Contract back in or not

nicenswift

Firstly I must admit to knowing very little about pensions.

When I was 18 I contracted out through Barclays (But didnt take out a private pension with them)

I instead took out a private pension with what is now Friends Provident.

I am now 35 and I have been paying in £40 a month since I was 25 and was paying in £20 a month between 18 and 25.

What should i be looking at doing now.

I am married with 2 children, my wife does not work and has no pension but pays £40 a month into British Benifits Society?

Should we be pooling and paying £80 into my pension ?

Thanks for any advice but please make it simple

dunstonh

What should i be looking at doing now.

Up your contributions somewhat should be a start. £40pm for the last 10 years is low.

Should we be pooling and paying £80 into my pension ?

No. Not unless you want to increase your tax liability and waste your wife's personal allowance in retirement.

Ideally, you should be looking to increase your contributions and reviewing your providers as anything pre 2001 is often on legacy contracts which can be quite dated compared to modern plans. If you cannot do this yourself then utilise an IFA as its typically a no cost option for you compared to what you have already.

wotsthat

What should i be looking at doing now.

In my opinion you should be looking to increase your total monthly savings. If you are only saving £40 a month I'd suggest that whether you are contracted in or out is a minor side issue.

You could end up in a situation where you have just enough income in retirement to prevent you getting pension credit and other benefits thus making a waste of time saving anything at all.

To be clear though I'm not suggesting that you stop saving and impoverish yourself in retirement but to save much more to get well above the benefits threshold.