Do you bother with a pension?

[Brrr]

I'm 26 and I'm trying to work out if there any point whatsoever in having money tied up in a pension fund, it seems like the most slowlane possible way to treat money. I have a couple of thousand that my old employers had to legally put in that I'd actually forgotten about, until I got a letter from the door informing me that my pension (as it stands) would give a whopping £67 a YEAR in 2058. Very nice.

I have my own business and I've kind of gone all-in on this, the idea of syphoning money off from my business and myself to put in some fund that I can't access until 2058 makes me feel a little ill, even the name of the pension provider has the most slowalane name ever: "Standard Life".

But I don't know if this is something that one should be doing as an "insurance policy" against things not panning out, or something that I should be looking at in my 40s or if it is (as I suspect) something that doesn't even play into the fastlane game.

I would love to hear your take on it, because I'm probably going to take the money out and use it to invest in myself or the business.

 

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[Tourmaline]

Get the money out and put it into business. Same for 401ks.

 

[SEBASTlAN]

Business is the best pension

 

[Kak]

It isn't that hard to own a few cash flowing assets by the time you are traditional retirement age.

I read somewhere that most people live through retirement on less than $3000 per month... If $3000 per month represents the "back up plan amount" then... I wouldn't worry about back up plans.

I would favor income over savings any day. So create things that make you money. More than you need.

Blowing all of your money on a dumb idea is also something people have done. I suggest you be discerning and shrewd as you put your own money into your business. Look at it like an investment... Not just an automatic rule.

Invest in other things too like stocks and real estate. I just personally don't bother with 401k's and IRAs.

 

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[doitman]

I despise retirement funds. Being taught to need them has given me a guilt complex on the matter. It never made sense to me. You can accelerate that $2000 in business 100x over assuming you make the right choices.

I cashed out my 401k, incurred the penalty, and moved on. The returns are outpacing the 5% through my company.

 

[Brrr]

Ok, nice one guys. This is why I love this forum, it's one thing to hear people talk about these kinds of things theoretically versus people actually doing what the stuff that they promote.

 

[doitman]

Ok, nice one guys. This is why I love this forum, it's one thing to hear people talk about these kinds of things theoretically versus people actually doing what the stuff that they promote.

That's right on. I get it though. For the masses, the traditional investment plan makes sense. But this group of people on this forum aren't the masses. I didn't become successful from saving into my 401k or making 2% on my money market fund.

 

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