Pensions worry

Worriedpensioner22

I am very worried I am 63 without state pension , and looking at my only pension with Embark/ Zurich is dwindling fast ! Lost over £5000 in a year I’m worried I will end up with nothing! Help!! 

dunstonh

I am very worried I am 63 without state pension 

Why don't you have a state pension?

and looking at my only pension with Embark/ Zurich is dwindling fast ! Lost over £5000 in a year I’m worried I will end up with nothing! 

2022 has been a negative year.   Approx 1 in 5 years are negative years (or suffer a significant negative).  Previous negative years/periods were 2020 (bigger than this), 2018 (similar size), 2015/16 (similar size), 2008 (bigger than this), 2000-2002 (bigger than this).

£5000 needs context.  If you have £50,000  then a £5,000 drop isnt much.  If you have £15,000 then it is.

With no state pension and what appears to be a fairly small pension fund, what are you plans for retirement?

tacpot12

The £5000 drop also needs the context of when you plan to retire. If you were hoping to draw on your Zurich plan next year, it might not have recovered much by then, but if you were hoping to retire at your state retirement age it might be a different story. 

Also, why are you on Embark? (Just curious)

Worriedpensioner22

What do you mean why am I on embark? Sorry I don’t understand , I’m retired now but live on my husbands pension 

Worriedpensioner22

My pot was about 34000 now £283000 approx 

Worriedpensioner22

I get my pension in 2024

xylophone

I get my pension in 2024

Do you mean that you reach State Pension Age in 2024?

Have you obtained a State Pension Forecast?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

My pot was about 34000 now £283000 approx 

Do you mean £28000 approx?

Do you want or need to access your pot now?

Rattusnorvegicus

Money isnt money until you actually draw on it... its just numbers on a screen dictating the value as of today.

It can be misleading because people always expect the market to go up, they never really consider what happens if the market goes down. Especially after an 11 year bull run.

So long as you have a broadly invested range in your portfolio then things should recover over the next 4 years.

I'd say stay the course, wait for 2026, and stop logging in weekly to look at the pot size.

If you want things to watch... watch the BoE base rate, wait for the governor to announce no rate hike, count 6 to 12 months after, and then the recovery should be coming.

Above all have faith. If what you bought was good before, and you were happy with it, then it will be after, when the recovery begins.

tacpot12

Worriedpensioner22 said:

What do you mean why am I on embark? Sorry I don’t understand , I’m retired now but live on my husbands pension 

I was asking why are you on the Embark platform (You said in your original post that your only pension was with Embark/Zurich). 

[Deleted User]

2022 has been a negative year.   Approx 1 in 5 years are negative years (or suffer a significant negative).  Previous negative years/periods were 2020 (bigger than this), 2018 (similar size), 2015/16 (similar size), 2008 (bigger than this), 2000-2002 (bigger than this).

No. 2020 had a sharp drawdown early on but the year was very much positive for almost any diversified portfolio.  

Also, very important to consider inflation when reflecting on portfolio performance. And GBP falling against major currencies is important context.  The last time there was a major annual fall in stocks in real terms that was larger, the year was 2008. That was bad for stocks but cushioned for balanced portfolios. Unlike the 2022 version when bonds tanked as well. 

dunstonh

tacpot12 said:

Worriedpensioner22 said:

What do you mean why am I on embark? Sorry I don’t understand , I’m retired now but live on my husbands pension 

I was asking why are you on the Embark platform (You said in your original post that your only pension was with Embark/Zurich). 

The old Zurich platform wasn't too badly priced in its day.  It's front end software was weak but it used FNZ as the backend and that is good.     There was also a salesforce called Openwork which is where many of the old Allied Dunbar>Zurich>Openwork reps ended up and they used it.