[Dave]

I joined my current company too late for Final Salary pension , so ended up with some money plan version. I initially thought I could retire @ 50, if I worked hard & earned a good salary Anyway rules have now changed & 55 is earliest , but looking at my latest pension statement I think I'll be working for life

Retiring at 63, with pension rising at normal rate - 12% of salary !!!
Retiring at 63, with pension rising at 2% above normal rate - 18% of salary
Retiring at 63, with pension rising at 4% above normal rate - 24% of salary !!!

Anyone out there with a final salary pension, you don't realise how bloody lucky your are

[orangepeel]

wot's a pension?

[Mr Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by orangepeel

wot's a pension?

good question lol,

[sejanus]

OK, let me wind up for a bit....



Right. Now then, how does anyone think they can retire at a young age if there aren't going to be lots of even younger people working to keep them? The big pension thing is a scam, not far different from a pyramid scheme and working on exactly the same lines.

One of the really big problems, which no government has had the guts to face for the last forty years, are Civil Service pensions, which cost the rest of us £2,000,000,000 every year and rising. In other words £100 from each of us who have a job, every year. (and that was the figure for 1992 - it's shot up since then)

And this is distributed among 250,000 pensioners who are getting an average of £8,000 a year out of our pockets. Compare that with the state pension of £4,539, which we'll get if we're lucky!

Me, I'm assuming I'll go on working till I drop, that being more fun than playing bowls in the rain with the other old gits and spending the afteroon drying out in th public library.

[Dave]

[Matt F]

When you say "pension rising" I assume you mean fund growth rather than escalation in payment.

Sounds like you need to whack in some AVCs pronto!

Anyway - haven't you also got a few years final salary retained benefits with B&W and Sun Life? You need to add those into the pot too.

One things for sure, relying on the state will see you pretty badly off and waiting until age 67 or more before they pay you anyway.

I guess the other option is downsizing your house when you retire.

M.

[Dave]

It's just deciding where to place your money Matt. If the Pension is performing that badly vs FInal Salary lucky gits, then it makes you wonder if thats the best place to put your money. Yes you get 40% extra chucked in from Goverment, but I'm not inspired by performance to date

In ideal world I could do with House Market crash, so that you could buy some houses on Buy to Let & have the rent cover the mortgage. At the moment the figures just don't stack up ....by a long way, so that option is not available.

[orangepeel]

can u cash in a pension? I've got one from when I was 18. Only got a few grand in it. I'd rather have a new lens now than £11 a month in 25 years.

[Mr Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by orangepeel

can u cash in a pension? I've got one from when I was 18. Only got a few grand in it. I'd rather have a new lens now than £11 a month in 25 years.

i am in the same situation, i asked and they said no i would have to wait until i retire
for a few squids a week