though, like a DC pension or Stocks & Shares ISAs. 

What I would be more concerned about is that you don't plan to buy a property This is not only economically sub optimal, it also leads to insecurity in the future. Do you really want your landlord to be free to kick you out when you're 80 years old? At this stage I would be more concerned about this than your pension.

Of course if you do plan to rent forever you'll need to ensure that your income in retirement is enough to pay the rent. 

Well in regards to property, I see really cheap ones on Zoopla for around 10k onward but I am not sure if they are a good idea or not tbh - if this is feasible then yes I could possibly raise funds to fund this as I am seriously considering downsizing my personal stock at home - in regards to rent, if rent went up with inflation then its very possible I could afford to rent in future but its difficult to say for definite as not everything is the same where rent is concerned. I believe on a good day I may, if I was really lucky, may be able to secure between 15-20k for my stock. 

ZeroSum

1813 said:

El_Torro said:

To try to get this thread back on track, I would say it's difficult to say whether your pension is on track or not. If you're going to work for the NHS for the next 30 years and continue to pay into the pension scheme during this time, then you'll probably have decent DB pension provision to have an OK retirement. It doesn't hurt to look at other investments though, like a DC pension or Stocks & Shares ISAs. 

What I would be more concerned about is that you don't plan to buy a property This is not only economically sub optimal, it also leads to insecurity in the future. Do you really want your landlord to be free to kick you out when you're 80 years old? At this stage I would be more concerned about this than your pension.

Of course if you do plan to rent forever you'll need to ensure that your income in retirement is enough to pay the rent. 

Well in regards to property, I see really cheap ones on Zoopla for around 10k onward but I am not sure if they are a good idea or not tbh - if this is feasible then yes I could possibly raise funds to fund this as I am seriously considering downsizing my personal stock at home - in regards to rent, if rent went up with inflation then its very possible I could afford to rent in future but its difficult to say for definite as not everything is the same where rent is concerned. I believe on a good day I may, if I was really lucky, may be able to secure between 15-20k for my stock. 

Whereabouts do you live?
If down south, then you've probably got no chance of getting on property ladder. But plenty of places in North / Wales /NI that are affordable to low wage singleton 

1813

ZeroSum said:

1813 said:

El_Torro said:

To try to get this thread back on track, I would say it's difficult to say whether your pension is on track or not. If you're going to work for the NHS for the next 30 years and continue to pay into the pension scheme during this time, then you'll probably have decent DB pension provision to have an OK retirement. It doesn't hurt to look at other investments though, like a DC pension or Stocks & Shares ISAs. 

What I would be more concerned about is that you don't plan to buy a property This is not only economically sub optimal, it also leads to insecurity in the future. Do you really want your landlord to be free to kick you out when you're 80 years old? At this stage I would be more concerned about this than your pension.

Of course if you do plan to rent forever you'll need to ensure that your income in retirement is enough to pay the rent. 

Well in regards to property, I see really cheap ones on Zoopla for around 10k onward but I am not sure if they are a good idea or not tbh - if this is feasible then yes I could possibly raise funds to fund this as I am seriously considering downsizing my personal stock at home - in regards to rent, if rent went up with inflation then its very possible I could afford to rent in future but its difficult to say for definite as not everything is the same where rent is concerned. I believe on a good day I may, if I was really lucky, may be able to secure between 15-20k for my stock. 

Whereabouts do you live?
If down south, then you've probably got no chance of getting on property ladder. But plenty of places in North / Wales /NI that are affordable to low wage singleton 

Hi ZeroSum,
I live in the South so yes realistically would be very tough, if at all possible.... But I am looking at places up North but haven't really looked at Wales or NI yet but when I do look at sites such as Zoopla, I am skeptical when I see property cheap (from 10k onwards) which makes me wonder but if it is at all possible to be able to secure a cheap property, it is something i'd be very interested to do.

ZeroSum

1813 said:

ZeroSum said:

1813 said:

El_Torro said:

To try to get this thread back on track, I would say it's difficult to say whether your pension is on track or not. If you're going to work for the NHS for the next 30 years and continue to pay into the pension scheme during this time, then you'll probably have decent DB pension provision to have an OK retirement. It doesn't hurt to look at other investments though, like a DC pension or Stocks & Shares ISAs. 

What I would be more concerned about is that you don't plan to buy a property This is not only economically sub optimal, it also leads to insecurity in the future. Do you really want your landlord to be free to kick you out when you're 80 years old? At this stage I would be more concerned about this than your pension.

Of course if you do plan to rent forever you'll need to ensure that your income in retirement is enough to pay the rent. 

Well in regards to property, I see really cheap ones on Zoopla for around 10k onward but I am not sure if they are a good idea or not tbh - if this is feasible then yes I could possibly raise funds to fund this as I am seriously considering downsizing my personal stock at home - in regards to rent, if rent went up with inflation then its very possible I could afford to rent in future but its difficult to say for definite as not everything is the same where rent is concerned. I believe on a good day I may, if I was really lucky, may be able to secure between 15-20k for my stock. 

Whereabouts do you live?
If down south, then you've probably got no chance of getting on property ladder. But plenty of places in North / Wales /NI that are affordable to low wage singleton 

Hi ZeroSum,
I live in the South so yes realistically would be very tough, if at all possible.... But I am looking at places up North but haven't really looked at Wales or NI yet but when I do look at sites such as Zoopla, I am skeptical when I see property cheap (from 10k onwards) which makes me wonder but if it is at all possible to be able to secure a cheap property, it is something i'd be very interested to do.

There's a pit village not too far from me where you can pick up old 2 bed terraced houses for about £15k. But there's a reason why it's so cheap & would seriously avoid. Saying that, you can pick up something decent for around the £60k in the surrounding area

barnstar2077

I think your best bet would be to take a very long look at your outgoings and set yourself a monthly budget.  Then put the rest into your savings / pensions.  Someone living at home who is working full time, even on minimum wage. should be able to save well over £500 a month without even trying.

You never know what the future holds, the more you can save / invest now the more options you will have in the future.  You could get to sixty with an ailment that makes working really hard.  Knuckle down now, your future self will thank you!

1813

ZeroSum said:

1813 said:

ZeroSum said:

1813 said:

El_Torro said:

To try to get this thread back on track, I would say it's difficult to say whether your pension is on track or not. If you're going to work for the NHS for the next 30 years and continue to pay into the pension scheme during this time, then you'll probably have decent DB pension provision to have an OK retirement. It doesn't hurt to look at other investments though, like a DC pension or Stocks & Shares ISAs. 

What I would be more concerned about is that you don't plan to buy a property This is not only economically sub optimal, it also leads to insecurity in the future. Do you really want your landlord to be free to kick you out when you're 80 years old? At this stage I would be more concerned about this than your pension.

Of course if you do plan to rent forever you'll need to ensure that your income in retirement is enough to pay the rent. 

Well in regards to property, I see really cheap ones on Zoopla for around 10k onward but I am not sure if they are a good idea or not tbh - if this is feasible then yes I could possibly raise funds to fund this as I am seriously considering downsizing my personal stock at home - in regards to rent, if rent went up with inflation then its very possible I could afford to rent in future but its difficult to say for definite as not everything is the same where rent is concerned. I believe on a good day I may, if I was really lucky, may be able to secure between 15-20k for my stock. 

Whereabouts do you live?
If down south, then you've probably got no chance of getting on property ladder. But plenty of places in North / Wales /NI that are affordable to low wage singleton 

Hi ZeroSum,
I live in the South so yes realistically would be very tough, if at all possible.... But I am looking at places up North but haven't really looked at Wales or NI yet but when I do look at sites such as Zoopla, I am skeptical when I see property cheap (from 10k onwards) which makes me wonder but if it is at all possible to be able to secure a cheap property, it is something i'd be very interested to do.

There's a pit village not too far from me where you can pick up old 2 bed terraced houses for about £15k. But there's a reason why it's so cheap & would seriously avoid. Saying that, you can pick up something decent for around the £60k in the surrounding area

Thanks ZeroSum, I did see some properties for 10k onward, as I said, on Zoopla, but was skeptical, to be honest. It may be they could be alright. The properties were flats / studios. Raising 60k may prove to be a challenge for me but I really do need to knuckle down and sort myself out. I don't believe I am doing too badly but with a few tweaks, here and there, I don't believe it is too late for me. I don't have the greatest confidence in myself and things have not been easy at times. A friend of mine said I could have made better choices in my past and I agree so at least I am man enough to see that and realise changes need to be made. I am not too concerned retiring at 68, its not ideal, but its not unusual. My biggest concerns are my handling of money and losing my job. I will be honest and say I do feel like I have failed but it could be much worse, to be honest and some people at my age have never worked or have any savings, some many years older. I need to work out a strategem and stick to it. 

1813

barnstar2077 said:

I think your best bet would be to take a very long look at your outgoings and set yourself a monthly budget.  Then put the rest into your savings / pensions.  Someone living at home who is working full time, even on minimum wage. should be able to save well over £500 a month without even trying.

You never know what the future holds, the more you can save / invest now the more options you will have in the future.  You could get to sixty with an ailment that makes working really hard.  Knuckle down now, your future self will thank you!

Excellent advice, tyvm

crv1963

OP- Don't look back at the past and think too hard about choices or mistakes made. That is not the direction you are going and you can't change those choices now. You can however do what you're doing and learn from those choices to not repeat them so making better informed decisions now. 

I think your immediate need is to look at your outgoings and trim any excesses down, live a life but have spending under control. Then look to save a decent amount into a rainy day fund, I'd think about opening a LISA especially if you have never owned a property. That could then be used either from age 60 onwards or if you do find yourself in a position to make a house purchase as a deposit for it. I'd probably split my savings between the LISA and the rainy day fund on a monthly basis at this stage. Then with say 3-6 months salary in the bag I'd look to increase retirement savings.

If you have debt then start getting that paid down too, probably along with saving. If no debt then great, if you have a credit card keep the spending down, pay off each month- it does boost your credit rating if you demonstrate sound use of cards and use less than 50% of what the credit limit is. 

Work wise I'd look to secure a full time role in the NHS if possible or increase the Bank hours possibly looking to work in more than one Trust. If that is not possible I'd look to try to see if there is any other way of boosting income, I have a friend who is a Teacher and she worked as a bar maid two evenings a week for a while solely to pay for her monthly personal spending. Another friend cuts his elderly neighbours lawns weekly in the spring/ summer doesn't ask anything but they give him a fiver a time for a couple of pints- beer averages £2.80 here! He saves it up and we go to the local beer festival in the autumn.

I think you starting to tackle the pension/ retirement planning is great and well done to you for doing so - you are in a minority along with the rest of us on here, so don't be put off by any seemingly harsh comments- it's an open forum, and people speak their minds.

1813

crv1963 said:

OP- Don't look back at the past and think too hard about choices or mistakes made. That is not the direction you are going and you can't change those choices now. You can however do what you're doing and learn from those choices to not repeat them so making better informed decisions now. 

I think your immediate need is to look at your outgoings and trim any excesses down, live a life but have spending under control. Then look to save a decent amount into a rainy day fund, I'd think about opening a LISA especially if you have never owned a property. That could then be used either from age 60 onwards or if you do find yourself in a position to make a house purchase as a deposit for it. I'd probably split my savings between the LISA and the rainy day fund on a monthly basis at this stage. Then with say 3-6 months salary in the bag I'd look to increase retirement savings.

If you have debt then start getting that paid down too, probably along with saving. If no debt then great, if you have a credit card keep the spending down, pay off each month- it does boost your credit rating if you demonstrate sound use of cards and use less than 50% of what the credit limit is. 

Work wise I'd look to secure a full time role in the NHS if possible or increase the Bank hours possibly looking to work in more than one Trust. If that is not possible I'd look to try to see if there is any other way of boosting income, I have a friend who is a Teacher and she worked as a bar maid two evenings a week for a while solely to pay for her monthly personal spending. Another friend cuts his elderly neighbours lawns weekly in the spring/ summer doesn't ask anything but they give him a fiver a time for a couple of pints- beer averages £2.80 here! He saves it up and we go to the local beer festival in the autumn.

I think you starting to tackle the pension/ retirement planning is great and well done to you for doing so - you are in a minority along with the rest of us on here, so don't be put off by any seemingly harsh comments- it's an open forum, and people speak their minds.

Thank you - I do feel I have to face reality but at the same time, I don't feel as if I have done too badly either. I do not have much of a clue what the figure is for what I need to strive for but based on research, I have some idea. As I say, all I care about is a roof over my head and essentials. The rest is just a bonus as things such as holidays are not essential as i have seen so much of the world already so I can live with the odd luxury here and there. I am not greedy. Of course I want to strive for what I can but at the moment, just want to try and formulate a plan on where to go from here....

barnstar2077

As crv1963 said, don't beat yourself up about it, just focus on the future.  A lot of people on these forums have had their own Matrix moment where they woke up one day and realised that they need to take better control of their finances.  Most people stagger through life reacting to what happens to them instead of creating the future that they want for themselves.  I wish you well in your endeavours!