How much to live on

arnoldy

Albermarle said:

It is not so complicated 
If you have no employment earnings in a tax year ( pension does not count) you can only contribute £2880 to a pension.
If you have employment earnings in a tax year ( even if you only work for part of it) you can contribute up to that level ( gross, including tax relief).
How much tax you actually pay, and how much tax relief you can get, are not related . They are calculated by different rules. 

So, if you earned nothing you can contribute 2,880 toped up by 720 = £3,600 gross.

If you earned £100 in a year, you could only contribute £80 topped up by £20 = £100 gross?

Kim1965

daz378 said:

I will be 57  near end of march ...so hope  retirement age is not raised before then....I'm a carer   although rewarding can be stressful...used to be a council carer...so tupe as lasted  so far.....live in a council flat just over 400 pound rent....lgps pension was paying approx 60/70 a month....in 2001 when started...today around 150....savings around 10 k   pay 30 a month credit union out of wages...40 a month stocks and shares isa and 40 a month simple saver, money box...Will ask for my figures when I'm 60... Will need to do a forensic assessment   of my finances...Will probably need to go to 62....almost scared to do the forensic assessment...as it will dispel my optimistic dream of early retirement....also a plug for pensions board forum...they are very helpful....

It may be that part time retirement is more practical than full retirement. Rent of 5.2k  pushes up your number. 

Albermarle

arnoldy said:

Albermarle said:

It is not so complicated 
If you have no employment earnings in a tax year ( pension does not count) you can only contribute £2880 to a pension.
If you have employment earnings in a tax year ( even if you only work for part of it) you can contribute up to that level ( gross, including tax relief).
How much tax you actually pay, and how much tax relief you can get, are not related . They are calculated by different rules. 

So, if you earned nothing you can contribute 2,880 toped up by 720 = £3,600 gross.

If you earned £100 in a year, you could only contribute £80 topped up by £20 = £100 gross?

To clarify.

If you earn less than £3600 ( including no earnings at all ), you can contribute £3,600 gross (£2880 from you and £720 tax relief).
If you earn more than that, you can contribute all your gross salary whether you have earned enough to pay any tax on it, or not.
If you are a higher earner, there are some limits on how much you can contribute.

jevbanx1

Thank you for all this. I worked this tax year until the end of August. I left work end of July but had a full month's annual leave still to take, so my retirement date was 31/8. 
I don't think I'm too much clearer on what I can invest this year, but feel more confident for next year. Financial acuity is not my strength! 
Again, thanks for the really useful information and on a final note, any recommendations as to which fund or pension I should look into please?
TY 
Jan 

Albermarle

jevbanx1 said:

Thank you for all this. I worked this tax year until the end of August. I left work end of July but had a full month's annual leave still to take, so my retirement date was 31/8. 
I don't think I'm too much clearer on what I can invest this year, but feel more confident for next year. Financial acuity is not my strength! 
Again, thanks for the really useful information and on a final note, any recommendations as to which fund or pension I should look into please?
TY 
Jan 

Your actual retirement date does not matter. It is what you will have earned in this tax year that matters. So for example if you have earned £10,000 between April and when you retire, then you can contribute £8,000 to a pension and £2,000 tax relief will be added. But that would be minus any contributions you will have made to your workplace pension.
any recommendations as to which fund or pension I should look into please?
If you are working, then you should have a workplace pension already? Normally you can just keep that, even if you stop work. It depends on what type of workplace pension you have ?
It is difficult to make specific recommendations without knowing your full personal situation and future plans. 

jevbanx1

Thank you again. Yes I earned over that sum, 10k up to my retirement. I am fully retired now, not working part time or on any reduced hours. I took my lump sum and the smaller annual pension intending to supplement any financial need from savings/ my lump sum. It's a DC pension. Was in earlier days a final salary, but the pension changed four times over the years.
I have a good level of savings and have a very low threshold for risk as at this stage in my life, I'm concerned that any loss on the markets would potentially mean I had no time left to make such loss up.
My money is spread around a variety of savings accounts and ISAs. I appreciate I am technically losing money as the rates paid in no way counteract the current rate of inflation

Thank you for responding.
Jan 

PennyForThem_2

I have just found this thread on the pensions forum which aligns nicely with the thread here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6257477/a-paupers-pension-tale-not-many-nuts-to-dig-up/p23

Title says it all!

Albermarle

PennyForThem_2 said:

I have just found this thread on the pensions forum which aligns nicely with the thread here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6257477/a-paupers-pension-tale-not-many-nuts-to-dig-up/p23

Title says it all!

Just be aware that this thread has been revived recently. So the past couple of pages are recent, but the rest is from about a year ago. ( might make more sense if you know that ) 

eperlizzy

Reading with interest However my problem is I rent via housing association so will still need to pay 💰 . No end of mortgage for me worrying times 

anita116

jevbanx1 said:

Thank you for all this. I worked this tax year until the end of August. I left work end of July but had a full month's annual leave still to take, so my retirement date was 31/8. 
I don't think I'm too much clearer on what I can invest this year, but feel more confident for next year. Financial acuity is not my strength! 
Again, thanks for the really useful information and on a final note, any recommendations as to which fund or pension I should look into please?
TY 
Jan 

It's worth checking out free advice offered by companies - they will only charge if you take out some products through them.   A decent one will explore your attitude to risk as a good starting point.   If they don't do that then walk.   
I had discussions with three established companies (all free) after checking out their reviews and legitimacy.   https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/finding-adviser has good unbiased advice.