No pension at (nearly) 50

xylophone

You could consider very quickly opening a SIPP here

https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/sipp

and  making your contribution.

In fact, having looked at this

https://www.creativebenefits.co.uk/creative-pension-trust/help-centre/what-happens-to-your-money/

it would appear that the "net pay" tax relief system may be in use by your scheme - you should check.



This is not optimal for an employee who is not earning enough to pay tax - salary sacrifice is not optimal either.


- see here for explanation.

https://www.litrg.org.uk/pensions/paying-pensions/tax-relief-pension-contributions#:~:text=Non-taxpayers (that is,,get 45% pension tax relief

Therefore a SIPP/other personal pension/stakeholder would be the better choice as such schemes use "relief at source".

Apparently the government intends to make  some sort of arrangement for non taxpayers in "net pay" schemes to receive tax relief but there are no details yet.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pensions-relief-relating-to-net-pay-arrangements/relief-relating-to-net-pay-arrangements

f0xh0les

@xylophone thank you, that is really helpful. I didn't think the work pension would actually ever amount to anything, but it is there just in case. 
The quick SIPP route seems to be my best bet, I can fund it and get this year's allowance, and rinse and repeat. 
Much appreciated. 

f0xh0les

LHW99 said

Work out what each of you would have to live on in that case - if he has been the first to go, you won't be able to sue him, and if (because there was no planning) he used all his DC money for a single-life level annuity (because it pays the most) all that would die with him.

He has a death in service benefit, and we still have life assurance on each other, and a sliding scale policy to pay off the mortgage amount that would still be leftover without me having it paid off (currently about £90k).  
Will look into his work pension and get a forecast now that they have agreed to reinstate it  at the previous level - he was caught up in the university pension provider valuing the fund during COVID and claiming it would never recover. Then posting record profits.  Good call to try and find out how much he actually has in there. 
 

BlackKnightMonty

f0xh0les said:

dunstonh said:

Our finances are pretty much separate

The consequence of that is that you need to accept inefficiencies and sub-optimal outcomes.    Have you and your husband discussed the pros and cons of this?

Yes, I feel that should he get kicked in the head by a horse, or have a mid-life nervous breakdown and trade me in for a blonder model, then I will keep my £85k in my bank account, and sue him for half his pension.  Well, it is my emergency plan.  He agreed it was wise. Sub-optimal, but wise.

£85k well invested in a Stocks & Shares ISA should compound nicely over say 10-15 years and create a solid pot of money to draw down tax free. It will take you some years to get it into the ISA though; but worth starting now I would say.

dunstonh

It is the Creative Pension Trust.

You have my sympathies.   Pretty much the worst service I have experienced from any provider in many years.   

f0xh0les

Thank you, you have given Himself the nudge to look at his own pension forecast and to raise his contributions into his work pension. 

 I have also opened and funded a HL SIPP to take advantage of the free money for this year.

The S&S ISA is a very good idea as well.  I can always shove a load in there until I am properly earning again.

FIREmenow

Will look into his work pension and get a forecast now that they have agreed to reinstate it at the previous level - he was caught up in the university pension provider valuing the fund during COVID and claiming it would never recover. Then posting record profits. Good call to try and find out how much he actually has in there. 

As death benefits were mentioned, USS has good spouse and (if applicable) child pensions/annuities if a member dies. Make sure your husband's expression of wish details are up to date.

There's a small crowd of USS scheme members who read the pension board. If he/you want to chat through any of it then starting a thread with USS in the title should summon us, and there is a lot of good understanding.  He can log into his USS account on the website to see pension accrued so far and play with the calculators - they were updated yesterday with improved benefits, but the website has been down this evening so the calculators might need some bugs ironing out!

Equally, searching for 'USS' within this board will bring up some helpful part/current threads.

f0xh0les

  Thank you.  My deciding to get a pension has actually made him look more carefully into his own pension.  He knew it was good, but has just let it tick on - He will raise his contribution now.   I would never have thought about searching here for USS threads. Really helpful.