Big Con

[wbfc]

it is not a lot ...if you live 30 years ...i have made a pensions appointment this morning ...if i get to 65 and it looks bad we will run to the phillipines where the wife is from ...is not as cheap as you would think out there for a western life style but the wife can be very fugal if required ...she still thinls £5 is a lot of monet lol

[Herts Clarets]

Public sector workers already had the pay froze in 2010-2014 then 0.6% rises 2014-2020 and 2% 2021-present and had their pensions changed from final salary to career average in mid-late 2010s so I think it would be unfair to specifically target those folks again to save money especially as skill retention within the sector is already hard enough with these aforementioned “benefits” compared to higher paying private sector equivalents. It’s usually the first aspect to be cut by the government though so suspect will be blamed again rather than looking elsewhere to pull in the public purse strings.

Those in favour of such targeting usually miss the point that it’s not just public sector workers who suffer from this action but everyone who needs a passports, taxes/pension issues fixing, medical waiting lists, courts, etc. too.

I now work in the public sector, albeit for a trading business that makes a return for the County Council each year. Prior to that I have worked in the private sector all my career. I did a comparison recently on the impact of various Local Government pay freezes and subsequent below inflation pay rises from 2010 to 2021. I used RPI as a measure of inflation and chose a not astronomical 25k as the starting salary in 2010. As you can see the LG salary has increased to 28.6k over a period of 12 years, whereas an inflation matching increase each year would have a salary of 35.7k. A local government employee is over 7k worse off than a private sector one. It is having a major impact on the ability of local authorities to recruit and retain the right calibre of people and I cannot see an end to this in the short to medium term, given the number of local authorities in financial difficulty or those issuing Section 114 notices as they have insufficient budget to provide services.

LGPA RPI LG salary LG salary plus inflation variance
2010 0.0% 4.6% 25000 26150 4.6%
2011 0.0% 5.2% 25000 27510 5.2%
2012 0.0% 3.2% 25000 28390 3.2%
2013 1.0% 3.0% 25250 29242 2.0%
2014 0.0% 2.4% 25250 29944 2.4%
2015 2.2% 1.0% 25806 30243 -1.2%
2016 1.0% 1.8% 26064 30787 0.8%
2017 1.0% 3.6% 26324 31896 2.6%
2018 2.0% 3.3% 26851 32948 1.3%
2019 2.0% 2.6% 27388 33805 0.6%
2020 2.8% 1.5% 28141 34312 -1.3%
2021 1.8% 4.1% 28633 35719 2.4%
22.6%

[RMutt]

I now work in the public sector, albeit for a trading business that makes a return for the County Council each year. Prior to that I have worked in the private sector all my career. I did a comparison recently on the impact of various Local Government pay freezes and subsequent below inflation pay rises from 2010 to 2021. I used RPI as a measure of inflation and chose a not astronomical 25k as the starting salary in 2010. As you can see the LG salary has increased to 28.6k over a period of 12 years, whereas an inflation matching increase each year would have a salary of 35.7k. A local government employee is over 7k worse off than a private sector one. It is having a major impact on the ability of local authorities to recruit and retain the right calibre of people and I cannot see an end to this in the short to medium term, given the number of local authorities in financial difficulty or those issuing Section 114 notices as they have insufficient budget to provide services.

LGPA RPI LG salary LG salary plus inflation variance
2010 0.0% 4.6% 25000 26150 4.6%
2011 0.0% 5.2% 25000 27510 5.2%
2012 0.0% 3.2% 25000 28390 3.2%
2013 1.0% 3.0% 25250 29242 2.0%
2014 0.0% 2.4% 25250 29944 2.4%
2015 2.2% 1.0% 25806 30243 -1.2%
2016 1.0% 1.8% 26064 30787 0.8%
2017 1.0% 3.6% 26324 31896 2.6%
2018 2.0% 3.3% 26851 32948 1.3%
2019 2.0% 2.6% 27388 33805 0.6%
2020 2.8% 1.5% 28141 34312 -1.3%
2021 1.8% 4.1% 28633 35719 2.4%
22.6%

That’s a really telling comparison. Just a quick question. Have salaries in the private sector roughly matched inflation, on average, in that period?

[Tricky Trevor]

Here's a question:

Should state pension be given to people with high private pensions?

Ooh you are naughty. Because they’ve paid their NI which entitles them to OAP. Most of those with personal wealth will possibly have looked after their bodies as well and won’t have abused the NHS, where the other portion of NI goes.

[Tricky Trevor]

Public sector workers already had the pay froze in 2010-2014 then 0.6% rises 2014-2020 and 2% 2021-present and had their pensions changed from final salary to career average in mid-late 2010s

Not MPs, who are public sector workers for me.
Cameron/Osbourne, austerity, bring down the National debt, Northern Powerhouse. What a load of tosh. Tories looking after tories.

[Plissken]

A generation that had free healthcare, secure jobs, strong union protections, free and world leading education up to university level, a strong arts and music culture, a strong social safety net, equality of earnings and good pensions have spent the thick end of 40 years removing it from their kids and now spend all their time blaming the kids for not doing enough. Or immigrants. Whatever. Either way, it wasn't their fault, nor was it the fault of the people they keep voting for.

[Herts Clarets]

That’s a really telling comparison. Just a quick question. Have salaries in the private sector roughly matched inflation, on average, in that period?

Not sure how easy that would be to find, as there are so many different industries and fields, some perform better than others, but for 4 of the years where the public sector had a pay freeze, I was working in the private sector and our annual pay reviews were at least matching inflation.

[RMutt]

Not sure how easy that would be to find, as there are so many different industries and fields, some perform better than others, but for 4 of the years where the public sector had a pay freeze, I was working in the private sector and our annual pay reviews were at least matching inflation.

Thanks. Yes, I suppose so. For some austerity was a decline in the public services they used. For others, if they were employed by the government, it was that, plus a big fall in their wages too.
The public sector paying the price for private sector gambling largely I feel.

[GetIntoEm]

Here's a question:

Should state pension be given to people with high private pensions?

Sounds like a whacky thought, but... doesn't get discussed. Wonder how much we could save as a nation if we didn't give state pension on top of high private ones.

We wouldn't give Universal Credit to someone with £20k in savings, so why a state pension to people with private ones?

Yes, they've more than earned it through their contributions.

[GetIntoEm]

Sounds like you are probably all over it but food for thought just in case.

£150k with £900 and an average 6% return over 25years with the £900 increasing by 1% each year to represent a pay rise shows you will have £1.53m. This ignore any charges and inflation you may be incurring - so would need that return after both of these if the £1.25m is considered for inflation also. This is using a simple compound returns calc.

Ensure you are maximising employer matching if that is available.

Review your fund in your pension schemes. If they are in the default fund you may find out that these are not optimised for anyone with such a long distance to go before accessing the fund.

Personally, I have put mine in a passive fund that tracks global markets. Its considered high risk (which means it can be more volatile than lower risk funds) but over a 20+ year time horizon this risk will naturally lesson as you benefit from time in the market.

The other benefit of a passive fund is that you are not paying for active management and therefore you can reduce the charges on your pension and it means in tougher market conditions where returns may be less your not also getting stung by higher charges. I'm not aware of any active manager who will beat a passive fund over 20+ years.

Hi thanks for replying, I'm not sure we are all over it to be honest.

In an ideal world we would like to work to 60, maybe give or take a couple of years.

Mine is made up of 5% employee contribution and 10% max employer contribution. I can increase mine but theirs doesn't go up.

My salary generally increases 3-5% annually without any job changes.

My wife is 15 years into the NHS pension so far, which has a decent employer contribution, think it's about 26% now.

Our plan if all works out would be to sell our house (10 years left on mortgage) take the 25% tax free and probably move abroad.

Do we sound like we are on the right path?

[CrosspoolClarets]

Public sector workers already had the pay froze in 2010-2014 then 0.6% rises 2014-2020 and 2% 2021-present and had their pensions changed from final salary to career average in mid-late 2010s so I think it would be unfair to specifically target those folks again to save money especially as skill retention within the sector is already hard enough with these aforementioned “benefits” compared to higher paying private sector equivalents. It’s usually the first aspect to be cut by the government though so suspect will be blamed again rather than looking elsewhere to pull in the public purse strings.

Those in favour of such targeting usually miss the point that it’s not just public sector workers who suffer from this action but everyone who needs a passports, taxes/pension issues fixing, medical waiting lists, courts, etc. too.

Agree with you on the whole, but I cannot see how these pensions are affordable and we will have a very embittered two tier country if the typical growth in UK SIPPS flatlines for a decade or two, which I fear it will given the mess the underlying economy is in. People whose pensions are not affected by the underlying economic climate are very, very lucky but most of the country are in a different camp.

Putting it another way, it may come down to whether we pay our pensioners the same or continue to provide education, healthcare and defence to the same level. At some point, the majority may vote for a change.

[AfloatinClaret]

...Retirement is based on your lifestyle...

That.

Lots of people work too hard and for too long to be able to buy things that they don't really need. Perhaps worse, there are significant numbers working too hard and for too long just to be able buy things that they don't even really want, but because neighbours, family members, workmates or the chap that you sit next to at the match has got them, or even worse still, because the man on the TV/internet says that you should have one...

That thought is brought to you by someone who retired completely at 51 and only worked part time (<20 weeks/year) for the eight years before that. I've never bought a Twix at the Turf mind.

[Foshiznik]

Not MPs, who are public sector workers for me.
Cameron/Osbourne, austerity, bring down the National debt, Northern Powerhouse. What a load of tosh. Tories looking after tories.

If you are going to measure the work and pay of 3.93 million public sector workers based on the behaviour of the current 344 Tory MPs currently in Parliament who’s pay, pensions and allowances have increased significantly since 2010 (pay is 31.7% higher now than it was in 2010, they receive a 1/40th final salary pension and an average increase of about £7.6k a year for expenses since 2010) then you will quickly realise how very different actual public sector workers from the MPs you put in the same category.

I suspect your average civil servant would love that sort of inflation busting yearly increase in their pay and pensions

[Croydon Claret]

It's very scary making that choice to give up your income and survive on what you have accumulated so far.

Regardless, a week on Tuesday I am planning to give my 6 months notice to retire at 55

I see people on the news that are dying well before normal retirement age and a friend of Mrs Croydon has weeks to live and he's only 59. Another acquaintance has stage 4 cancer and not even 40 yet

As I've had T1 diabetes for 53 years already, with all the long term risks that come with that, then I've decided that quality time is more important than any money.

Ask me a week on Wednesday if I've done it

[Taffy on the wing]

Mine starts end of this month. Will bump me back into paying tax on my pvt pension ... bummer.

It really seems unfair......especially as the very wealthy get away with paying very little.
Average Joe always gets it in the neck!

[Hipper]

Come & move to Spain where people come first, a country of people who smile & where they hold their politicians to account, 5% growth again this year & they invest in their own infrastructure. Choose wisely but the south of Spain is gorgeous & has it all.

Is that why quite a few Spanish people came over her to work, certainly before Brexit.

[Bosscat]

It's very scary making that choice to give up your income and survive on what you have accumulated so far.

Regardless, a week on Tuesday I am planning to give my 6 months notice to retire at 55

I see people on the news that are dying well before normal retirement age and a friend of Mrs Croydon has weeks to live and he's only 59. Another acquaintance has stage 4 cancer and not even 40 yet

As I've had T1 diabetes for 53 years already, with all the long term risks that come with that, then I've decided that quality time is more important than any money.

Ask me a week on Wednesday if I've done it

My father died at 69 yrs old, we also lost an older brother age 57 to Big C.

This prompted all the rest of us in our family to retire early (myself ... helped by my ability to access my Pvt pension by the rule changes). My Brother who used to sit with me in JHU was 71 when he went 3 years ago.
I retired at age 58 8 yrs ago. No regrets and don't miss work at all.

I paid £1.5k into my NI contributions last year to boost my pension by £20 a week (as I was 3 yrs short of full pension entitlement) this will be paid back within 2 yrs to me so it was a no brainer.

As you say quality time is precious. I don't expect to be still here in 10 yrs time, it would be great but family history dictates otherwise (although my eldest brother is still here age 81) so you never know

[Croydon Claret]

My father died at 69 yrs old, we also lost an older brother age 57 to Big C.

This prompted all the rest of us in our family to retire early (myself ... helped by my ability to access my Pvt pension by the rule changes). My Brother who used to sit with me in JHU was 71 when he went 3 years ago.
I retired at age 58 8 yrs ago. No regrets and don't miss work at all.

I paid £1.5k into my NI contributions last year to boost my pension by £20 a week (as I was 3 yrs short of full pension entitlement) this will be paid back within 2 yrs to me so it was a no brainer.

As you say quality time is precious. I don't expect to be still here in 10 yrs time, it would be great but family history dictates otherwise (although my eldest brother is still here age 81) so you never know

Sorry to hear about your family history

As Les Dawson famously said "Money just buys you a better class of misery"

You watch programmes about people living off grid, looking after animals and the like, and you see how happy they are. Somebody I follow on Facebook gave up his high income to set up a dog sanctuary in Thailand and he's never been happier.

Ultimately life makes you happy, not money

[dsr]

I think he's concerns are valid.

Based on estimates and advice we have been given me and my wife should need £1.25m between us to have a decent lifestyle in retirement.

We are early 40s, we currently have about £150k between us plus our home when it's paid off.

It's a concern how we will reach that target number. We put about £900 a month each into our pensions currently.

An index-linked annuity at today' rates would be about £55-60k, plus state pension for two, call it £70-75k. A quarter of the private pension being tax free. If that's not enough for a decent lifestyle, then you'll have to get a part time job!

[dsr]

Here's a question:

Should state pension be given to people with high private pensions?

Sounds like a whacky thought, but... doesn't get discussed. Wonder how much we could save as a nation if we didn't give state pension on top of high private ones.

We wouldn't give Universal Credit to someone with £20k in savings, so why a state pension to people with private ones?

One problem with that is that if you tell someone aged (say) 62 that they can retire now and spend their pot,or they can go on to 67, but their retirement income will be the same either way, then the state saves nothing but the economy loses a productive worker.

[Hipper]

Wouldn’t that encourage people to say sod it, I’ll spend my money on holidays, fancy cars, perhaps put chunks of money into my children’s accounts, hide it even, so that I’m not penalised for saving/investing it?

When you first commented I was hoping you meant those with pension pots of, say, greater than a one million or something.

Using the OP as an example, if my maths are correct, or close, then a £350K pension pot might only provide around £1,400 per month after tax, or £1,100 per month should they sensibly take the 25% tax free amount out. I’m happy for someone else to provide more accuracy on that. I think the average UK salary is now close to £2,000 net per month for comparison.

£350K sounds a lot if you’re (not you personally) in your 20’s or 30’s, or maybe don’t have a private pension, and it’s good but it’s not huge, especially if you don’t want to work until you’re almost 70. Did I see 75 being mentioned as a possible age for retirement? Maybe I’ve made that bit up?

Current Annuity Rates according to this site are £7,373 per annum £100,000 for a 5 year old. I'm guessing this is after the lump sum has been removed and the total pot was originally roughly £133,000.

https://moneytothemasses.com/saving-for ... 0-and-100k

In 2012 (when I was 59) I had £55,000. I took the 25% lump sum which left me £41,250 yielding a pension of £2,168 per year/£180 per month fixed until I die. It was the best available at the time which unfortunately was a period of low annuity rates. Today's rates seem a little higher and that is the problem with annuities - they depend on some aspects of the economy (the value of GILTS - government borrowing) which for the ordinary mortal seem unpredictable. Timing of an annuity purchases critical and that is the big issue with private pensions as I'm not sure any advisors can help here.

[GetIntoEm]

An index-linked annuity at today' rates would be about £55-60k, plus state pension for two, call it £70-75k. A quarter of the private pension being tax free. If that's not enough for a decent lifestyle, then you'll have to get a part time job!

It's a lot less than we are used to, but I guess no mortgage by then. I'd probably still work part time I guess

[ElectroClaret]

Current Annuity Rates according to this site are £7,373 per annum £100,000 for a 5 year old.

Nowt like starting young.

[dsr]

Current Annuity Rates according to this site are £7,373 per annum £100,000 for a 5 year old. I'm guessing this is after the lump sum has been removed and the total pot was originally roughly £133,000.

https://moneytothemasses.com/saving-for ... 0-and-100k

In 2012 (when I was 59) I had £55,000. I took the 25% lump sum which left me £41,250 yielding a pension of £2,168 per year/£180 per month fixed until I die. It was the best available at the time which unfortunately was a period of low annuity rates. Today's rates seem a little higher and that is the problem with annuities - they depend on some aspects of the economy (the value of GILTS - government borrowing) which for the ordinary mortal seem unpredictable. Timing of an annuity purchases critical and that is the big issue with private pensions as I'm not sure any advisors can help here.

There's two different annuity rates. Mine was the index-linked rate, 4.5% rising with inflation. Yours is the flat rate, 7%, which never goes up. Both figures are right, it's just one more decision.

(My decision is already made. If I take an annuity I have to live to 90 for that to be the better decision. Those aren't good odds. Besides, if you leave it in the pot and draw down, your next of kin can take what's left after death. )

Back in the day when you had to take an annuity, a chap I knew reached retirement age but was asked by his boss to stay on a couple of years extra. He did, and when he retired got significantly less on his annuity than he would have done two years earlier. Like you say, timing is everything.

[dsr]

It's a lot less than we are used to, but I guess no mortgage by then. I'd probably still work part time I guess

There's always food banks.

[Tricky Trevor]

If you are going to measure the work and pay of 3.93 million public sector workers based on the behaviour of the current 344 Tory MPs currently in Parliament who’s pay, pensions and allowances have increased significantly since 2010 (pay is 31.7% higher now than it was in 2010, they receive a 1/40th final salary pension and an average increase of about £7.6k a year for expenses since 2010) then you will quickly realise how very different actual public sector workers from the MPs you put in the same category.

I suspect your average civil servant would love that sort of inflation busting yearly increase in their pay and pensions

Your last sentence was my point.

[clarethomer]

Hi thanks for replying, I'm not sure we are all over it to be honest.

In an ideal world we would like to work to 60, maybe give or take a couple of years.

Mine is made up of 5% employee contribution and 10% max employer contribution. I can increase mine but theirs doesn't go up.

My salary generally increases 3-5% annually without any job changes.

My wife is 15 years into the NHS pension so far, which has a decent employer contribution, think it's about 26% now.

Our plan if all works out would be to sell our house (10 years left on mortgage) take the 25% tax free and probably move abroad.

Do we sound like we are on the right path?

You are maxing out the employer matching by what you have said. Your monthly contribution should therefore increase naturally too when you get increases going forward too so that will make a difference over time.

You should be looking at which fund your pension is invested in. If you haven't done anything with that, it is likely to be in a default fund. These are usually middle of the road funds because the employer puts everyone in there so it's unlikely to be optimised for you.

If you can access your pension provider through an app or portal, I would be looking at that and looking at what fund choices there are for you and what the costs are.

My view of investing is passive investing that tracks an index.

Basically an index tracker fund is one that is designed to follow the performance of an index such as the FTSE100 or S&P 500 as you are basically performing close to the market by doing this.

As there is very little a fund manager can do with these, there is no active management with the funds. This means a fund manager is not trying to find assets that could generate a return better than the market. It's possible to do this at times but because markets change all of the time, there is a risk that the active management will not provide long term benefit in my eyes. There may be an argument for this for some investors but for most, I don't think it's needed in my opinion.

If your investment returns 10% in a year and you have a cost of 1.5% on a fund, you probably would be ok with an 8.5% return after costs. However if the markets are down or in negative, the cost of your fund becomes more important and the difference these charges can make over the long term soon add up.

To get diversification, I have a global index tracker fund. Nothing more complicated than that and I think from memory the fund cost was less than 0.5%

My suggestion to you would be to see if you can access your pension details and also see what you can find.

Re your wife - she is in a good pension scheme with the NHS as it will have been a defined benefit scheme. It has changed over the years but her pension will be based on her salary when it comes to taking it. There is no consideration/worry about the markets for this one.

I believe on the statements, it will state what her pension will be and if you want to increase this, she can look into increasing her benefits

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/in ... ur-pension

Ultimately your £1.25m may not be right if one of the pensions is in a defined benefit. If you have £150k, there will be lots of places who will review this for you if this is something that you want professional advice on - I would recommend thinking about this as they will be able to fully consider your situation and will be able to properly review what you have.

My summary here is just to help with your thinking and to share how i have approached my retirement planning when it comes to the funds in my pension.

[IanMcL]

It's very scary making that choice to give up your income and survive on what you have accumulated so far.

Regardless, a week on Tuesday I am planning to give my 6 months notice to retire at 55

I see people on the news that are dying well before normal retirement age and a friend of Mrs Croydon has weeks to live and he's only 59. Another acquaintance has stage 4 cancer and not even 40 yet

As I've had T1 diabetes for 53 years already, with all the long term risks that come with that, then I've decided that quality time is more important than any money.

Ask me a week on Wednesday if I've done it

Sounds exactly the right choice Croydon.
Good luck.

[IanMcL]

I have received my BT pension for 20 years - almost 21. Managed to walk away with 6 months pay and pension at 50. I was 45.5 yo.

I had worked incredibly hard and so had a decent pension, which hoe's up most years.

I then went self employed for ten years, before my wife's first major cancer op.

My income is supplemented by my Unitary Councillor allowance. That ends next May, by which time I would have completed 30 years. We had topped up my wife's pension years, however, she died aged 58. Never saw a penny.

I will be 72 in that June and my partner and I now do AirB&B. I clean out shower room and help with the bedding, vacuuming etc.

We have a very nice life, which will become a comfortable life. I have been lucky so far. Working hard and investing in Full Endowment mortgage proved beneficial. It did leave us poor for many years though. Who knows what is best? No one as we cannot predict the future

Those living solely on an OAP deserve and need concessions.

[Clarets4me]

Whilst I'm no fan of George Osbourne, his Pension reforms were great ... allowing Private Pension holders, to take money as and when they need it rather than buy an annuity at a Prescribed age. It's allowed people to take a phased retirement, either reducing their working week, or retiring from their " Career job ", and going into another role, less well paid, but can be topped up by pension withdrawals ...

The one person responsible for the decimation of Private Pensions was Gordon Brown, who did most to discourage savings in 1997, by changing the tax treatment of dividends. This was enacted by career Civil Servants on Gold plated pension schemes, who should have been a national scandal.

Finally, the top 5% of earners in the UK ( £85,000 + ) pay over half the total income tax received by the Treasury .. Alcohol duties net £12.6bn and Tobacco duties £8.8bn. All three of these income streams are very close to a Laffer effect, both Alcohol and Tobacco incomes have reduced in the last 2 years. From personal experience, normally law-abiding smokers are buying " contraband "cigarettes for £6 - £7 a packet rather than £15-17 a packet ( Marlboro Gold ) ... or holiday in Greece, and buy them for the equivalent of £4.15 a pack ...

[Stayingup]

It's probably worth checking what personal finances will mean under Sharia Law as its in its way. Interest will not be charged.

[GetIntoEm]

You are maxing out the employer matching by what you have said. Your monthly contribution should therefore increase naturally too when you get increases going forward too so that will make a difference over time.

You should be looking at which fund your pension is invested in. If you haven't done anything with that, it is likely to be in a default fund. These are usually middle of the road funds because the employer puts everyone in there so it's unlikely to be optimised for you.

If you can access your pension provider through an app or portal, I would be looking at that and looking at what fund choices there are for you and what the costs are.

My view of investing is passive investing that tracks an index.

Basically an index tracker fund is one that is designed to follow the performance of an index such as the FTSE100 or S&P 500 as you are basically performing close to the market by doing this.

As there is very little a fund manager can do with these, there is no active management with the funds. This means a fund manager is not trying to find assets that could generate a return better than the market. It's possible to do this at times but because markets change all of the time, there is a risk that the active management will not provide long term benefit in my eyes. There may be an argument for this for some investors but for most, I don't think it's needed in my opinion.

If your investment returns 10% in a year and you have a cost of 1.5% on a fund, you probably would be ok with an 8.5% return after costs. However if the markets are down or in negative, the cost of your fund becomes more important and the difference these charges can make over the long term soon add up.

To get diversification, I have a global index tracker fund. Nothing more complicated than that and I think from memory the fund cost was less than 0.5%

My suggestion to you would be to see if you can access your pension details and also see what you can find.

Re your wife - she is in a good pension scheme with the NHS as it will have been a defined benefit scheme. It has changed over the years but her pension will be based on her salary when it comes to taking it. There is no consideration/worry about the markets for this one.

I believe on the statements, it will state what her pension will be and if you want to increase this, she can look into increasing her benefits

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/in ... ur-pension

Ultimately your £1.25m may not be right if one of the pensions is in a defined benefit. If you have £150k, there will be lots of places who will review this for you if this is something that you want professional advice on - I would recommend thinking about this as they will be able to fully consider your situation and will be able to properly review what you have.

My summary here is just to help with your thinking and to share how i have approached my retirement planning when it comes to the funds in my pension.

It's with Aviva, and yes it's in the default. I can switch it in the app, but not sure what I'm looking at.

[Rileybobs]

It's probably worth checking what personal finances will mean under Sharia Law as its in its way. Interest will not be charged.

[cl40]

To say this is a Burnley forum and we’re supposed to be one of the poorest areas in the country, a lot of people on here seem to be quite financially secure with plenty of savings.

PS I understand a lot of posters in here don’t live in Burnley!

[Tricky Trevor]

Regardless, a week on Tuesday I am planning to give my 6 months notice to retire at 55

As I've had T1 diabetes for 53 years already, with all the long term risks that come with that, then I've decided that quality time is more important than any money.

Ask me a week on Wednesday if I've done it

Good decision.
I’m in the same boat as Bosscat, above, lost both parents around 70 plus other relatives too early and decided I’m not working to 65 to get 5 years life. Best decision we ever made.

[AmbleClaret]

To say this is a Burnley forum and we’re supposed to be one of the poorest areas in the country, a lot of people on here seem to be quite financially secure with plenty of savings.

PS I understand a lot of posters in here don’t live in Burnley!

It's a Burnley fans forum open to all,so like a cross section of society you'll get young to old,rich to poor.Not sure of your point?

[Venkys4eva]

My pension pot is 0, I own nothing and I dont care

[cl40]

It's a Burnley fans forum open to all,so like a cross section of society you'll get young to old,rich to poor.Not sure of your point?

No point really it’s just were labelled as Dingles, the press regularly label Burnley as one of the poorest parts of the country but it’s seems anything but according to this thread.

[GetIntoEm]

I live and work in Burnley, wouldn't say it's a "poor area" as such, there are plenty of decent hard working, well paid people in town. Sure we have a fair share of lame, layabouts and druggies, but the opportunity to have a good decent standard of living are available.

[clarethomer]

It's with Aviva, and yes it's in the default. I can switch it in the app, but not sure what I'm looking at.

I have one of my old pensions in Aviva - When you log into your portal and get more info on your pension, you should get a screen that has the ability to look at funds like below by clicking the funds and investment icon.

Screenshot 2024-05-11 at 12.00.43.png (61.53 KiB) Viewed 975 times

You can then type into the search "index" and it will shortlist the index funds.

Screenshot 2024-05-11 at 12.12.53.png (314.19 KiB) Viewed 975 times

You can see the charges and performance etc. Past performance isn't something you should rely on for future performance so I wouldn't pay too much information to this but look at the risk level - 7 is the highest and 1 is the lowest. You can also see in the title that some index follow Gilts or Corporate Bonds. Equities are the ones that I prefer.

The higher the risk, the more equities will form part of the fund. I would click on the fund sheets for each fund and then try and build a 2-3 different funds that covers the world well. You can check where the assets are held geographically on the fund sheets so its not that hard.

Again, all this is doing is diversifying from a georgraphy perspective so if a particular market isn't doing well, the others should help you. Its not diversified though from an asset perspective - i.e. index funds are mainly equities so you would probably want to not take this approach when you are getting closer to retirement but i have a good 15-25years in the market ahead of me so its just letting it have time in the market now for me.

[JohnMac]

Just tailor your lifestyle to your retirement income and enjoy living. I lost too many friends to work myself into an early grave so retired at 61.