No money topic is too big or too small. Welcome to the Mouthy Money Podcast,…
Read More →
The importance of pensions for Millennials and Gen Z
Finance Dee explains pensions and their importance to millennials and Gen Z
Pensions – let’s talk about it fellow millennials and Gen Z’s! It is understandable that the topic of pensions may not fill one with excitement, but it is certainly one of the most crucial considerations when planning your financial future.
What is the pension landscape in the UK?
The average private pension pot size across the UK sits around £20,077 according to pensions saving app Pension Bee1.
These numbers will be skewed according to one’s region, age, and gender, but all things considered an average pension pot of around £20k would provide an income a little over £1,000 per year2.
The state pension, which is currently accessible at 66, provides a weekly income of £221.20, or £11,502 per year3,4.
It is impossible to predict the future or try to imagine the state of your finances in your 50s and 60s but a good place to start is to ask yourself:
“Could I survive on X income per year?” or better still,
“Could I live the life I would desire in my latter years on X income per year?”
If the answer is no, then there’s no time like the present to make a solid plan, and here are a few reasons why:
1. Allow COMPOUNDING to take effect
The earlier you start contributing towards a pension, the less you will have to contribute in the long run.
The power of compounding means years or decades of interest earned also earn interest leading to exponential growth.
Below is a simple illustration of the compounding effect:
Person A
- Starts contributing to their pension at age 40
- They contribute £500/month, with an assumed annual rate of return of 6%
- Their total contributions = £105,000, and their total interested earned = £251,177
- Their total pension pot by age 60 = £231,020
Person B
- Starts contributing to their pension at age 25
- They contribute £250/month, with an assumed annual rate of return of 6%
- Their total contributions = £120,000, and their total interested earned = £106,783
- Their total pension pot by age 60 = £356,177
2. Build good FINANCIAL HABITS earlier
It is exceedingly tempting to lead a YOLO life when you’re young as those latter years seem so far away! But if you can start to build good financial habits when you start earning, it is much easier to maintain throughout the years.
By setting up automatic pension contributions as soon as you start working, you’ll be surprised how you work with the remaining pay after your pension contributions have been made.
Just remember, everything healthy in life is about striking the right balance! Fun doesn’t have to be sacrificed completely for the sake of your future finances, nor does your financial future need to be sacrificed for the fun of today.
3. There are no STATE PENSION guarantees
As much as we can hope that the state pension will still be in existence by the time we reach our late 60s, we need to be mindful that there is no guarantee.
Bearing that in mind, your retirement finances could potentially be based upon what you accumulate in your private pension pot alone. T
herefore, make a retirement plan and run the numbers with and without the state pension in your calculations so you have a best and worst case scenario to consider.
1 https://www.pensionbee.com/uk/pension-landscape
2 https://www.legalandgeneral.com/retirement/pension-drawdown/
3 https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension
4 The state pension is based on one’s eligibility including national insurance contributions and age.
Photo credits: Pexels
