How much pension income to break even

sgx2000

dont_use_vistaprint said:

sgx2000 said:

Perhaps the foreign holidays are 6 single days in Rhyl..........

Interesting so many people focused on the least interesting & relevant aspect of this story, the foreign holidays.

You can read much between the lines 

Was just a joke....

GunJack

...and don't diss Rhyl, parts of it can be quite nice 🤣🤣

crv1963

barnstar2077 said:

I know dozens of people who are highly likely to be on pension credit in old age.  They are struggling now, working their fingers to the bone on minimum wage for bosses and companies that treat them like dogs.  Meanwhile their rent is a grand a month and food prices feel like they have gone up fifty percent since covid.  I hope they get millions in retirement, because they have suffered their whole lives, being treated like scum by companies and landlords alike.  Not everyone on pension credit is there because they didn't try.  Many will be there because once you get trapped renting with little education and low self esteem (from being trodden on your whole working life) it is pretty hard to get out of it. 

I very much agree with this. I see daily people who survive on benefits and they are not a generous as many think, there are of course exceptions. Many younger people (particularly women) are trapped with child care costs making it extremely difficult to work in anything but a minimum wage job. 

There will always be a need to support pensioners as they may have enough for day to day expenditure but capital costs such as roof repairs/ boilers etc cause real difficulties for many.

Cobbler_tone

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Better put that money into ISA savings ?

If someone is saving rather than paying into a pension, won't many of these 'benefits' drop off? At least those means tested.

I can appreciate the debate about what to do if you get to your latter years and have no pension.

I just think of the stress (of having no savings), the admin, dealing with some really inefficient systems etc. How many elderly people are not very tech savvy and may not have the support to facilitate what may be available?

There is an argument (depending on employment situation, employer contributions etc) of when you may as well save but you will still struggle to get the tax breaks of a pension elsewhere.

I'd still never advice a strategy of avoiding a pension to live off benefits that are ever changing and may/may not be around.

Attendance allowance is the one that so many people should be claiming but don't, although TBF it is an absolute dog of a form.

Cobbler_tone

Here is a prime example of why pensions are so effective.
My employer (since 2021) has given the option to exclude the payment of annual bonus towards pension contributions. Ironically I have been campaigning to do the exact opposite, i.e. enable bonus payments into the pension! 

The impact for even a 20% tax payer is clear. On each £1,000 of bonus, £41 (extra net) will go in your pocket at the sacrifice of £180 'lost' into your pension. It is their way of 'helping' people during the 'cost of living crisis'.
The default is to carry on as normal (i.e. it is pensionable) but people will opt out to take the cash, even though they don't really need it. 

pterri

Other issue, none of the state benefits are guaranteed for life. They can and will be tinkered with, to rely on that going forward would be insane. 

MeteredOut

dont_use_vistaprint said:

barnstar2077 said:

I know dozens of people who are highly likely to be on pension credit in old age.  They are struggling now, working their fingers to the bone on minimum wage for bosses and companies that treat them like dogs.  Meanwhile their rent is a grand a month and food prices feel like they have gone up fifty percent since covid.  I hope they get millions in retirement, because they have suffered their whole lives, being treated like scum by companies and landlords alike.  Not everyone on pension credit is there because they didn't try.  Many will be there because once you get trapped renting with little education and low self esteem (from being trodden on your whole working life) it is pretty hard to get out of it. 

This is true. If I was still there certainly wouldn’t bother paying into a pension to subsidise pension age benefits.

It takes decades of sacrifice, wise financial decisions and hard work  to get out of that, and sometimes luck and good friends to help !  and not many do get out 

I couldn't disagree more. Advice I'd give to my younger self (and to anyone currently younger who will listen) is to put as much as possible into a private pension, whilst not sacrificing their day-to-day living.

Cobbler_tone

MeteredOut said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

barnstar2077 said:

I know dozens of people who are highly likely to be on pension credit in old age.  They are struggling now, working their fingers to the bone on minimum wage for bosses and companies that treat them like dogs.  Meanwhile their rent is a grand a month and food prices feel like they have gone up fifty percent since covid.  I hope they get millions in retirement, because they have suffered their whole lives, being treated like scum by companies and landlords alike.  Not everyone on pension credit is there because they didn't try.  Many will be there because once you get trapped renting with little education and low self esteem (from being trodden on your whole working life) it is pretty hard to get out of it. 

This is true. If I was still there certainly wouldn’t bother paying into a pension to subsidise pension age benefits.

It takes decades of sacrifice, wise financial decisions and hard work  to get out of that, and sometimes luck and good friends to help !  and not many do get out 

I couldn't disagree more. Advice I'd give to my younger self (and to anyone currently younger who will listen) is to put as much as possible into a private pension, whilst not sacrificing their day-to-day living.

The trouble is your younger self would never have visualised being 55+
It is the one thing with pensions, they don't seem tangible until you almost get there!

I've been in a pension since I was 25 (all with one employer) and been all over it for the past 15 years. It took a while to appreciate the importance of them though.

pterri

Cobbler_tone said:

Here is a prime example of why pensions are so effective.
My employer (since 2021) has given the option to exclude the payment of annual bonus towards pension contributions. Ironically I have been campaigning to do the exact opposite, i.e. enable bonus payments into the pension! 

The impact for even a 20% tax payer is clear. On each £1,000 of bonus, £41 (extra net) will go in your pocket at the sacrifice of £180 'lost' into your pension. It is their way of 'helping' people during the 'cost of living crisis'.
The default is to carry on as normal (i.e. it is pensionable) but people will opt out to take the cash, even though they don't really need it. 

Some younger people know the cost but have no other way of scraping a deposit together to save for a deposit - even when the rent is more than the repayments. Glad I didn’t have to make that choice and have to try and catch I’ll later. 

barnstar2077

Cobbler_tone said:

MeteredOut said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

barnstar2077 said:

I know dozens of people who are highly likely to be on pension credit in old age.  They are struggling now, working their fingers to the bone on minimum wage for bosses and companies that treat them like dogs.  Meanwhile their rent is a grand a month and food prices feel like they have gone up fifty percent since covid.  I hope they get millions in retirement, because they have suffered their whole lives, being treated like scum by companies and landlords alike.  Not everyone on pension credit is there because they didn't try.  Many will be there because once you get trapped renting with little education and low self esteem (from being trodden on your whole working life) it is pretty hard to get out of it. 

This is true. If I was still there certainly wouldn’t bother paying into a pension to subsidise pension age benefits.

It takes decades of sacrifice, wise financial decisions and hard work  to get out of that, and sometimes luck and good friends to help !  and not many do get out 

I couldn't disagree more. Advice I'd give to my younger self (and to anyone currently younger who will listen) is to put as much as possible into a private pension, whilst not sacrificing their day-to-day living.

The trouble is your younger self would never have visualised being 55+
It is the one thing with pensions, they don't seem tangible until you almost get there!

I've been in a pension since I was 25 (all with one employer) and been all over it for the past 15 years. It took a while to appreciate the importance of them though.

Thankfully when I was in my twenties I heard Martin Lewis on the radio saying how important pensions were, and actually listened!