Beavis Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If you do or dont already know, i am a electrician and i have been working for the same company for 28 years this August( I know a long time)And i am in the company final salary pension scheme, a couple of years back the company said that to maintain my expected pension i would have to contribute more, so at present i pay around £41 a week. Now guess what they are telling us the same thing again, so this time for me to maintain my expected pension i will have to pay about £50 a week Where do i draw the line? what are my options if any? It seem's as time goes by more and more of my wage's are been taken away. A couple of years ago i had to fill in Tax returns going back 3 years even though i was a payee employee. I found out i had to do this because i was paying the higher rate of tax of 40%.Now i have been landed with another Tax bill for £1500 in underpaid tax for the last 2 years, why can't the tax people deduct the correct amount of Tax at the time? So for this year my new Tax code starting in April 08 is 195L Dont know why i bother going to work no more, it seem's that my money is everyone's but mine Anyone in a similar situation? And what is your pension situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I gave up paying into my pension plan years ago, I was paying some fund manager a fortune to lose my money ( something I could do for far less ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 I gave up paying into my pension plan years ago, I was paying some fund manager a fortune to lose my money ( something I could do for far less ) Yes but what happened to the money you paid in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomoto Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I gave up paying into my pension plan years ago, I was paying some fund manager a fortune to lose my money ( something I could do for far less ) Yes but what happened to the money you paid in? apparently I have some money laying about somewhere or another , so when I reach 60, if the fund has been managed as it was in the past , I may have enough to buy a loaf of bread.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I don't have and will not have a pension. All my money is tied up in 4 properties. And a Lamborghini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Its a real pain. We have an industry wide pension, for the few that are left. With the numbers contributing going down every year the lag of members claiming still increases. This causes a constant shortfall which needs topping up. I pay a lot more per month and my employer pays a hell of a lot more. They recently had to pay another one off top up fee of 2K per head. I dont think there is any quick fix. Even if you were to take the money out it and try to invest yourself its hard to see how you would get a good return. It looks like evryone is doing the buy t let game now. Thanks to the government taxing pension plans and putting no realistic legislation in place to stop companies abusing its access to this money its a very unfair lottery. As for tax. I have been PAYE and done self employed work at the same time for many years. I was always striaght with my returns but gave up working on leave a few years ago as the accountance fees were outweighing the income due to constant battles with the tax man. I am very lucky in having a final salary pension scheme. Its just a matter of wether it goes bankrupt before I get there. Dont think there are any easy answers bud, its the best of a bad system at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 I don't have and will not have a pension. All my money is tied up in 4 properties. And a Lamborghini I like share dealing, made a small fortune from 2003-2006 on crh shares which i purchased for £7.18 and sold for £25.50 last year Still have some to off load but only about £19-20 at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If you want to try foreign property dealing have a go, I was very very lucky, never again though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 I am very lucky in having a final salary pension scheme. Its just a matter of wether it goes bankrupt before I get there. Same as me and same thought's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Invest in property Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 beavis, have you been declaring your pension contirbutions on your tax return? and claiming the rebate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If you want to try foreign property dealing have a go Think we are about 2-3 years too late now for properties - everyone is doing it - when I should have done it I dithered too long and now its too late! Had my eye on a fab French property a few years ago for peanuts with shed loads of land but...missed the boat (no pun intended Martin)... Its funny how they bang on about Spain yet I understand that market is already dead - just the greedy sales reps trying to keep the momentum going! You might have to sell your Zeds for peanuts then I can finally afford one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 i was in a similar situation and have recently stopped paying my pension i have paid for years, mainly because the projected figures at retirement age were not much different to what i was paying in !! the tax forms are a nightmare !! and yes i was fined £100 for sending it in late you do get this back when it is sent in though bottom line - pensions - useless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If you want to try foreign property dealing have a go Think we are about 2-3 years too late now for properties - everyone is doing it - when I should have done it I dithered too long and now its too late! Had my eye on a fab French property a few years ago for peanuts with shed loads of land but...missed the boat (no pun intended Martin)... Its funny how they bang on about Spain yet I understand that market is already dead - just the greedy sales reps trying to keep the momentum going! You might have to sell your Zeds for peanuts then I can finally afford one! Spain is also exremely speculative now. I still have plots of land there as a long term investment. Its all about getting planning permission from the loal mayor and then hoping he doesnt get thrown in jail before you complete the project. There is also a lot of "foreign money" from new democracies flying around which doesnt help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 There is also a lot of "foreign money" from new democracies flying around which doesnt help. Yes also Euro money which they use for roads etc etc - I would be more worried about those daft rules they brought in about building in your back garden and you have to pay them not to kinds thing??? My house is really my pension but of course I would have to sell it and downsize (to cardboard box) trouble is I just remortgaged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I used to review pension funds when I was in practice, and had the misfortune of getting involved in some funds with the biggest deficits in the land (into the billions of pounds). The short answer is if you are in final salary scheme, pay it. As a %age rise yes it is high, but in absolute terms it is peanuts. Final salary schemes are topped up by the company in the first instance in almost all cases. One that I worked on was contributing 75% of employee's salary to keep the fund in the black. I would ask what the employer's contribution rate has gone up by, and try and ensure it is in line. If not, speak to the trustees (who should be working for you) and ask them why not. I had never started a pension because as per Tim's comment I got fed up with dealing with millions lost (and I mean vs the markets, not just inline with markets) and seeing fund managers get paid millions. I have now started one to get the tax breaks in saving and the employers money, but I have stuck half in cash and half in high risk stuff. Avoid the norm as that is where the bulk of monies are so easiest to get lost in the performance figures IMO. Sarnie, if you have 4 properties then nice one. I have tried a few times to stick money into it and at the moment (at least in the places I know) it doesn't stack up. South of France is my next stop in July to buy..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Sarnie, if you have 4 properties then nice one. I have tried a few times to stick money into it and at the moment (at least in the places I know) it doesn't stack up. South of France is my next stop in July to buy..... Croatia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkymofo Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Ye as already mentioned, if you are in a final salary scheme it is worth keeping up the payments. I'm a trainee IFA at the moment, been a bloody nightmare in the last few months trying to manage peoples money effectively. For some peculiar reason Russia's economy seems to one of the few that isn't being greatly effected by this credit crunch business. I haven't looked into the property market situation out there though I must admit. Now the government are cutting the basic rate of tax in april it also means you get less tax relief on your pension contributions, so if you want to keep the same gross contribution going in you need to alter your net payment upwards to the tune of 2%. Most people couldn't give a hoot though to be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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