Where to get free, independent pension advice in my 40's

Moonwolf

CurlySue2017 said:

OK my salary is £36k and at the moment and I pay the minimum required contribution into my workplace pension which is also topped up by my employer.  I get a yearly statement and that's about it. 
I have no idea when I plan to retire, as I said I have only just started to think about it all.

You have a pension pot, you should know how big it is and how much you and your employer are adding each month.

I would suggest starting with a simple calculator like the one here https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pensions-basics/pension-calculator

There are more sophisticated ones but they are generally more complicated and ask questions you won't yet know the answer to.  If you answer the questions and put in that you plan to retire when you reach state pension age that will give you an idea of how much you will have if you don't change things.

Then you can ask yourself, how much do I need? Might I want to retire earlier? Am I happy to retire later?  Do I need to make provision for my OH, or vice versa? You can then start thinking about what you might need to change to reach those goals.

You might have questions as a result, that is when you come back here.

CurlySue2017

My monthly contribution is £119, current value £17k, projected value at retirement £124k (all roughly rounded)
I'm 46 

It's the renting that is my big worry but as I say there is no way that I will be able to buy (aside from a large lottery win!!)  I am on the list for social housing but as it stands, we are very low priority so don't expect to be offered anything anytime soon, if ever

I clearly need to go away and do some sums so I will do that and come back 

MallyGirl

if you want some entry level reading then I often recommend the book:
DIY Pensions: A Simple Guide to Pensions, SIPPs & Retirement Planning by John Edwards.
You may well be able to get it from the library.
Once you have a grip on some of the basic concepts and terminology you will get more out of some of the videos and blogs that get mentioned.

You are in the company pension so that is a positive - are you contributing enough to get the maximum you can from your employer?

CurlySue2017

MallyGirl said:

if you want some entry level reading then I often recommend the book:
DIY Pensions: A Simple Guide to Pensions, SIPPs & Retirement Planning by John Edwards.
You may well be able to get it from the library.
Once you have a grip on some of the basic concepts and terminology you will get more out of some of the videos and blogs that get mentioned.

You are in the company pension so that is a positive - are you contributing enough to get the maximum you can from your employer?

Thank you 

Honestly I have no idea - that is how clueless I am! 

El_Torro

CurlySue2017 said:

My monthly contribution is £119, current value £17k, projected value at retirement £124k (all roughly rounded)
I'm 46 

£119 a month is roughly 4% of your salary, I assume your employer is matching your contribution? If that's correct then £124k at 68 in today's money sounds about right. 

A pension pot of £124k means you can draw down about £3,700 per year, at a 3% per year withdrawal rate. Is that enough? Hopefully you'll get full state pension too, you can get a forecast on the gov.uk website. 

kempiejon

@CurlySue2017My monthly contribution is £119, current value £17k, projected value at retirement £124k (all roughly rounded)

£124k at retirement of 67 could be improved upon and as have thought about it that is a very good start and you can build on it. In today's money you could hope to derive an income of £4-5k a year from £120k and the state pension might chip in £11k. If you look at those numbers your retirement income in todays terms £15k would be less than you get at work £36k. Of course you need to calculate how much you might need. 

Housing is a whole other subject. I preferred renting and obviously a lottery win is not a solution but if you can make a pensions provision you could hope to buy a house, perhaps a modest one in Burnley or Middlesbrough?

Albermarle

MallyGirl said:

if you want some entry level reading then I often recommend the book:
DIY Pensions: A Simple Guide to Pensions, SIPPs & Retirement Planning by John Edwards.
You may well be able to get it from the library.
Once you have a grip on some of the basic concepts and terminology you will get more out of some of the videos and blogs that get mentioned.

You are in the company pension so that is a positive - are you contributing enough to get the maximum you can from your employer?

Also you can start to look at some basic internet sites that are not trying to sell you anything.

Pensions and retirement | Help with pensions and retirement | MoneyHelper

Be aware that the Pensionwise chats are more geared around options when you want to take your pension, so probably not so relevant for you anyway, as you are still in the accumulation phase ( in the jargon )

xylophone

You can get a state pension forecast here

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

What is the name of your workplace pension?

LHW99

Although you and your partner keep finances separate, you presumably share some bills (food, rent, utilities...?), perhaps pai from a joint account?.

If you expect to continue to be together, it is worth both of you working out your pension provision. If one of you ends up with much more than the other, that could make things difficult, apart from the idea that working together in financial decisions usually works better, and can mean somewhat lower bills - eg food shopping for two isn't necessarily twice as expensive as shopping for one.

Grumpy_chap

Not paying for professional advice may be a short-sighted economy.

Waiting another ten years until 50 before sorting out retirement plans may be challenging as the interim growth has been lost.