Pensions - What Should I Do ?

Put_ya_mitts_up asked:


We all know that Solomon said, ‘do not flog your public officials or you will be ruled by the corrupt’, but something has to be done, so how about cutting pensions?
Both answers are brilliant. Dorian, I like that. I allways did wonder what he meant and it just takes a lot of time to go into the history and the ancient Hebrew etc.

Xavier

Kim Kirmmse Toth asked:


The word “retirement” seems to surround you, it’s everywhere you look! Has it gotten a bad rap? It seems to be an unpopular term as people continue to try to be creative with new names and titles, such as 3rd Age, Second Act and Bonus Years.

Regardless of the word you use, people know this is what happens after your career ends. With the evolution of this stage of life come new ideas and new terms to describe them.

Bridge job, is one of these new concepts. What the heck is a bridge job? It’s a job you might have during the period of time between your career and when you really retire, meaning being totally and unequivocally, unemployed.

The important thing to keep in mind is that retirement is a process, not an event. It may be a marathon, but not a sprint. It’s a phase of life we can do over time. You don’t have to have a long career and bam! Retire. You can, but you don’t have to.

A bridge job might be the perfect transition for you, especially if you define yourself by your work. It might be a new line of work, it may be part time, it may mean self-employment or if you are self-employed you might enjoy working for someone else and letting them handle most of the responsibilities.

There are also some very hard hitting truths as to why you might consider a bridge job for yourself.

*There are many unanswered questions about Social Security and how stable it will be when it comes your time to collect.

*Many of you simply haven’t saved enough during your working years to be able to retire when you thought you would.

*Too many contracted pensions and retirement plans have been a victim of over promised and under delivered.

*You are living longer and healthier than ever before. With life expectancy at an all time high, it obviously will cost you more if you wish to be self supporting and not rely on you children and/or the government.

In the United States, the average retirement age is 56 years old. That could mean 30 years living without working! Even if you have saved diligently, that’s a long time to live without a pay check.

There are many statistics, available to interpretation. Generally speaking, 79% of Baby Boomers expect to work in later years. 52% work part time. Only 10% of the

Baby Boomer generation will retire in the traditional sense, moving from a full time career to a non-working lifestyle.



Sean

Derek Both asked:


Pensions are plans that offer steady income to a person after they have retired. Pensions are essentially a deferred compensation that offers tax advantages to the employer and employee. Pensions can be in the form of an annuity, or a cash balance that is drawn from after retirement. Whichever the case may be pension plans allow employees to prepare for their retirement. In the United Kingdom, pensions come in many forms.

Basic state pensions are offered for most people and the amount received depends on the amount of contributions that person has made to the National Insurance fund. Factors such as being married also contribute to the amount of money a person will get each week from the basic state pension. The State Second Pension is offered to employees that are not self employed and was introduced by the Child Support Pensions and Social Security Act of 2000. It offers three distinct payout rates determined by the amount of contributions made.

Personal pensions were introduced in 1988 for people that are not a part of a company pension. This is a great tool for people who are self employed or work for a company without a good pension plan. Since 2001 members of a company pension scheme can also take out an additional personal pension. Occupational pensions are set up by employers for employees. Most occupational pensions usually offer an eightieth of the final remuneration for each year of work plus a lump sum of up to a hundred and fifty percent of the final remuneration.

Employers have to offer employees the chance to invest additional contributions to their pension. These are called additional voluntary contributions. An employee can voluntarily invest up to a hundred percent of their total remuneration. Free standing additional voluntary contributions are a variation of additional voluntary contributions. The difference is that free standing additional voluntary contributes are made to a pension scheme run by a third party pension provider rather than the employer. This allows for a wider range of investment choices.

Self invested personal pension schemes allow individuals to have more flexibility to how they invest and use their pension funds. Since 2006 individuals can purchase an annuity as well as using a pension drawdown. Using a self invested personal pension scheme you can transfer a balance to another pension scheme, make or receive lump payments, and an employer can even pay into the plan or match your payments. Since 2006 you can also invest in as many pension plans as you’d like you have a wide range of investment options available including shares and property.

Preparing for retirement is a very good idea and the modern pension laws in the United Kingdom give you many options for paying in and drawing funds. The manner in which a pension pays out is very important. Flexibility is key because it is impossible to predict the future and it is important to have flexible access to your money. You do not want to have a large pension but not the ability to use the money you need during a particularly hard month or year.



Lauren

lina asked:


We’re going to Cologne, Munich and Nuremburg. If youve been and stayed in a cheap “pension” (one step higher than a hostel) let me know where and what kinds of things you would suggest doing in these cities! Thanks!

Mia