Pension Crash

YorkshirePete

Hi. I’m 9 years from retirement so I’ve got a little way to go. But my pension has lost £21k in the last week due to market fluctuations and the Trump trade tariffs. My worry is that this is going to erode away my pension pot and not leave enough time to recover my losses. Can anyone offer and advice

Ayr_Rage

What percentage of your pension investments does that £21,000 represent?

It's too late to react to the latest instability.

For now, do nothing.

Uriziel

I have received a notification from my pension as well and upon checking saw that it had fallen a few thousands but I don't think there is anything you can do since you cannot take the pension out before retirement age. At the most you can stop paying into it.

Albermarle

Some recent threads on the same subject.

Pension crisis!! — MoneySavingExpert Forum
SJP Portfolio value drop — MoneySavingExpert Forum
advice for falling market — MoneySavingExpert Forum

eskbanker

Uriziel said:

I have received a notification from my pension as well and upon checking saw that it had fallen a few thousands but I don't think there is anything you can do since you cannot take the pension out before retirement age. At the most you can stop paying into it.

Most pensions will allow adjustment of what the pension is invested in, so there should be a range of options up and down the risk scale, rather than just seeing it as an issue of whether to stop paying in or trying to access it!

Having said that, 'keep calm and carry on' will generally be the most appropriate response to current market volatility, as covered extensively on all the other threads about this....

Brie

I know precisely how you feel.  I was looking at taking some pensions and cashing in shares back in 2020 and then there was a flurry of activity on the far side of Europe and things took a nose dive.  Things had nicely recovered up until a week back and so those bits that I haven't accessed are going to have to wait a while longer.  

Not the same thing but for my shares I put the numbers on a spreadsheet and thought about at what price I would be happy to sell.  And then mentally divided my shares into chunks and thought "I'll sell these when the share price reaches £X and then some more when it's up another 50p a share" and so on.  It showed me I could have some ££ in the bank but meant I wouldn't lose out completely to a rising market.  

Uriziel

The tariffs have actually all been delayed by 90 days from today with exception of China and apparently the markets are recovering already.

eskbanker

Uriziel said:

The tariffs have actually all been delayed by 90 days from today with exception of China and apparently the markets are recovering already.

That was yesterday's news, which resulted in what looked like a significant reversal of recent losses, with the major US indices recovering 8/9%, followed by consequential improvements elsewhere around the globe as markets opened again.  However, the US markets are back down about 5% again today, so talk of recovery is premature....

masonic

Uriziel said:

The tariffs have actually all been delayed by 90 days from today with exception of China and apparently the markets are recovering already.

They shot up soon after the London Stock Exchange closed, but have been sliding since. That, coupled with the dollar weakening means there is now not a great deal left of the gains for a UK investor. If you invest in an all-world tracker, you'll be about 14% down from the peak, rather than 17% at the pits of yesterday.

Hoenir

YorkshirePete said:

Hi. I’m 9 years from retirement so I’ve got a little way to go. But my pension has lost £21k in the last week due to market fluctuations and the Trump trade tariffs. My worry is that this is going to erode away my pension pot and not leave enough time to recover my losses. Can anyone offer and advice

What's does your portfolio consist of ? Presumably you are not planning on liquidatating or drawing down the entire portfolio in 9 years time. Time to take a deep breath and plan for the longer term. Don't watch or listen to the Trump related noise as it'll drive you insane. 

dunstonh

Pension Crash

Pensions haven't crashed.  Pensions are just a container for investments.    It is the investments within the pension that move around.    Most, but not all markets have dropped by a level that is considered a crash.      However, only just.      

But my pension has lost £21k in the last week due to market fluctuations and the Trump trade tariffs. My worry is that this is going to erode away my pension pot and not leave enough time to recover my losses. Can anyone offer and advice

Crashes occur around once every 4 years.   What did you do in the previous crashes?  (2020,2018,2015/16,2008,2000-2002)