PowerSwitch

I work as an IT tech for a grammar school

i started last feb (2006) and automatically joined the pension scheme (local government)

Last month, after a year of contributing, i opted out. at that time i didn't realise how much the school/county were contributing too and i also foolishly thought that i would free up my entire monthly contribution by not paying (i realised what had already been paid would be frozen and not released yet). of course i forgot the fact that it gets taken before tax and NI so that i would lose cash.

so a month down the line i'm freeing up about ?60 a month, my contributions were about ?90 and the school/county paid 3x that in too.

the point of this post is to ask opinions on whether i should stay out and use the money for paying off debt and preparations (maybe save too) or opt back in?

of course it depends how doomerish you are.

i personally think that the world is going to change so much that it doesn't matter how much free money i'm getting (tax free and conts. from school) if i'm not actually ever going to be able to collect it in 40 years time

what do you guys think?

Most pensions are invested in the stock market. With oil depletion we will see the end of economic growth ie we will experience contraction. I think the stock markets will crash as will investments in the stock market such as pensions.

I see no point therefore in saving in the form of a pension, unless you have a choice in ensuring that your particular contributions can be directed in a specific direction such as fixed interest bonds or land or gold or suchlike.

I think if you have only started to work you would be better using the money to become debt free. A pension can always be started in a few years from now if the circumastances look more favourable.

In the past I was always a supporter of pensions, until I discoverd PO.

thankyou

my dad was always on at me to start a pension, so i just went straight in to this one,

but then he also introduced me to PO later in the year.

i'm of the same opinion that as the economy won't survive in the same state the pension is essentially worthless and that the cash in the short term may be more beneficial

I'm a teacher... this is not an issue I have addressed!

I mean don't you have to prove that you are putting it somewhere else instead?

Sally, the longer you have been contributing the more important it is that you address this issue. Most pensions (practically all) are invested in the stock market. If the stock market tanks (drops markedly - and this has happened in the past without Peak Oil - 1929, 1987, 2000) then your pension value drops in-line. My pension dropped markedly back in 2000 after the dot-com crash - it is only in the last year or two that it has recovered! I have now taken it out of the stick market as I am personally convinced the markets will crash this year.

see here for more info. http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=98

I advise you all to do something about your pension - when the next crash occurs it will be too late.

Ho - hum! Why does this fill me with irrational fear?????

Why am I so ****** conventional?

Actually it's probably not huge - I have not "worked" all my working life! Do I sound like I'm making excuses? I know you're right..... really...

Gotta get my head straight!

You don't have to have a pension if you don't want to, and thats what i'm currently doing by opting out of the local government one.

for me there's no point in doing SIPPS (trying to move the investment) because i've only contributed ?900+ so far, i'm happy to let that stay there but i'd rather not throw any more money after it

if you're really PO aware and realise the most likely way things will go you will come to the conclusion that whether the market tanks sooner (as snow hope believes) or society radically changes (collapses) before you claim it (40 years time for me), there is really no point putting money in.

my dad has decided to keep paying his as he's obviously been paying a lot longer and has a few going worth quite a bit, i tried to convince him to do something like SIPPS but he's not interested at the moment.

Greenbeast wrote: he's not interested at the moment.

Does he read this forum?

Point him at Snow Hope's other thread... he may change his mind. I know I'm doing something about it. Quite what, remains to be seen

i don't think he does, i will send him the thread, as i was only able to give him the jist although he had heard of SIPPS before

he's got a lot of money in different pensions so i'd really like to see him do something useful with it rather than throw it at pension companies, etc...

so do people think i should stay out of the pension unless i can alter where the funding goes?

I haven't been bothered with a pension. I'm 35 now and suspect that when I come to retire in 2037 or 2040 or whenever it will be, any current pension plan will be pretty much worthless. I'd rather have the money now, thank you.

Well that choice is up to you horapollo and is fair enough if you look at the pros and cons and then make a decision that suits you.

But personally I would like to try and save some money that would allow me to have a little more than the basic state pension, which doesn't seem to be very much. Mind you with PO and the way the world is likely to go, everything changes and I can fully understand whay many people today think there is really no point in trying to save for a pension many years/decades into the (uncertain) future.

The trouble is that you can save for years and then find that the State / Pension Fund won't or can't pay out.

All those Porsches in the City are being paid for by somebody ... and I suspect that more than one or two are being funded by pension "fees" - or even the capital.

All that money lying around in long term accounts must be so tempting ... just ask that nice Mr Brown ... or the bosses of Equitable Life.

If you DO save then make sure that is not in anything marked as "old person's money".

If you were a member of 'The Local Government Pension Scheme' http://www.lgps.org.uk/
I would consider getting back in straight away. Like most government pension schemes police, firefighters, nurses, teachers etc this is one of the most secure pensions around. Ok, its not 100% guaranteed but only a complete break down in society would see you getting nothing.

If you can try to save in other investment areas as well which would could rise due to PO. Diversity is crucially important if planning for a very uncertain future.

I really need to get my stuff sorted out. Would like to get some form of SIPP setup, so I expect to have a bit of am argument with the company. Legally, is there any reason why I couldn't switch to some form of SIPP if I have a company pension?

The only thing, is what to do with that SIPP. 20k is not enough really for some land I would have thought? Mind you, have about another 10k offshore, but would take a hit cashing that in (cash 2 years into a 10 year managed savings account... hence some cashing in fees I expect).

What to do, what to do

20k is not enough really for some land I would have thought?

Our 5 acres cost way under that .. but it took contacts & an instant decision to get it.