Pensionbee decimates my pension pot.

JoeCrystal

Rtayl306 said:

I'm not, but poor & I mean poor people like me who's bodies are knackered through working on the roads in all weathers, and who would like to retire to try & get some sort of retirement before I die do not like to see there money drop like it has. Why is it that my work pension is still making gains, all be moderate one's  & pensionbee looses me so much.  And for the others who mock me on here I was with Tilney, Best Invest another shower of sh**t before I joined pensionbee.

So what is your work pension fund, then? Is there a reason you did not transfer your personal pension into your work scheme?   It might be cheaper since the auto-enrollment rule got a limit on the annual charges for its default fund. If you know you are retiring, you could have opted for some cash funds in your pension scheme, although inflation makes it much riskier now!

I am afraid that movements of that size are perfectly normal, as you can see in my pension value in the last 12 years. I lost 20k in the nine months (worse even if you take inflation into account) which is worrying, but one has to hope that it recovers in a long run. 

Kim1965

Rtayl306 said:

I'm not, but poor & I mean poor people like me who's bodies are knackered through working on the roads in all weathers, and who would like to retire to try & get some sort of retirement before I die do not like to see there money drop like it has. Why is it that my work pension is still making gains, all be moderate one's  & pensionbee looses me so much.  And for the others who mock me on here I was with Tilney, Best Invest another shower of sh**t before I joined pensionbee.

I have some sympathy with you, I too do a physical job using a knackered back. 
 You can onlymake the best of the situation you find yourself in. If you can post details of age, savings  pensions, required retirement income, state pension position etc you may get some good advice from some kind and wise folk on here. Remember, many if not all on this forum will have lost money in the last year. 

LV_426

dunstonh said:

LV_426 said:

Can I ask what happens to those in retirement, if the market dips like this? Do you just accept the hit and erosion of your fund value, or are people invested in more stable, but lower growth funds, post-retirement? 

There is no "if".   It is "when".    These dips and far worse dips are always coming.  You typically see at least one large drop every 5 years.  And it could be that you see 2-3 years of negative years in a row and then have 7 positives.

You know they are coming and because you know they are coming, you don't spend all the gains you get in positive years.  You average out the ups and downs.     Many people maintain a cash float in retirement to see them through negative years and replenish the cash float in positive years (and with dividends/distributions).

Makes sense, I was just interested in the strategies people use to manage income in retirement. I suppose market volatility is the price we pay for having more control and access to our funds. Plus we can pass wealth to our descendants. None of this was possible with previous pension arrangements and inflexible/poor value annuities.
In general I think we're in a much better position to manage our retirement incomes. But as we see from this thread, it requires a certain amount of knowledge and realisation to do it yourself.

uss_tish

@Rtayl306 I am sorry your pension funds have taken a significant dip, sadly many of us retirees are experiencing similar large dips at the moment, be it pension or other invested monies.

But please to fellow forum members, do not pile on the poster claiming they are either a troll (they aren’t new to the forum) nor treat them like an idiot.  Please show compassion and support for a fellow poster who clearly is upset and disappointed and venting their frustration. It's simple - we are all on here to learn and, in turn help others.

[Deleted User]

Psychologically we need someone to blame whenever things go south.  In reality this is your money.  So, whatever happens to them (good or bad), you are the one ultimately responsible and living with the consequences.  

Its a tough message but if you want to do better in the future then you need to realize that time would be better spent on learning about investments, risks and asset allocations.  Blaming others isn’t good for your pocket. 

grumiofoundation

Rtayl306 said:

I'm not, but poor & I mean poor people like me who's bodies are knackered through working on the roads in all weathers, and who would like to retire to try & get some sort of retirement before I die do not like to see there money drop like it has. Why is it that my work pension is still making gains, all be moderate one's  & pensionbee looses me so much.  And for the others who mock me on here I was with Tilney, Best Invest another shower of sh**t before I joined pensionbee.

Possibly your workplace pension is making gains because you are contributing to it? Are you looking at it over the same timescale? 

What are you invested in at pensionbee and in workplace pension. This is what controls returns, not the pension company itself. 

You need to listen to what people are telling you and it you want to understand more, as opposed to just being angry, answer the questions you are being asked. 

You are claiming pensionbee 'robbed' you - they didn't. On another thread you say pensionbee say you were abusive towards them. To be honest if you have demonstrated the attitude on this thread it wouldn't surprise me. Anyway if pensionbee were robbing you (again they aren't) the poor beekeeper on the end of the phone/email probably wouldn't be in on it!

LV_426

uss_tish said:

@Rtayl306 I am sorry your pension funds have taken a significant dip, sadly many of us retirees are experiencing similar large dips at the moment, be it pension or other invested monies.

But please to fellow forum members, do not pile on the poster claiming they are either a troll (they aren’t new to the forum) nor treat them like an idiot.  Please show compassion and support for a fellow poster who clearly is upset and disappointed and venting their frustration. It's simple - we are all on here to learn and, in turn help others.

Well said.
To the OP I would say - did you take professional financial advice before moving your money and/or investing? I think you would have benefited from consulting with such an adviser. But as everyone has said, don't be too disheartened at your pension performance, as it's been a tough year so far. My various funds have either gone static (no growth), or dropped in value. They will recover.

bostonerimus

There are certainly many scams and abuses present in the financial services industry, but the experience of the OP with Pensionbee seems to be more down to expectations not lining up with realities. When people make 10% I never see complaints, but lose 10% and the heavens are falling…one goes along with the other. There should be regulation of the pension industry and safeguards put in place, but at some point personal responsibility must be taken for your actions. I’m very left wing and generally pro consumer rights, but that does not lessen by belief that the world runs on taking responsibility for your actions or indeed inaction. In this case the OP needs to take more responsibility and learn from the experience and know that many are in a very similar boat

Krakkkers

What is the point of letting professionals look after your money if they are not going to outperform the market?
If markets are falling them maybe managers of funds should sell or short, not just sit on their hands and say its nothing to do with them.

grumiofoundation

Krakkkers said:

What is the point of letting professionals look after your money if they are not going to outperform the market?
If markets are falling them maybe managers of funds should sell or short, not just sit on their hands and say its nothing to do with them.

And if the professional shorts/sells at the wrong time and loses you money you wouldn't complain right?