FIREside Chats

Suffolk_lass

@longway2go The other way you can do it is to save to fund the gap between stopping work and taking your state pension, so if £20k per year is your need, it is worth saving £25k for each year from stopping work until you reach SPA, so that there is some contingency, and then take the (currently just under £9kp.a) into account - so your pension might only need to generate £11k p.a plus the in between years - ten years early, £200k (assuming no income or inflation), just to illustrate.

Various calculators but the Fidelity one is quite straightforward to follow 

longway2go

Thank you I will take a look 🙂

edinburgher

Saved £16 for the rest of the year by downgrading my streaming music plan. Paid this into the SIPP, as a saving is only a saving when it is realised £20 after tax relief.

Legs21

I absolutely love this thread. It feels like a FIRE “safe space” where you don’t get judged on your personal choices and can ask any question without being made to feel like a high school dropout.

I’m nowhere near where I need to be pension wise (long story and having to start all over again at the age of 45) and now at the age of 50 I feel like I’m a bit late to the pension party. But I have now upped my employee contributions and opened up a Vanguard SIPP as I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. My total contributions to both pensions is now 25% of my salary. I’m not a HRT and I don’t have thousands of pounds at the end of the month and nothing to spend it on. I do however, have 3 years left of NI contributions to hit my full state pension, so at least I’ll get that if not much else when I retire. 

I just personally wanted to thank @edinburger for this thread and let you know that it had made me start thinking much more about my pension than any of the other threads on the pension board. 

Long may this thread continue 🥂

Suffolk_lass

Legs21 said:

I absolutely love this thread. It feels like a FIRE “safe space” where you don’t get judged on your personal choices and can ask any question without being made to feel like a high school dropout.

I’m nowhere near where I need to be pension wise (long story and having to start all over again at the age of 45) and now at the age of 50 I feel like I’m a bit late to the pension party. But I have now upped my employee contributions and opened up a Vanguard SIPP as I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. My total contributions to both pensions is now 25% of my salary. I’m not a HRT and I don’t have thousands of pounds at the end of the month and nothing to spend it on. I do however, have 3 years left of NI contributions to hit my full state pension, so at least I’ll get that if not much else when I retire. 

I just personally wanted to thank @edinburger for this thread and let you know that it had made me start thinking much more about my pension than any of the other threads on the pension board. 

Long may this thread continue 🥂

Yes, well said @Legs21, it is in the vein of the MFW supporters and gentle sharing of things that have worked for us or we have become aware of.

edinburgher

@Legs21 - you're very welcome

Well done on 25% contributions, that will make a meaningful difference when you come to retirement.

Pay day for Mrs E today, we're putting in an extra 2% of earnings this month. A mental maths error means I paid in 2% net (not gross, it's supposed to be 2% after tax relief), so £33.4 paid in (£41.75). My brain isn't working after a massive lunch

South_coast

Question for you lovely peeps. I've just had my first lot of pension contributions taken in this job, but they're not SMART (ie they're being taken after tax and NI). The right amount has been taken, but I'm about £50 worse off in my net pay than I thought I would be. Is there any clever way round this, or am I stuck with it? I don't foresee any flexibility in their policies

greenbee

Work pension has gone up this month - both employee and employer contribution - as they’ve lifted the cap for the qualifying amount. It’s made a significant difference but is still around half what I was contributing in my last role. And like @South_coast they’re still taking it after tax, which means reclaiming HR tax via my tax return and not getting the NIC benefit. But better than it was! 

I must check that I worked out my SIPP increase correctly to compensate, set up the app for my new work pension and at some point brave the fund rationalisation of my pensions. I also need to sort out my ISA - either making the rest of the trades needed to move last year’s cash into stocks & shares, or moving to a managed ISA. Plus recovering the £7 or so left with Fidelity for the last transfer. 

End of month means that the cash left in my current account has been moved - a third to cash savings, which I need to build up again to pay for some work on the house, and the rest as a mortgage OP.

QueenJess

South_coast said:

Question for you lovely peeps. I've just had my first lot of pension contributions taken in this job, but they're not SMART (ie they're being taken after tax and NI). The right amount has been taken, but I'm about £50 worse off in my net pay than I thought I would be. Is there any clever way round this, or am I stuck with it? I don't foresee any flexibility in their policies

Not that I know of unless you can convince them to move to a salary sacrifice scheme...

South_coast

B*mmer, that's what I thought then 🙁 Oh well, it's reinforced my decision to just stick with the minimum contributions and focus on the FIRE pot instead (they'll only pay the statutory amount anyway, so not point in me putting in any more)!