The cost of London living

[Drew]

Because it will be at least 40 years until I'm of pensionable age and I reckon they won't be worth the paper they're written on by then. Plus why stash away large amounts of money that you might never see? My parents even told me not to bother with them. I appreciate if you're lucky enough to have joined a scheme at a time when your company invest a large amount but these are few and far between now.

It seems like you're thinking of pensions scheme of the past.

They are much more flexible now. Like i said, with some schemes you can now buy property. How much more economically efficient can you get - let your pensions build up while waiting for the right time to buy, buy the property, sell it for a profit, bang it back in the pension and start all over. Makes perfect sense to me.

I'd advise a chat with a good IFA to bring you up to speed. You may be surprised. The pension co. i changed to about 3 years ago gave me a £5000 transfer gift. It means staying with them for 5 years, but i'm more than happy with its growth so no need to change.

... and if you do speak with a IFA, ask him/her about paying into a pension salary sacrificial. That way you'll be able to contirbute a lot more at no extra cost.

If not, maybe stick with the shares. I hope they do well for you

 

[Beckiboo]

I don't even earn £2.5k a month let alone get to spend it!!!