Simply Not Worth Their While?

Saga

Linton said:

Even though your employer wont be contributing more into your pension making further contributions yourself could well be one of your best options because of the tax benefits.  Given your current pension levels you could be in the position of getting tax relief on the money going into the pension but wont pay tax when you withdraw it.

Sadly PhD students dont get NI credits but I would be surprised if you wont be at or near a full SP by 67.  You should get the SP forecast to see how many years you do have to pay to get a full SP: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
If you have any questions on what the figures mean you can ask here.

Yes my forecast says I should get the full BSP if I contribute for another few years. Without going into private details my health means there's a possibility I may not last very long into retirement after 67 so the idea of pouring more into a pension feels a bit wrong.

Linton

Saga said:

Linton said:

Even though your employer wont be contributing more into your pension making further contributions yourself could well be one of your best options because of the tax benefits.  Given your current pension levels you could be in the position of getting tax relief on the money going into the pension but wont pay tax when you withdraw it.

Sadly PhD students dont get NI credits but I would be surprised if you wont be at or near a full SP by 67.  You should get the SP forecast to see how many years you do have to pay to get a full SP: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
If you have any questions on what the figures mean you can ask here.

Yes my forecast says I should get the full BSP if I contribute for another few years. Without going into private details my health means there's a possibility I may not last very long into retirement after 67 so the idea of pouring more into a pension feels a bit wrong.

You should be able to withdraw money from your pension from 55, you dont have to wait until 67.  So provided your employers scheme doesnt object or you have left your current employment you should be able to access all the money early on if necessary.

Saga

Linton said:

Saga said:

Linton said:

Even though your employer wont be contributing more into your pension making further contributions yourself could well be one of your best options because of the tax benefits.  Given your current pension levels you could be in the position of getting tax relief on the money going into the pension but wont pay tax when you withdraw it.

Sadly PhD students dont get NI credits but I would be surprised if you wont be at or near a full SP by 67.  You should get the SP forecast to see how many years you do have to pay to get a full SP: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
If you have any questions on what the figures mean you can ask here.

Yes my forecast says I should get the full BSP if I contribute for another few years. Without going into private details my health means there's a possibility I may not last very long into retirement after 67 so the idea of pouring more into a pension feels a bit wrong.

You should be able to withdraw money from your pension from 55, you dont have to wait until 67.  So provided your employers scheme doesnt object or you have left your current employment you should be able to access all the money early on if necessary.

Thanks. But according to my specialist my illness means there's also a smaller but not-insignificant probability I could live into my 80s too!

Albermarle

Saga said:

Linton said:

Even though your employer wont be contributing more into your pension making further contributions yourself could well be one of your best options because of the tax benefits.  Given your current pension levels you could be in the position of getting tax relief on the money going into the pension but wont pay tax when you withdraw it.

Sadly PhD students dont get NI credits but I would be surprised if you wont be at or near a full SP by 67.  You should get the SP forecast to see how many years you do have to pay to get a full SP: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
If you have any questions on what the figures mean you can ask here.

Yes my forecast says I should get the full BSP if I contribute for another few years. Without going into private details my health means there's a possibility I may not last very long into retirement after 67 so the idea of pouring more into a pension feels a bit wrong.

Do not get confused between the State Pension , which is payable on a fixed date, and the NI you pay whilst working ( which you can not avoid ) will build up to a full entitlement ( from what you say ) 
You will be able to take income from your employer based pension many years before the state pension.
When you contribute to the employer pension you will get 25% added to the contributions due to tax relief. As Linton says when you withdraw the money it is likely to be totally tax free. So a 25% gain over other types of savings for the future .

t0rt0ise

I've got an illness like that (follicular lymphoma). I got to thinking that nobody else knows what's round the corner healthwise either so in actual fact I'm in no different a situation than anyone else. Once I'd realised and processed that, apart from simply feeling a lot better, I was able to think more clearly with regard to making financial decisions.

Saga

Really hope you're doing as well as you can t0rtoise.

So is the consensus to just put as much as I can afford into the pension?

Albermarle

Saga said:

Really hope you're doing as well as you can t0rtoise.

So is the consensus to just put as much as I can afford into the pension?

Pension looks the best bet . Tax relief on the way and probably no tax on the way out , so a 25% uplift straightaway.

You will probably be aware that your DC pension is invested in the financial markets but have never looked into the detail ?( most people don't) 
In which case your money will be invested in the pensions default investment fund, which may or may not be the best for you .
If you post the name of the pension provider and any details of how it is invested , you will hopefully get some useful feedback. 

Saga

Albermarle said:

Saga said:

Really hope you're doing as well as you can t0rtoise.

So is the consensus to just put as much as I can afford into the pension?

Pension looks the best bet . Tax relief on the way and probably no tax on the way out , so a 25% uplift straightaway.

You will probably be aware that your DC pension is invested in the financial markets but have never looked into the detail ?( most people don't) 
In which case your money will be invested in the pensions default investment fund, which may or may not be the best for you .
If you post the name of the pension provider and any details of how it is invested , you will hopefully get some useful feedback. 

Thanks.  It's Aviva My Future Focus Growth. Currently invested as: International Equities – 42.4% International Bonds – 18.0% UK Equities – 13.4% Property – 7.8% UK Corporate Bonds – 5.7% UK Gilts – 0.6% Money Market – 0.1% Managed Funds – 0.1% Alternative Trading – 0.0% Strategies – 0.2% Other – 11.8% Cash/Money Market – 42.4%

HCIMbtw

Saga said:

Albermarle said:

low but OK salary, rubbishy pension forecast,

If you supply some more details, then you will hopefully get some useful pointers from the forum .

What exactly is your position in regard to pensions ? Do you just have one or more than one ? Are they DC pensions ( where you have a pot of money ) or DB pensions ( a promise to pay a guaranteed income ) ? How much do you pay in each month ?

Have you checked your state pension forecast ?

I'm early 50s earning only £30K pa. I have no debts and £12.5K in a HTB ISA, £26.5K in premium bonds and about £500 in a regular saver. I'm saving about £600/mth split between the PBs, the HTB ISA (comparatively good interest rate) and regular saver.

Because of health problems throughout my life my current workplace DC pension pot is projected to be worth a very sad/laughable £45K at retirement at 67 if I last that long. My employer is already paying their maximum into my workplace pension so any more I pay in wouldn't be matched. I've eight years' worth of gaps on my basic state pension (six of which I don't understand because I was a full-time student including PhD working all hours 7 days/wk so not sure how I was supposed to work to pay NICs – you can tell I was  very financially literate). More than six years have passed so I can't fill these gaps. I also have a DB pension from a previous employment currently projected to give about £1500 per year.

I have always rented but my OH & I were hoping to find somewhere suitable to buy. Sadly my OH died nearly a year ago (no assets/DIS/pension etc). We didn't have any children and were not married. My health requirements mean finding somewhere both suitable and affordable to buy is difficult although I do look frequently but maybe will never happen.

Without a property to appreciate in value I was hoping I could get advice on investing a small-ish proportion of my savings and ongoing monthly payments long term or suggested alternatives, for example become a BTL landlord (although it would have to be managed by an agent).

Your money in premium bonds is in all probability losing value compared to inflation. Have you considered living off these savings and sacrificing more of your salary into your pension? 

You wouldn't pay tax on your contribution to your pension, could draw a lump sum tax free at state pension age -10 when you decide the time is right to get out the game... its probably just a bit more efficient. 

Albermarle

Saga said:

Albermarle said:

Saga said:

Really hope you're doing as well as you can t0rtoise.

So is the consensus to just put as much as I can afford into the pension?

Pension looks the best bet . Tax relief on the way and probably no tax on the way out , so a 25% uplift straightaway.

You will probably be aware that your DC pension is invested in the financial markets but have never looked into the detail ?( most people don't) 
In which case your money will be invested in the pensions default investment fund, which may or may not be the best for you .
If you post the name of the pension provider and any details of how it is invested , you will hopefully get some useful feedback. 

Thanks.  It's Aviva My Future Focus Growth. Currently invested as: International Equities – 42.4% International Bonds – 18.0% UK Equities – 13.4% Property – 7.8% UK Corporate Bonds – 5.7% UK Gilts – 0.6% Money Market – 0.1% Managed Funds – 0.1% Alternative Trading – 0.0% Strategies – 0.2% Other – 11.8% Cash/Money Market – 42.4%

It adds up to well over 100% , so I presume the cash/money market % is not actually 42.4%?
Otherwise it seems a pretty typical pension fund , with a reasonable balance of investments , and should give some long term growth, although as with all investments it will go up and down in the short term.