My work pension scheme.

[ColinJ]

Does the nice man from Ernie call personally if you win the £1m prize?

I wondered about that - surely they wouldn't just send you just the usual ...

... email?

I'll let you know after I've won my first million!

 

[Jenkins]

Does the nice man from Ernie call personally if you win the £1m prize?

Up to recently they did. There was a feature in one of the papers a few years ago where they interviewed the (anonymous) person responsible and they actually called at your house to offer advice along with the good news. And at the time it was a Mrs Ernie.

 

[Drago]

Nice to see a lot of luck coming to the cc'ers, hopefully get my share too

Speaking of luck, when I retired I just passed the time threshold and retired under new rules set in place by Teresa May. These have been successfully challenged in Court as unlawfully ageist and a breach of contract. Day to day it doesn't affect me greatly as about 85% of my pensionable service falls under the terms of the 1987 regulations. Nevertheless, it does make a difference, and I'm due not only a nice bump-up in my monthly income, but 3 years of back payments and interest. I'm also part of a class action against the HO, so I'll be due a payout for upset, distress and hurt feelings, another 4 or 5 grand. Teresa May's efforts to save some money is costing the county a fortune.

 

[Mattk50]

I made enquiries about an old DB frozen scheme I had from 1988-1995 and got a valuation of £450k which I then promptly moved into a SIPP. it was only worth 15k a year when I hit 65 so the transfer option was worth it. Having made little conscious effort with pensions all my life until now (51) it's given me some security and incentive to add more now.

 

[Drago]

My pension gives me a little over 16k a year, plus 4k injury award (not counting the 136k commutation which I banked and which remains untouched). When you've no mortgage or car finance etc, 16 large doesn't do me badly at all - it comes in quicker than I try to spend it.

 

[Mattk50]

I do think the pension industry has a vested interest in making us save more than we really need. I may be wrong but if when you retire with two state pensions say 19k per year, no mortgage, kids off hands, a new bike each year and that's without any private pension provision whatsoever. Surely that's 'do-able'?

 

[Drago]

I think it easily doable if you're not daft enough to be saddled with a mortgage (or perhaps a remortgage at that age), credit cards, loans, etc, Of course, if you want to go on cruises twice a year and drive a new Jag every September then it may not go very far, but if if you're prepared to forego needless fripperies and live modestly I think it's possible to live quite comfortably.

You'll also find you can retire a lot earlier without those things.

I've a rental income too and Mrs D is much younger than me and works and has her own Ill health police pension, but were saving every penny as shes unlikely to be well enough to work for more than another 4 or 5 years, so once she stops earning that's one of our income streams cut off permanently.

 

[dodgy]

I do think the pension industry has a vested interest in making us save more than we really need. I may be wrong but if when you retire with two state pensions say 19k per year, no mortgage, kids off hands, a new bike each year and that's without any private pension provision whatsoever. Surely that's 'do-able'?

If you're happy to wait until 67 to retire, that's entirely reasonable. I don't think there's any conspiracy, though (my words, not yours ), pension companies might make some money, but the pot owner will also make some (potentially a lot more than they put in).

I'm retiring at 55, my choice, I'd rather be riding my bike around Europe while I'm still able to enjoy it

 

[delb0y]

I made enquiries about an old DB frozen scheme I had from 1988-1995 and got a valuation of £450k which I then promptly moved into a SIPP. it was only worth 15k a year when I hit 65 so the transfer option was worth it. Having made little conscious effort with pensions all my life until now (51) it's given me some security and incentive to add more now.

That's a great return on seven or eight years DB contributions. Nice :-)

If you're happy to wait until 67 to retire, that's entirely reasonable. I don't think there's any conspiracy, though (my words, not yours ), pension companies might make some money, but the pot owner will also make some (potentially a lot more than they put in).

I'm retiring at 55, my choice, I'd rather be riding my bike around Europe while I'm still able to enjoy it

There was a time when I was aiming for 55, but as I approached 54 various factors (mainly business scandals that knocked the company share-price for six) combined to push my target out a year. Then Brexit came along and the investments now halved again. So I then started targetting 57 but subsequent pension changes, work changes, and other factors hit it again and it become 58. NextCovid-19 hit and with SWMBO not being able to work and investments halving yet again, 59 now looks more reasonable. Seems like there's this mean pension god that is having fun with me and a carrot on a stick that I can never quite grab.

I do agree that one should retire as soon as one can - you only live once and you never get the time back, and all that.

Derek

 

[dodgy]

That's a great return on seven or eight years DB contributions. Nice :-)



There was a time when I was aiming for 55, but as I approached 54 various factors (mainly business scandals that knocked the company share-price for six) combined to push my target out a year. Then Brexit came along and the investments now halved again. So I then started targetting 57 but subsequent pension changes, work changes, and other factors hit it again and it become 58. NextCovid-19 hit and with SWMBO not being able to work and investments halving yet again, 59 now looks more reasonable. Seems like there's this mean pension god that is having fun with me and a carrot on a stick that I can never quite grab.

I do agree that one should retire as soon as one can - you only live once and you never get the time back, and all that.

Derek

Your investments halved with the vote leave? Really? And they halved yet again with Covid19? What are you invested in!!?

My pot wobbled a bit during vote leave but soon recovered, it dropped about 10% for Covid19 around March but it's now completely recovered and is worth more now than pre-covid19. Have you set your Target Retirement Date (TRD) with your pension provider, I'm guessing not? IF you do that, as you get nearer TRD, your pension pot is 'de-risked' and you're moved into less volatile stocks that can weather tough conditions much better.

I'm glad I did just that!

 

[Mattk50]

That's a great return on seven or eight years DB contributions. Nice :-)

I fell off my stool that's for sure! I still can't fathom how they arrived at that number with the contributions being so early in my career with rubbish earnings!

 

[dodgy]

I fell off my stool that's for sure! I still can't fathom how they arrived at that number with the contributions being so early in my career with rubbish earnings!

25 years plus of compounded interest.

 

[delb0y]

Your investments halved with the vote leave? Really? And they halved yet again with Covid19? What are you invested in!!?

I used to work for BT, and had a bunch of shares. They were worth £5. Overnight, almost, with the coincidence of a Brexit vote and a BT Italia accounting scandal, they dropped 50%. At that point I got rid of all that I could. However, I still had some and they hovered around the £2 mark until Covid-19 when they dropped to around £1. A big fall from grace (many years ago when the configuration of BT was very different they were once worth £15 !)

These shares weren't / aren't part of my pension(s) - which have just about recovered to pre-Covid levels - but were a big part of my retirement plan. Hence the continued slippage year by year.

Regards
Derek

 

[delb0y]

The fall:

 

[dodgy]

Buy TSLA!!!! (this is not financial advice)