Paying into a pension is what they want you to do and encourage you to do so, So they can rob you over time Same with saving in a bank. Thing is what you put in years before becomes worth less and less as time goe’s by due to inflation. So when it comes time to retire you not got as much as you thought you would have. Saving and then puting into asets that hedge against inflation probally the best thing you could do imo, like gold or properties.
Well I’m glad that I never took financial advice from you Rox or I wouldn’t have been able to afford to retire at 54 ?. I’m afraid that your understanding of pensions and how they work leaves an awful lot to be desired. First of all, you get tax relief at your highest tax rate on all pension contributions (plus some NI savings depending on how your employer administers the scheme), so that’s effectively free money. Secondly, any decent pension fund (and I’m talking defined contribution / money purchase schemes here, not the more attractive defined benefit / final salary schemes) will see your investments roughly double every 10 years due to investment growth. So, no, they don’t rob you at all and I have ended up with far more pension provision than I ever expected, not far less as you state. Property is indeed a great investment, but I would never rely solely on it to fund retirement as you have to sell it in order to realise an income and, unlike a pension, it’s not a guaranteed income for life. I’m certainly glad that we don’t have to sell our house to downsize in order to fund our retirement.