Numbers
an ting!
My firm contribute 12%, for years I never topped it up with my own contribution but I have done the last 5 years. If you can afford it you should.
Has your pension taken a massive dive?
- Thread starter Petcha
- Start date
wemakeyousoundb
hopefully not gimboid
bmd
Island in the stream.
Mate, do it.
Yeh I would agree with BMD. If your employer's gonna contribute to it then it's basically free money.
Oh, just seen you're self employed... hmm... no idea then if it's worth it, or just have a savings account?
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
It almost certainly is as anything you save gets an income tax rebate.
How does one go about getting that?
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
If you save into a SIPP you get the rebate of 20% income tax automatically paid into the SIPP by the provider. If you pay 40% or 45% income tax you can claim the extra on your tax return.
And don’t forget that getting a rebate of 20% actually means getting an immediate uplift of 25% on what you save. If you’re a 40% taxpayer, that becomes a 67% uplift.
(If you’re lucky enough to be a 45% taxpayer, it becomes considerably more complicated because you will rapidly run into annual allowance limits at that level of income. But let’s leave that aside).
(If you’re lucky enough to be a 45% taxpayer, it becomes considerably more complicated because you will rapidly run into annual allowance limits at that level of income. But let’s leave that aside).
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
Don't wait for too long - but get try to get information from truly independent financial advisor. Many supposedly IFA's seem to have links to [paid commission by] banks etc.
And there are some real sharks out there - such tactics as high / hidden charges & transaction commission ...
My talents lie elsewhere, not finance, as evidenced by my perpetual financial issues. So this is completely over my head. I don't think I do a tax return (I'm just a plan PAYE guy) and have no idea what a SIPP is.
A SIPP is a type of personal pension. It’s one you can take out yourself. But any official pension wrapper would do it for you, including any run or used by your employer.
The 20% rebate will happen automatically as soon as you pay into the official pension product. It’s higher rates you have to reclaim via your tax return. But if you are a 40% taxpayer, you probably already fill out a tax return.
izz
Increased Leisure Citizen
Petcha, if you're a PAYE guy then mayhap you have an accountant who does your payslips 'n' that - considered asking them for a recommendation for a financial advisor ? And/Or you could simply contact one of the big pension providers (Scottish Widows have been taking very good care of my private pension for me).
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
I guess you know what an ISA is? A SIPP is basically like an ISA, except you can't access anything you put in until retirement (actually 57ish). To compensate for that lack of access you get the income tax rebate credited to anything you contribute.
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You need to educate yourself mate. There’s plenty of good resources out there which explain stuff in a straightforward way. I’m not ‘good’ with understanding financial things either, but I could understand eg:
Numbers
an ting!
That Which link is quite good, if somewhat scary re: numbers.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Don't be this guy who was outraged to discover his company pension was invested in the stock market instead of all his contributions being held as cash. A succinct explanation in reply on how such pensions actually work from a former pensions minister:
www.thisismoney.co.uk
My pension was invested without my consent and it's losing £1k a month
I've been enrolled at my workplace pension scheme for the last 10 years, only to discover that from April this year I've been losing £1,000 every month - although I didn't choose to invest.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
Seagull hats and wasp trackies?
Ok. Officially not gonna check this for two years. I would've thought sacking the chancellor might have improved shit but no, dived even lower. Presumably, hopefully, once the dickhead currently making Boris fucking Johnson look competent is gone next week, things will get better.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Total contributions £820.
Pension pot value £750.
Not sure how that works. I would clearly have been better off opting out and putting 20 quid a week in a shoebox under the bed. Not that it matters because the chances of the economy in its current form surviving until August 2053 are so remote as to not be worth considering. It's the equivalent of buying insurance against my dog spontaneously learning to speak Portuguese.
Pension pot value £750.
Not sure how that works. I would clearly have been better off opting out and putting 20 quid a week in a shoebox under the bed. Not that it matters because the chances of the economy in its current form surviving until August 2053 are so remote as to not be worth considering. It's the equivalent of buying insurance against my dog spontaneously learning to speak Portuguese.
bmd
Island in the stream.
You never know. About the dog.
Riklet
procrastinación
My private one has gone down slightly compared to a year or two years ago but it has basically stagnated rather than losing significant value. I dont bother checking much cos its a long term thing... I wont be able to withdraw for 17odd years at the very earliest I dont think. And I dont plan to retire in my 50s, boooooring!
Now that I have a new job im gonna start paying in more than I currently do to benefit from the 20p top up per every 80p saved (so basically a free 25% bonus) as I am no where near the max. So it's basically a top up of 20% of any contributions up to a limit of your total anual earnings or £3600, whichever is higher. Hopefully a lot better than a shoe box under the bed! But yes you will have less money short term so probably no help for lots of people :/
One assumption being made on this thread and elsewhere is that pension values or investments that have gone down are like cash that has been lost. That's a gross misunderstanding, not even an oversimplification. Your fund value will reflect the number of "units" you hold in the pension fund which are worth X amount. Say 400 units at £40 each making £16,000. Sure the total may be down 10 or 15 or 20% but unless there is economic armageddon that value of the unit will eventually increase again. for example to £50. That won't happen with cash or cash savings.
edit: corrected some stuff
Now that I have a new job im gonna start paying in more than I currently do to benefit from the 20p top up per every 80p saved (so basically a free 25% bonus) as I am no where near the max. So it's basically a top up of 20% of any contributions up to a limit of your total anual earnings or £3600, whichever is higher. Hopefully a lot better than a shoe box under the bed! But yes you will have less money short term so probably no help for lots of people :/
One assumption being made on this thread and elsewhere is that pension values or investments that have gone down are like cash that has been lost. That's a gross misunderstanding, not even an oversimplification. Your fund value will reflect the number of "units" you hold in the pension fund which are worth X amount. Say 400 units at £40 each making £16,000. Sure the total may be down 10 or 15 or 20% but unless there is economic armageddon that value of the unit will eventually increase again. for example to £50. That won't happen with cash or cash savings.
edit: corrected some stuff
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A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
My two pensions - bigger one I am drawing now and smaller one I’m waiting to see - are ‘gold plated’ public sector ones. This is brilliant but they are both giant Ponzi schemes. My , huge* , payments went to offset pensioners at the time and I’m now getting paid direct from the government offset against people currently paying in. There is no fund.
Mind you if it gets to the point they default then we are all fucked and existing on potatoes and beet anyway.
* I’m not complaining, it was definitely money well spent and I am very fortunate.
Mind you if it gets to the point they default then we are all fucked and existing on potatoes and beet anyway.
* I’m not complaining, it was definitely money well spent and I am very fortunate.
In short, yes. So either the crisis will fizzle out (as the regulators keep reassuring us) and there will be a recovery, or it will get worse and we’ll hit another crash before things get better again.
My colleague can claim one of his pretty much now and lost about £7k by not acting sooner.
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
If you say had some money in an isa and cashed out the vanguard plan before the crash. Would you go for back into a similar tracker or cash isa for a year? That's my thinking at the moment since it looks sketchy. Then reevaluate after.
