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Pensions

Dusty

Don't run, you'll only die tired....
May 19, 2004
7,606
2,407
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Northern Ireland
Is anyone else affected by the compulsory pension opt in scheme or whatever it is?

This will be the first pension I've paid into, bit late starting at 35 but I work with a few people who paid into pensions for up to 23 years and lost the lot.

My work one seems to be quite good, they're paying in 5.5% if I contribute 5% of my salary plus the NI deductions from salary sacrifice about £180 a month is being paid into my little pot. I can up that at any time too and we're getting heavily discounted admin fees through the pension provider as well.
 

AmyStroodle

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2014
305
94
48
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Leeds,West Yorkshire
www.facebook.com
I've just started (Well I've had it a year and a month now) my first full time job and pensions scare and confuse me. 0.0

I know my company has one where my boss matches the payments I put into mine up to a certain % but ... I dunno ... plan on leaving here soon so is there a point starting one?
 

Dusty

Don't run, you'll only die tired....
May 19, 2004
7,606
2,407
348
45
Northern Ireland
I've just started (Well I've had it a year and a month now) my first full time job and pensions scare and confuse me. 0.0

I know my company has one where my boss matches the payments I put into mine up to a certain % but ... I dunno ... plan on leaving here soon so is there a point starting one?

you may be able to bring it to your new employer. Get as much as you can afford in as early as you can, you'll be glad when you're older. I wish I had started years ago, unfortunately that's only a benefit of hindsight and taking advice.
 

tombut716

Team Proteus Founder & UKPSF Member #5993
May 13, 2013
406
29
48
35
Cheshire
Are pension is ****. We put in 1% they put in 1% for the next 3 years, then 3% they put 2% for a year then by 2018 it's will be 5% they pay 3%. Majority of us have opted out
 

Tom

Tom
Nov 27, 2006
4,076
1,210
198
Salisbury
www.TaskForceDelta.co.uk
Are pension is ****. We put in 1% they put in 1% for the next 3 years, then 3% they put 2% for a year then by 2018 it's will be 5% they pay 3%. Majority of us have opted out
Make sure you go somewhere
Peoples working ages are going to rise & pensions are going to drop over the years - unless we get into an old fashioned world war and cut the populations
 

digitalman

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2011
412
52
48
Uckfield East Sussex
Same here @Dusty, work pension seemed a really good deal so am now running that AND the private pension I have had since I was 18.
Not wanting to be the party pooper, but I would be careful doing that because the tax man can jump on you from a great height if you are doing both.

But having a pension is essential these days but you either have to have a whole bucket full or nothing because if you fall into the middle ground of just having enough you will get zero support from the government whilst those maybe just a few pounds worse off a month than you can claim for everything.
 

it8nthot

Well-Known Member
Dec 4, 2002
640
58
63
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Just this side of sanity
I got myself and the wife an extremely good financial advisor (now retired) and we are sat here enjoying our pensions:)
It confused the hell out of us so he was a great help
 

Dup

Well-Known Member
Aug 17, 2012
303
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48
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Hey guys, sorry to revive an old thread but i am an employer and my dad is an accountant and I figured I would help you out a little:

The pensions in the workplace scheme have been brought into place because of low state pensions and people not being set once they have retired. If you go onto workplace pensions it will tell you your retiring age, for someone like me at 27, im looking at 70 before I receive my state pension! Although I can retired whenever I like (hopefully 30 ha)

For my employees I had to host a seminar where I invited someone from workplace pensions, my company is only small (10 people) which is why you may have heard about this in 2014 if you work for a medium/large company. In this seminar they should explain how the pension scheme works.

The whole premise about you "losing all your pension" because it is an investment is true, however if you are sensible, you won't lose any. In the government scheme you decide where your money is put. For example you can put it into shares, you have a high chance of losing a lot, or winning a lot. Or you can put it into a cash reserve, which will not be touched. The whole point of it being an investment is that whichever broker is working with your money will make it more, and yes this is not the case sometimes, but you are able to allocate your workplace pension as you see fit. The whole thing about people losing their pensions was because of the recession and stock market crashes... that's not likely to happen now we're out of the EU!

You can put 5% into shares and the other 95% into a cash reserve which gives you the security of knowing you can only really lose 5%. And you can do this anytime you want. If you log in to see your share money has gone up, take a bit of it out and put it into your cash reserve! You have the right to access it at any time and move the money around, you just can't take the money out until you declare yourself retired. You will get this money, just not state pension until the government sees fit.

Having a private pension on top is also absolutely fine. They are classed as investments and just like owning more than 1 property... you can have multiple. You must declare this though, otherwise you will have a feud with the tax man. I highly recommend having 2 pensions, just in case 1 goes tits up! Remember the loss may be higher in a private pension. It's good to look around.

To give you a little idea on how they work, if you pay in let's say £10 per month. And there are 1 million people in the U.K. also paying in £10 per month. The company will take the combines figure of £10million and invest that into property/businesses/stocks etc, thus in 20 years the return will be higher and your pension goes up. Using your money they make their pot bigger. It's not the same as you investing £10 into shares and seeing £11... these guys trade with billions and you are a small cog in a big wheel. But, workplace pension brokers are vetted by the government so you know it's not some backstreet company trading in eggs...they will be gutting properties and building materials etc...

As an employer, anyone that opts into the scheme, I have a minimum to match it up to 1% of their salary for the first year, 2% for second, and 3% thereafter. Some employers, like myself have said if you do 5%, I will also do 5%, but it's optional and if my cash flow suddenly dies and I lose a lot of business I can drop it to the above.

If you don't want a private pension and don't want the hassle of maybe losing everything, just open an ISA and put money in. The good thing about workplace pensions is your employer also puts money in! So you effectively double your pension. Private pensions run more risk because it's just your money and you may lose it all.


Hope that helps, if you have any questions feel free to ask away.