Market effects on pension ?

shilts

Whilst being very interested in all things pension / money related I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough to look after this sort of thing myself . We have an IFA that does this and is totally aligned with what we are trying to achieve . It’s nice to hear others thoughts from time to time . Regardless of what the markets do the tax relief is free money . The way I see it is the more we buy in at the cheaper rate the stronger any recovery / positive upturn will make the pension long term , thanks.

AlanP_2

shilts said:

Whilst being very interested in all things pension / money related I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough to look after this sort of thing myself . We have an IFA that does this and is totally aligned with what we are trying to achieve . It’s nice to hear others thoughts from time to time . Regardless of what the markets do the tax relief is free money . The way I see it is the more we buy in at the cheaper rate the stronger any recovery / positive upturn will make the pension long term , thanks.

Given your opening post I would suggest you are more than capable to look after that sort of thing yourself. People who might struggle are those who panic and see a fall as a reason to sell not a reason to buy even though they have years of "investment life" ahead of them.

You may need to increase your knowledge but that happens as you read on here, look at other sites e.g. monevator.com etc. etc.

NedS

shilts said:

Whilst being very interested in all things pension / money related I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough to look after this sort of thing myself . We have an IFA that does this and is totally aligned with what we are trying to achieve . It’s nice to hear others thoughts from time to time . Regardless of what the markets do the tax relief is free money . The way I see it is the more we buy in at the cheaper rate the stronger any recovery / positive upturn will make the pension long term , thanks.

I think that's a great view to take - I know whenever toothpaste is on sale I stock up as I know I am always going to need more. No harm doing the same with shares. At least with shares the wife wouldn't be complaining the bathroom cabinet is overflowing with Colgate
Personally I love a bit of volatility as it provides great opportunities to top up holdings at great prices. There are invariably 3-4 opportunities per year.

shilts

Thanks for your replies . I’m guessing that in the grand scheme of things this is quite normal . I have in the back of my mind ‘2029’ . I then remind myself that even though this is when I hopefully start taking money from the pension god willing I will need it for many years after . With everything that’s going on (and has recently gone on) in the world this is not unexpected. Perhaps a positive change in a major event ( Ukraine , inflation ) etc will see a positive upturn - although I can’t see either changing for a while . Thanks for your help.

Malthusian

shilts said:

Perhaps a positive change in a major event ( Ukraine , inflation ) etc will see a positive upturn - although I can’t see either changing for a while . Thanks for your help.

When the market started ticking upwards after the last crash (2020) there were no positive changes - it was months before Covid vaccines were ready (for all anyone knew at the time, they were years away) and all the experts agreed that we would be living under lockdown for years.

There was also no obvious positive upturn at the end of the 2008 crash - the recession ended in Q2 2009 but that was only visible with hindsight. When a prominent Government minister stated that she "saw green shoots of recovery" in early 2009 she was pilloried by the media and fellow politicians for being delusional and out of touch. She was kicked out of politics and into a sinecure three months into the recovery she'd correctly called.

When WW2 ended the Dow Jones was already three years into a bull market that started in 1942.

It is unlikely that there will be any single positive "cause" to start the next positive upturn either. If the Ukrainians and Russians agree a truce of some kind the markets may tick up a few per cent, but most of the impact will already be priced in, and the markets going up by a few percent is just part of the irrelevant white noise of day-to-day price movements.

[Deleted User]

If we “can see” a positive change then its not a surprise and it is already reflected in market prices.

Having said this, there is some good news from Ukraine. Maybe “end of the beginning”?