Pension, life insurance....

[Arti]

I haven't a clue about the above but want to start planning for my future. Can anyone recommend a plan that will pay me a pension at 65 or, if I die before then, will leave a sum of money for my family?

[ubasses]

You need to speak first to your employer to see if they have a Company scheme as they will pay in to it as well as you. If not make an appointment with an IFA and get advice tailiored to your requirements.

[MASS1961]

How old are you now Arti? Within 5 years will be fine.
The earlier you start the better. Be warned, 65 may not be pensionable age soon, think it may have changed already, more like 70 soon!

[Marciau]

Hi Arti

You can get pension plans which pay out any time after 55. This was 50 prior to 2010.
I have an occupational pension and the terms were you were paid a pension after 50 if you got made redundant so my occupational pension has been paid since I was 51.
Private pensions have nothing to do with state pensions.
I am not old enough for my state pension yet.
I know if I passed away before the pension has been paid for 5 years the rest of the 5 years pension would be paid to the estate. I am not sure if this would have been paid in a lump sum or monthly.

Marcia

[Johnysid]

Company pensions and public sector pensions are best, if either is on offer then take it.

Private pensions are OK if you are earning a lot and are a fairly tax efficient way of saving. But only if you work in the private sector.

As a rule of thumb, £100,000 in a private sector scheme will buy you an inflation linked annuity for about £3-4000 per annum when you retire. The £100,000 is taken by the Pension Company. So, to get a typical teacher's pension of £15000 to £20000 per annum you would need to contribute £400,000 to £500,000 over your working life (based on 40 years working). Your contributions would need to be about £10,000+ per annum before tax (there being no tax on this level of contribution). Most importantly get several private pensions from different companies, private pension companies do go broke and do cheat.

At present small pensions look stupid. People who retire without a pension get state benefits to cover their housing and other basic living costs which amounts to a topup of about £5000 per annum per household. If you had a total pension pot of £100,000 yielding £3500 per annum inflation linked then every pound of your pension would be used to decrease your state benefits by a pound. However, this might change if we get poorer as a country.

[Johnysid]

"As a rule of thumb, £100,000 in a private sector scheme" should read "As a rule of thumb, £100,000 in a private pension scheme"

[jesicaaniston]

Good idea. You can find life insurance policies online. It is important because they provide many options for debt repayment, income replacement and estate planning for your family.

Check this out: http://www.lifeinsurancequotes.org.uk/ Media URL: http://www.lifeinsurancequotes.org.uk/
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