Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[ZRX61]

Yeah this week mine is at the highest its ever been. I'm not unhappy with that

Yup, same here. Previous high was February.

[gremlin]

My rather unimpressive Vanguard took a hit last month because of the shenanigans in the Gulf (4.64% drop).

This month it's back up 4.98%, so just a minor short-term hiccup.

Yeah this week mine is at the highest its ever been. I'm not unhappy with that

I was going to buy into the dip but, truth be told, I don't have a lot of spare cash floating about currently. Kicking myself now.

Did prompt me to revisit my work DC scheme and have a review. One of my best performing funds is the Islamic Growth Fund I've got 15% in. Praise be to Allah, indeed.
And because fortune favours the brave, I've reduced my holding in the Steady Growth Fund as it was lagging.
Retirement risk reduction, be damned!

God, I know how to live an exciting life...

[weeksy]

My rather unimpressive Vanguard took a hit last month because of the shenanigans in the Gulf (4.64% drop).

This month it's back up 4.98%, so just a minor short-term hiccup.

Yeah this week mine is at the highest its ever been. I'm not unhappy with that

I was going to buy into the dip but, truth be told, I don't have a lot of spare cash floating about currently. Kicking myself now.

Did prompt me to revisit my work DC scheme and have a review. One of my best performing funds is the Islamic Growth Fund I've got 15% in. Praise be to Allah, indeed.
And because fortune favours the brave, I've reduced my holding in the Steady Growth Fund as it was lagging.
Retirement risk reduction, be damned!

God, I know how to live an exciting life...

With the current ongoing house move etc i don't have anything i can change/move/add/reduce, but it's interesting watching the figures change. For example mine has gone up by £24k in the past 2 weeks since the big slump. I was getting slightly worried for a while and i'm sure we'll have other slumps again by the time i can take it, but currently it's looking sweet.

[IccyV2]

What’s that in a percentage?

I’m still frit of markets going up and down like Niccolo Paganini’s arm. But then I’m a short term player now.

[weeksy]

What’s that in a percentage?

I’m still frit of markets going up and down like Niccolo Paganini’s arm. But then I’m a short term player now.

Dunno matey, it dropped to £640k it's now at £665k

[IccyV2]

What’s that in a percentage?

I’m still frit of markets going up and down like Niccolo Paganini’s arm. But then I’m a short term player now.

Dunno matey, it dropped to £640k it's now at £665k

Best part of 4%.

That's a decent lump of money, it makes a huge amount of difference when its pre-tax money and your employer is throwing big lumps in as well.
For me without an employers pension I'd have to drop in at least a couple of grand a month over decades to build up a pot like that.

I've got colleagues who did 25yrs in a corporate role back home with good pensions and they've got a couple of million in, it's a huge boost to have an employer lobbing 10% or something in every month.

[ZRX61]

Mine dropped 4.64% last month, as of this morning it's up 5.25%

Edit: Vanguard hasn't updated my numbers since Wednesday. Dow was up 1000pts yesterday & the same again today, so it's gonna be more than 5.25%

Edit 2: 5.32% as of Friday afternoon

[ZRX61]

For me without an employers pension I'd have to drop in at least a couple of grand a month over decades to build up a pot like that.

I've got colleagues who did 25yrs in a corporate role back home with good pensions and they've got a couple of million in, it's a huge boost to have an employer lobbing 10% or something in every month.

Nurse I know retired with damn near $5M, her dad has taught her to start saving as soon as she left school. She left California for Oregon 2 or 3 years ago & she paid cash for her new house (about $650k). They gave her the 3rd degree about wanting to pay cash for a house. She showed them a bank statement.
Her vacation/travel budget is $50k/year.

[Supermofo]

What’s that in a percentage?

I’m still frit of markets going up and down like Niccolo Paganini’s arm. But then I’m a short term player now.

Dunno matey, it dropped to £640k it's now at £665k

You've done well!! Mine is about £100 higher than it was the day before the war, which is last time I checked. Tbh I'll take that, as it lost a ton when Putin invaded and took a while to come back

[IccyV2]

I don't think people put enough thought into their overall employment packages, a decent pension where the employer is bunging a big wad in every month is a massive creeping benefit.

It's been said before but kids need to get taught this stuff along with the three Rs, in decades to come if you haven't got a decent pot then retirement is going to be a thing of the past and people will work until they drop on the job. I've always felt a huge pressure to try and leave the kids enough to bridge the gap, The Pony is right really, the toxic elderly really have buggered the future up.

[Sunny]

I don't think people put enough thought into their overall employment packages, a decent pension where the employer is bunging a big wad in every month is a massive creeping benefit.

It's a good point - I walked away from a job with a final salary pension that would have seen me set for life if I'd have stayed. Unfortunately, I couldn't stand the idea of being bored for another 20 years, so I moved on to somewhere more interesting with a worse pension scheme. Ho hum.

[Bustaspoke]

I don't think people put enough thought into their overall employment packages, a decent pension where the employer is bunging a big wad in every month is a massive creeping benefit.

It's a good point - I walked away from a job with a final salary pension that would have seen me set for life if I'd have stayed. Unfortunately, I couldn't stand the idea of being bored for another 20 years, so I moved on to somewhere more interesting with a worse pension scheme. Ho hum.

Much as I disliked the place,the main reason I started supermarket trucking at JS was for the Final salary pension & sharesave.Around 2014/2015 they stopped the Final salary pension,froze the contributions & enroled us all into a different pension.Even when you plan ahead you can still come unstuck

[Taipan]

I don't think people put enough thought into their overall employment packages, a decent pension where the employer is bunging a big wad in every month is a massive creeping benefit.

It's been said before but kids need to get taught this stuff along with the three Rs, in decades to come if you haven't got a decent pot then retirement is going to be a thing of the past and people will work until they drop on the job. I've always felt a huge pressure to try and leave the kids enough to bridge the gap, The Pony is right really, the toxic elderly really have buggered the future up.

Twas not the toxic elderly, it was the banks. When I bought my first flat, you could borrow 1.5 times your salary and .5 of the joint purchasers. Look how the banks and building socities multiplied that and inflated house prices to lend yet more money for increased interest payments.

A lot of us Boomers didn't want any part of that, just to own our own houses and for our kids to be able to do the same. It cost us a fair chunk of our savings to get our kids on the property ladder, sadly, many won't make their way onto it and will be at the mercy of a pretty much unregulated renting market, unless they inherit property.

[Dodgy69]

It's gonna be a rocky road for pension investments and markets while the oil shipping highwayman keep playing silly buggers.

[Yorick]

It's gonna be a rocky road for pension investments and markets while the oil shipping highwayman keep playing silly buggers.

The FTSE100 is higher than a month ago. We put loads in 2 weeks ago

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[Horse]

At a get-together yesterday evening, of ex-colleagues.

Chatting about pension stuff, I was surprised when one guy said he'd cashed in his final salary scheme to put into another pension pot to use as draw-down when he retires.

His reasoning was that, if he died, his wife would still have the money.

But he was concerned that the pot wouldn't last long enough with reasonable payments.

Yet they have another property that they rent out - so a reasonable sum (a small flat around here is £200k up) as backup.

My [admittedly limited] understanding is that final salary schemes are gold, to be kept and treasured. Are there exceptions?

[Dodgy69]

Not as flexible as a drawdown, Final salary may not pay enough a month for comfortable living. DD you choose, but it's at risk if investment doesn't grow. If you fancied part time work while drawing down you could stop or reduce payments to leave more invested.

I know a few lads I used to work with who took a cash equivalent transfer value from FS to a DD, My idea is to draw more early to fund early retirement then and if state pension kicks in, reduce my DD.

Always good to have a stash somewhere safe aswel.

[Count Steer]

At a get-together yesterday evening, of ex-colleagues.

Chatting about pension stuff, I was surprised when one guy said he'd cashed in his final salary scheme to put into another pension pot to use as draw-down when he retires.

His reasoning was that, if he died, his wife would still have the money.

But he was concerned that the pot wouldn't last long enough with reasonable payments.

Yet they have another property that they rent out - so a reasonable sum (a small flat around here is £200k up) as backup.

My [admittedly limited] understanding is that final salary schemes are gold, to be kept and treasured. Are there exceptions?

Probably depends on the details of the pension, the value of it and what other things a person has in their stash. Many people have accumulated with more than one company eg I have a final salary one (I bought extra years of service in it too) and a DC one. The FS one was never going to get cashed in - paid out from age 60, wife will get 50% if I peg out first (and vv with her main one too). Increases annually and not at risk of market turmoil (unless it's financial armageddon and the pension fund goes base over apex).

[Horse]

l one guy said he'd cashed in his final salary scheme to put into another pension pot to use as draw-down when he retires.

Probably depends on the details of the pension, the value of it and what other things a person has in their stash.

Obviously I don't know his personal details.

If - and enrolling was, back then, voluntary - he had a DB then it was for, probably, more years than I had (16/60ths) in the scheme. Plus, he could have taken it at age 65 whereas he won't get state pension at 67.

And they have the second property as a lump sum.

[ZRX61]

The usual number is take 4% a year from the pot, you'll be making more than that from stocks/bonds etc, so it will continue to grow a bit while you piss away the 4% on bikes, hooers & high living etc.