Funkstain wrote:

Of course the other massive benefit I didn't mention (because I can't take advantage of it) is that most workplaces have pension schemes where they will top-up more to your contributions: usually more than you put in yourself! So you'll put in say 5% and your employer will add 8%. Now only your contribution attracts the tax relief at marginal rate but that's still a jolly nice top-up

Does any employer actually make contributions that high? I’ve only had two employers since it became law for SMEs to offer company pension schemes. The first matched contributions up to a max of 5%. My current place match up to a max of 3%. I could choose to put aside a higher percentage of my salary, but they’d still only add 3%.

Wow. I guess that’s just us lot in the creative industries getting fucked again. Small companies and an employer’s market = no incentive for them to offer better.

Civil service here, so I can’t complain about pension. I pay in 5.45%, they pay in 27%.

SpaceGazelle wrote:

Contribution limit is 40K a year?! Christ that's generous.

Lifetime limit of £1M or thereabouts may change with inflation

MattyJ wrote:

Civil service here, so I can’t complain about pension. I pay in 5.45%, they pay in 27%.

I mean, wow. I can see why some people shift into the public sector.

I really need to sort myself a pension pot. I've had various workplace ones over the years but no idea where or how they all eventually amalgamate when the time comes. 

But i've been self employed for a while and haven't paid anything in recently, I was actually a bit oblivious to the tax benefits. Someone point me in the right direction?

*runs away*

Help! Too busy saving, but for bloody house funds rather than retirement.

Funkstain wrote:

MattyJ wrote:

Civil service here, so I can’t complain about pension. I pay in 5.45%, they pay in 27%.

This amazing on the face of it deal was of course the only way they could stop mass strikes at civil service when they stopped new entrants to the defined benefit schemes

Technically we’re not really paying into anything more than a promise to get a payment back as and when we want to claim it…there’s not really a pot of money building up anywhere for us, it’s all part of the government’s big ledger book.

Also, it wasn’t just new starters taken off the defined benefit schemes - they took all of us off it…well, technically they froze us at a moment in time (April 2015) and changed the pension age for the new scheme (alpha) to National Pension age (currently 68) instead of 60.

The McCloud judgment means we can now claim seven of those years as being in either scheme with everyone in the new one from April 2022 but it still makes it a big change of terms and conditions for some of us that have been in service for a while.

Just stick loads in is the general rule.

Dark Soldier wrote:

GMC is great, I pay 1% (lol), they pay 15%.

That is ace. Fuck crypto you madman.

I like the Vanguard funds, they are low cost and well spread out and offer a lot of choice. For a simple fire-and-forget, the life strategy funds are attractive at 0.23%ish total cost (plus your platform cost, don't forget), see here for more:

https://www.vanguard.co.uk/professional/investment-capabilities/multi-asset/lifestrategy

The way it works: the younger you are / further from retirement, the more equity they recommend in your fund. There's a relatively new version, called SustainableLife, which comes in 40%-50%, 60%-70% or 80%-90% equity amounts. If you're more than 20 years from retirement then likely the best performing will be the 80%-90% version over that time. You reduce share price volatility as you approach retirement by moving into the lower equity funds. Note the sustainable ones are more actively managed so you end up paying 0.5%ish per year, a substantial increase, but that's what it takes to be sustainable (low / non investment in fossil fuels, weapons, tobacco etc)

UBS S&P 500 Index Fund C Accumulation

If you want to keep it supper simple

How do people know about any of his stuff? Did your parents teach it to you? Or was it covered in school?

I just listen to SG.