I've kept much of my savings in cash for safety, but I'm unsure if it's right for retirement. Contemplating investing $400K in stocks, as I've heard investors can profit in tough times. Unsure about my next move.
It's impressive how much you saved during your working years, a feat not many achieve in a lifetime. Now that you're retired and rely on your investments, it's wise to redistribute your capital to mitigate risks during market fluctuations. Consulting a financial advisor can help simplify this process.
Due to my demanding job, I lack the time to thoroughly assess my investments and analyze individual stocks. Consequently, for the past seven years, I have enlisted the services of a fiduciary who actively manages my portfolio to adapt to the current market conditions. This strategy has allowed me to navigate the financial landscape successfully, making informed decisions on when to buy and sell. Perhaps you should consider a similar approach.
this is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? i'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation
I'm being guided by "Melissa Terri Swayne" who is widely recognized for her competence and expertise in the financial market. She has a thorough understanding of portfolio diversification and is regarded as an authority in this field.
I admire your dedication to educating your audience. We all aim for financial stability and a better life. Achieving this is possible through wise investments, frugal living, and careful budgeting. I'm grateful that I learned the importance of working hard for financial freedom at a young age.
Even though I engage in investing, I feel disheartened by my lack of expertise in assessing the performance of individual companies and determining the optimal timing for stock purchases. The erosion of my financial reserves due to inflation adds to my concerns. At this point, I require precise market trajectory information, but I find myself unsure about the appropriate course of action.
I wholeheartedly concur, which is why I opt to entrust the day-to-day decision-making to an investing coach. With their specialized knowledge and extensive research, it is highly unlikely for them to underperform. Their expertise is centered around harnessing the asymmetrical potential of risks while also employing measures to safeguard against unfavorable outcomes. I have been collaborating with an investment coach for more than two years
Sonya lee Mitchell is the licensed fiduciary I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment.
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed right now. I wrote her an email and am waiting for her reply. Hopefully, she responds soon. I plan to start the year on a strong financial note.
I'm not sure if it's possible, but a really useful video would be about how to balance pension and ISA contributions if you want to retire before the age at which you can draw from your pension (which I think is increasing to 57, and probably further before I get there...). It seems stupid to have £1m banked but not be able to retired because its locked in a pension you can't access yet.
@@MCSMIK thanks, yes, this is also what I'm doing. But it will get to the point where you have too much in the ISA. If you have a £1m+ ISA then you probably won't spend it all before you reach pension age. So I guess it would have been better to put some of that money into a pension for the tax efficiencies.
Yep benefit of an ISA is if you have a recession you can pull your money out and buy another investment such as a property or use it for your own benefit such as an expensive holidays or health costs you might require or to help your kids
You can still retire at 55 if you have a pension from before the change. I have 2 pensions from different employers. The older will allow me to retire at 55, so I'm keeping it for that reason.
My fear is that the more you are sensible and take advantage of current tax efficencies etc - a future government will just raid the pensions and ISA's of the people who were more forward thinking and went without in the short to medium term. There is already murmurings of mansion taxes for property over a notional value, so a tax on people who for years put everything they had into their home perhaps investing a lot of time and what money they had to improve it at the expense of new cars, holidays etc.
Sadly Iain, being sensible and planning ahead just means that the government can find ways of making you use that money when older, while still just covering the bills for those who spend it all. I think the retirement plan should be live well for 10-15 years reducing the pot a good bit, then start to cut down a bit. When you think about there are not that many party animals at 80 spending all their cash on wine and women and wasting the rest 😀
Very true. Be prudent in this country and the government makes you pay for everything. Piss all your money up the wall and you get everything given to you for free.
It's rare that governments take a step back when it comes to tax and they will always punish the self sufficient. Just look at America now with the 10k student loan forgiveness. I can only think of New Zealand that have scrapped both Capital Gains and Inheritance Tax. I've also heard that Singapore scrapped a lot of taxes.
Spread your risk with as many legitimate investments as you can, shares, bonds, pensions, property and ISA’s. It’s impossible to say how each will be treated for tax in 20 years time. Indeed, your savings may all be blown on care home fees - if so, make sure you have enough money to make it a 5 star one…
Amazing video, A friend of mine referred me to a financial adviser sometime ago and we got to talking about investment and money. I started investing with $150k and in the first 2 months, my portfolio was reading $274,800. Crazy right!, I decided to reinvest my profit and get more interesting. For over a year we have been working together making consistent profit just bought my second home 2 weeks ago and care for my family.
Hi. I’ve been forced to find additional sources of income as I got retrenched. I barely have time to continue trading and watch my investments since I had my second child. Do you think I should take a break for a while from the market and focus on other things or return whenever I have free time or is it a continuous process? Thanks
@@Essien-ij However, if you do not have access to a professional like Clementina Abate Russo, quitting your job to focus on trading may not be the best approach. It is important to consider all options and seek guidance from reliable sources before making any major decisions. Consulting with an AI or using automated trading systems can also be helpful in managing investments while balancing other commitments
I'm 40 this year, I have just finished paying off my mortgage. This would not of been possible with a pension. My ISA is giving me freedom and choices. I have also avoided any higher interest rates with the mortgage.
Could you make a video about late to start retirement options and strategies please? For people that haven't given it much thought until they're in their 30s 40s 50s please?
Guessing as you asked this a year ago, there is no advise. I am in my 50s. when i first considered pensions, i could not afford the "mortgage" they wanted. Not sure many could. Trying to build a business and i have my state pension, but no idea how i will afford to retire at 70. Never could afford a mortgage either!
Unfortunately, almost all of these youtube (cough) money gurus talk a bullsh#t game. Additionally, they are not interested in the slightest in answering questions - as you can instantly tell looking below and elsewhere. Your best bet is to talk to a real adviser, not the jokers you find in social media.
@@nbc911 The more you look at this and similar channels, the more I'm convinced these channel owners are only interested in people with sizeable pension pots, paid-up own house, plus other sources of income. I've asked question and seen others ask only for all of us to get completely ignored - ESPECIALLY if you don't own a house. The channel owners are clearly only in it for 'the clicks', unfortunately.
Sound advice, when I was at peak earnings, mortgage paid off, kids left home, I paid a huge amount of my salary into a sipp, and in those days saved 40% tax on the way in, and now draw out at 20%. I was also lucky enough to also save into Peps,(remember them), and ISAs. Result, I retired at 55. Yes, I was lucky, I was a high earner, but knew it could not last, it was killing me mentally, but I had the option now to retire. Thanks for the video.
Nice, shamefully I have a job that kills me, isn’t highly paid as a professional in the crumbling music industry, I have paid what I can into a pension, but now 59 it’s not worth much, and can’t see me ever being able to retire..or even know what the best plan is to do with such a small pension that matures next year. Keep paying in & working I suppose as no other choice.
@@boomish69 Oh sorry to hear that - you must feel trapped - I know others in that position. My advice is to put your health first - even if you earn less. You will be happier day in day out, will be more healthy and may find your happier working another 10 years or so
I have to say I am really young and just starting my career and found all the pension stuff overwhelming but you are a god sent with how easily you are explaining it. Thank you so much for sharing your valuable knowledge
This s true from a tax planning point. However one very big advantage of ISA is time. You dont have to wait until you are 55 to start drawing monies. You can draw at any point, just in case you need it
Agreed. With an ISA the money is always yours if you need to access it for any reason. With a pension the money you’ve put in is only yours when the pension rules say it is.
Conversely, putting money in a SIPP ensures you don't access it too early. I see that as a very big advantage. It's tempting to withdraw from an ISA - if you are clearly planning for retirement, the SIPP withdrawal date limitation is a non-issue for most people.
This is more like a disadvantage over pensions as people always find something(like lucrative new investment)which is more important than your retirement money and taking advantage of compound interest
Not sure if i did the right thing, but i blitzed the mortgage payments before savings and pension. Every spare bit of cash i paid extra off the mortgage. Only when the mortgage was clear did i start pension and ISA. It made sense to me. It was so nice to be mortgage free very early.
it depends on the actions you take now. If you lets say had a 25 year mortgage and payed it off in 20 years if you was to now invest for the next 5 years with your old mortgage payment and your overpayment you would be behind by a small amount if you instead invested the difference and then just put the overpayment as an investment into lets say an ISA (Pension is a bit more difficult to quantify here ISA and mortgage are both after tax so its a bit easier to look at). So on paper yes it is better to not pay of your mortgage if you just look at the maths but in my opinion knowing you are mortgage free will give you much more confidence that you no longer have the biggest debt in your life that can affect your housing. Overpaying mortgage, Upping pension or doing ISA are all good if you are doing any of these you are likely doing much better than the average person. (ofcourse this is just hypothetical math right I am no financial advisor or anything so do take it with a grain a salt)
@@ekkeking Thanks for your grain of salt, it's appreciated. What I did once I was mortgage free, was buy another property to rent out, ( yes another mortgage haha, but one somebody else was paying off ) , then as soon as I hit 55, I took out 25% from my pension to pay off the rest of the mortgage on the rental property (very high buy to let interest rates ) . So now I'm mortgage free on both properties, I planned to fully retire at the end of this year at 57, a bit of income coming in from rental property, plus ISA and small pension I can draw down if needed. But, it's all a bit pointless though, as I have stage 4 cancer, but am determined to beat it. It's not going to cheat me out of my hard earned retirement plan. So it's spend spend spend now , holiday galore time and just see what happens. The future is uncertain, so I'll be grateful for each day .
A great choice given the interest rate fluctuations. You have a pension in your property and will not have to pay tax on it. Older generations know how much a roof over your head is worth, despite all the idiots on YT telling you that rental is even an option. No matter what, they can't repossess your home if you own it outright!
Most people including me don't realise the important of pensions and saving for retirement in our twenties. Can you do a video advising people who need to start saving at 40 and what kind of pension pots they can expect.
Sheraz, a simple calculation is as follows £100 a month invested for 30 years with 5% pa growth becomes £83,700 with all the compounded interest. That is a modest amount a month, what is always stated is to utilise your company scheme to get your employer to put in their maximum. It’s free money and helps any pot grow. £1 from you actually only cost you 80p if a standard rate taxpayer. If you pay into a personal scheme using your taxed salary then every £1 becomes £1.25 with the tax returned and soon you are building up a good pot, and always save when you get paid or before your paid ( company scheme) as what you don’t see you don’t miss
Thanks so much for this!!! I've been so massively stressed trying to understand the best way to save for retirement. This has been the first video based in the uk that's actually explained pro's and cons. So thankful for this.
This is a really good site, and advice you will hear is always be in your company scheme if the company is paying in as well as it’s free money. If your able to salary sacrifice into pension this can save tax as well as you can take yourself below the 40% tax bracket. My thinking is pension first, and then if you have extra cash to invest think of an ISA I have been lucky as in my 50’s I was in my best paying job plus good annual bonuses, I used this to really boost pension funds ( I had no credit card debts). Job has changed and earn 50% less but I can manage on this and still save extra into my pension
Hi Pete. I would just like to express my gratitude to you for this content, this has been a game changer for me. Your name came up in conversation yesterday with one of my patients in Hayle, a former colleague of yours at Jackson's GB (I'm sure you will figure out who it is) . I expressed to him how I had stumbled across your content on UA-cam and how it is helping so many people. Next time I am in Penzance I owe you a drink. I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into making these videos. Thanks so much. Rob
Why do they not teach this at School ? Seriously, so many of us are ignorant of this stuff but it is essential ! Thank you, love the way you present, I don't feel like I'm in a lesson (& get bored) and I understand you.
Problem is that the goal posts keep moving so by the time you’re thinking about pensions everything you learned in school would be outdated. Best concentrate on maths not tax.
@@twig3288 That's true, but the basic principle of compound interest and why you should save in your twenties is a good thing to learn. I wasted so much money in my twenties, and I wish someone had just told me what that would be worth if I saved some of it... I'd probably own a house now.
@@devononair That’s maths. It doesn’t change depending on the government. Pensions and tax however do change and so cannot be learned because of the inconsistency. It used to be that tax cannot be retrospective, that was until Gordon Brown became chancellor.
Totally agree with this video 👍 and I continue to suggest to youngsters to get saving into both pots... Annual return on my pension this year is 27.2%. The ISA is 28.7% .... BLOODY BRILLIANT !!! I'm seeing around 20% year on year, but this year has got my thumbs up 👍👍👍Retired a couple of years back at 56.
I have two pensions. I would much rather have had a Roth 401k throughout my working lifetime. $500/month invested from 25 - 65 at 9% is $2.3mil. I have $100k that i like to invest in a non-retirement account, Where would you invest this as of now?
I would avoid the index funds, mutual funds, or specific stocks for the time being. 5% fixed incomes are the safest bet for now. Save your cash for when the market actually shows signs of recovery.
45% of Americans do not invest in the stock market because of lack of guidance. Every year you don't invest, you are falling behind. I’m hitting numbers in the stock market I used to dream of… Going from $50k to $600k in my portfolio is surreal all thanks to insights from my financial advisor.
She goes by ‘’Melissa Terri Swayne’ I suggest you look her up. To be honest, I almost didn't buy the idea of letting someone handle growing my finance, but so glad I did.
Also time horizon s very important. For someone who were born in the 50 to 70, their retirement age was fairly low and so can still enjoy a lot of the pension when they retire. Sadly the life expentency doesnt move as fast as the rise in pension age - we barely live until our 80 or 90 in best case scenario these days, so having the abiliyy to draw things out earlier from an isa becomes more important
I loved this video and agree with the math, however my father was on a final salary pension earning some £20000 PA sadly he died at age 62 which means he only ever saw £40000 of what I assume was around a £600000 pension pot? My mother then received a £10000 pension for the rest of her life, she died at age 88 she actually received £260000 from my dads pension pot. What I want to know is what happened to the rest of the money that was in this pot? This is why I have always used an ISA at least I know what is left goes to my children
@@JayPatel-jp1weIs this true? Do you happen to know why it isn’t treated like other assets in an estate and bequeathed to beneficiaries mentioned a person’s Will? Or even via the Intestate process, if there isn’t a Will.
do you remember that bloke you always saw at the pub? lol. Seriously though it sounds criminal. There are lots of fraudsters in finance. I was subject to one when living overseas. At that time I was young and naive but realized soon enough that I got a bad deal so stopped contributing in after 2.5 years. 20 years later and the extremely high fees ate all my investment. luckily it was only about 4k. I couldn't withdraw without a huge penalty meaning I'd get barely anything so left it. Sorry to hear your father wasn't able to enjoy his retirement.
Good video with great illustrative calculations. One point i think you missed out in favour of an ISA is the money is always there and available to you to extract if you need to. Say your 45 years old and your dream house/car etc comes available but you are £20k short, the isa could be used. The pension couldn’t in this scenario. I know saving is mainly about the end retirement benefits but there maybe bumps or opportunities on the way there.
Especially with personal pension age increasing to age 57-58. As with most things its all about having a balanced savings portfolio to cover different scenarios
what might be really helpful is a excel spreadsheet for some of these amazing videos. that way we could put our basic details in and see how that pans out. I know there is the voyant go stuff and I will get to that but a basic excel spreadsheet here or there might help us get to the academy stuff a bit quicker? Just a thought Pete but all in all I love the videos you produce. Might be in the market for a new financial planner later this year as the fees on the current one are likely to bite off quite a chunk of what I'm putting into my pension.
Yep, we got this wrong, thanks so much for the video Pete - you may well have saved us a ton of £££ (and our estates - we'd no idea SIPPs weren't in the IHT calculation). You're a hero, keep up the fantastic work. Jay
With inheritance tax at £325K per person and then an allowance for your main home on top of that works out at aboutv£500K per person before inheritance tax starts to become due. Anyone who has an estate value above that figure needs to take advice on the ways to minimise tax liability. Why the government feels it’s right to tax the estate of a deceased person who will have paid taxes on their earnings which they used to build wealth and a buy a property I do not know.
The more of your videos I watch, the more I realise how ignorant I am about finance.....But then again I would imagine most people are.....Thanks for the excellent videos
This is all very interesting and is something I do spend time worrying about. I have way more tied up in ISAs than I do with pensions, but I like having the access to my ISAs and expect that I will most likely spend most of my live overseas so wouldn't want issues with pension funds stuck in the UK till I reach retirement age.
You can take out 25% of the pension pot tax free. You can take out the rest as an when you need it, paying tax. That money withdrawn would not be stuck.
You can transfer the funds to a qrops which is a qualifying registered overseas pension and extract in your new country of residence depending on where that is. This way the assets will be denominated in the currency you are located and you may also benefit from local pension rules around tax free entitlement etc. you need to realistically have been in the jurisdiction 5 years or longer to benefit from the higher tax free cash entitlement but you also benefit from now lifetime allowance limits. Caveat to this is that you are hit with a tax charge of 25% to move the fund to a qrops so hmrc can mitigate some of the tax receipts they will lose as you aren’t taking income in the U.K. Don’t avoid pensions just because of this concern as it’s something that can be mitigated
Great video. Surely it’s worth highlighting the other benefit of workplace pensions, that being employer contribution so your monthly investment into the savings pot is far greater than the ISA?
The thing is, it depends what the pension is invested in. Company pensions by default are usually invested in some ridiculously low return mix of bonds and bad equity funds... usually to try and reduce volatility in the short term (pointless). Whereas if you just simply buy the S&P 500 index fund from blackrock or Vanguard the trailing 10 year average return is 14% (as of 2024). My solution has always been to change my pension immediately in any company i work for to "Freestyle" or "Custom" and basically invested it in a fashion to mirror what i do in my ISA. I even bought Nvidia in 2007 in my BA pension where i had complete control 😂.
Thanks again Pete for another great informative video. As someone who has started investing fully in Rental Property initially in my financial journey , then my SIPP pension again with property, and finally ISA's and the Stock Market in the last few years, i can safely say that your summary at the end (9:56) is actually the best advice and outcome for us all!! Empowered choice and options which, let's face it, is the secret to not only personal finance but Life itself!!!!
Thanks for a really useful video and the maths really helped. also, I hadn't appreciated the IHT differences. I would like to help my kids get on the property ladder and was planning to withdraw some of my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP, but thinking about it it would be better to use money from my ISA as any growth in the SIPP would also grow the 25% tax free.
Great video Pete! Could you do a similar comparison for LISA vs Pension? I'm 30yr old and just bought my first house and now I'm finally wanting to get a handle on planning for the future
Well if your 30 you have nearly 40 years to grow your pension pot and you can secure your retirement by addressing it now even with a modest monthly saving. £100 a month into your pension , assume 5% growth (on the £1200 saved) for 40 you have £152K at the end. That £100 is total contribution, obviously as you earn more can save more (or have more taken automatically if in a company scheme) Double the saving doubles the pot so you can see how big it can grow, and if like many pour money in when older, kids etc no longer a drain, house paid it gets better and better.
@Taiwo Omotosho yes, £100 month is 1200 a year. Assuming 5% growth on the £1200 is £60 Year two £1260 plus another £1200 with 5% becomes £2583. Repeat for 40 years the compounded interest and regular contributions is how pensions score over a long period, yes I am assuming 5% growth and calculating that on the years total contribution, but there would also be periods where the return is much higher than 5% so it is working on an average. £152, 207.71p with this approximate model. If you invested £1200 and got 5% pa return reinvested and left for 40 years with no more money other than interest added it would grow over 40 years to over £8000. This is why people should look for regular saving into a pension fund where in UK you get tax relief etc. start early and your pot will be very healthy when your close to that retirement age.
It's a bit conservative 6% average returns and if it goes to market average at around 11% there is a big difference in the calculations on theory And the difference between ISAS and SIPPS is with one you pay taxes on the initial amount only but with pensions you pay taxes after on the final compounded growth pot except the 25% tax free allowance
good point on the taxes.For an ISA, If your a higher rate tax payer then it would take about 7 years at 8% growth to get back that 40% you paid in tax initially. So as an example 10k you would only get say 6k after tax then it would take almost 7 years for that to become 10k again at 8% growth.
Things most have changed . My dad used to sell pension for the pru . But what he thought he was going to get when he retired to what he got was about a quarter of the value . And when he sadly passed away the pension died with him . So know my mother gets nothing. If he had put the money in to a savings account there would still be money in there . ?
Your Dad makes sense, he's spent a lifetime supporting the most useless government on the planet only to carry on supporting them, whether he likes it or not. Tax on pensions and savings is theft.
Hi, i could never get my head around pensions (young ignorance). Now 40 and with kids in tow, it’s something on my mind. I pay into a pension with my employer and their contributions are good, for now. I also, through work, have access to AVCs. Again, this is blows over my head. All the ‘old’ boys at work advise doing them. Is this something I should be paying into? Thanks. Great work.
I've been thinking along the same lines, Pension and ISA. Makes sense to always take the 25% tax free and transfer as much as possible of that in to the ISA. Brilliant video.
Depends on whether you need to plan for IHT; if you do then the 7 year rule, and giving from spare income, will need consideration. Trusts also, but complicated these days…
Not necessarily, but when someone is a financial planner and give examples to go hand in hand with their content you are not necessarily going to question it, with higher investing amounts the ISA will pull ahead, I think the video is not good at disclaiming that you should seek financial advice to your own circumstances.
I have been looking into pensions lately, Annuity's seem past there sell by date. You give them all that cash for about a 5% return and never see your initial investment again. Seems like an ISA or similar would be better for most people these days.
Good video still planning on retiring on a ISA only because I plan on retiring early at 40-45. Will have a work pension kick in at retirement age and will may also be eligible for state pension 25 years to qualify
That doesn't seem most efficient. Why not use ISA until 55 then pension from 55? That way you get 25% tax free lump sum out of the pension and also your whole income tax personal allowance out free of tax from 55 to state pension age. ISAs are good but the normal ISA can't match at least 25% added on the way in and so much of it untaxed on the way out.
@@jamesday426 I get an early monthly departure payment from my work when I leave at age 40 as I Will have been with them for 20 years ,which is about £8K a year and a full pension from them at 67. I will have enough invested at 40 to retire with the ISA on top I’m only considering working to 45 to qualify for the state pension.
I had a private pension in the early days of PPP, but the costs and charges were high and the investments performed poorly. So I went down ISA route. I don't accept that the ISA and Pension can be compared on the assumption of growing at the same rate.
The Rational Reminder podcast had an interview with Prof Scott Cederburg who argued that future tax rates mean investing post-tax (ie ISA) may make more sense, especially for younger people, than pre-tax (ie. SIPP). Based on his US analysis he recommend the amount you put in a pension account is your age + 20 as a percentage, and the rest in an ISA equivalent. I would be interested to hear what people think of this in a U.K. context.
I do Pension ( Minimum matched to Employeer ), Property ( My first house I rented out ), and ISA ( as much as I can afford ). This means I won't pay loads of tax as an OAP, and looking to retire early at 57 in 2033. Cost of living however is kinda destroying my dream !!
Very insightful video. However, if we did take into account inflation with price increases in rent/food and general living costs in the future when we retire; i think we'll be forced to take out higher sums out and thats when alot of tax will be applied. And thats when ISA's really shine out. Also with ISA's you can take money out anytime any not have to wait until you 65 to enjoy your hard earned money.
@@keoghrichard1988 he might have covered it in another video, but not this one. Lifetime ISAs are not the same as standard ISAs. Lower annual subscription limit and age plus other restrictions apply, but crucially unlike normal ISAs, a conditional 25% government bonus is paid on subscriptions - effectively equivalent to basic rate tax relief on money in and still no income tax on money out.
Thanks for the video, really interesting comparisons. I suppose the fear for many younger folks is that access to SIPP’s is dictated by wherever the state pension age is, minus whatever figure the government sets - which is both entirely out of the investors control and also which all signs seem to say will move further and further back (if it exists in the future, for those in their 20s and 30s, despite us currently paying for todays pensioners). That seems like such a huge caveat, that SIPPs may be better in terms of compounding due to the tax relief, but you can’t access it until who knows when, if ever. Being in my mid 30s I’m so skeptical about the future state pension age that it seems very sensible to sacrifice that (for me) quite marginal difference you outlined, in order to choose to retire at 60 if I want, rather a decade or more later
This is sound advice for already wealthy people, however the average saved into UK pension pots is a paltry £62, 000, with rampant inflation in food,fuel and housing costs coupled with stagnant wages the idea that a 25 year old has £250/month to contribute to a pension is a pipe dream for all but the high earners. I think it's highly unlikely that today's youngsters are going to be leaving an inheritance of anything like £3, 000 000.
Just an illustration that Pete is doing. Of course even those on modest incomes can probably still afford to save for the long term and putting away something , especially into a pension, will rarely be regretted by someone in the future. In my experience of dealing with clients, seeing a fund build up and grow is a great motivator to try and save a bit more and do what you can to build up a retirement fund to give people options in later life.
Agreed there is WAY too much focus on IHT in this video. I want to worry about how much money I can spend in retirement without going broke. Not how I can minimize IHT to my heirs leaving them 7 figure pots of money. Weird take by Pete. I guess he is influenced by his High Net Worth Clients.
The problem is that you need to wait until retirement age before you can start withdrawing money with a pension and they keep increasing it! ISA's are better
I understand. That delay in access is the flip side to the tax relief on contributions though. ISAs are not better. They are different. Best option is to have both of you can, but if you have to decide between the two then earlier on in life the ISA is the more flexible option.
@@sang3Eta hi mate, your pension isn’t just sitting around doing nothing - it’s invested in funds and growing too! Highly likely to beat the rate of inflation each year
@@RobYates312 Inflation is way higher than people think it is. I don't use CPI, I use money supply growth the M1 dollar supply is 14x what it was in the 07 banking collapse. $1.37tr to $19.4tr
The problem is that government can dip into private pensions whenever they feel like it. Gordon Brown’s famous pension raids helped to kill off final salary pensions in the private sector. At least with an ISA you can cash out and leave whenever you want provided the government don’t exercise their bail-in option (Cyprus style) which will convert your cash deposit into shares in the financial institution holding them.
Thanks Pete, great work. As I won’t get the state pension until age 68 (provided the state don’t changed that in the meantime or indeed the state pension remains an ‘entitlement’) and therefore I can’t access my private pensions until 10 years prior, it seems important to ‘diversify’ my saving into ISA as well. Personally, once I’ve contributed enough to maximise my employer’s matched contributions, I’m paying into ISA. ISA I can take anytime (perhaps before 58 if I’ve had enough of real work) and is some hedge against state intervention on pension rules (eg. will 25% tax free sum still exist?) and tax (eg. Pensions into inheritance tax seems a no brainer).
Interesting thinking about pensions not as a retirement fund but more as an inheritance trust, something i hadn't even considered before. How realistic are those income numbers though? I can't see many people with easy access to a £1 million+ lump sum taking only an £18,000 income. I feel most people will constantly be battling against themselves not to draw down the pot to near 0 before they die.
You may be right about the income level drawn, Ryan, but I had to strike the point somewhere. That said I have clients with seven figures in pension funds drawing nothing and spending down non-pension assets instead, purely for IHT planning. Wanted to dispel the myth that you give all the tax relief back on retirement in a pension.
Yes, retirement lifestyle planning is very important. Some people will think of the point they can access their pension pots as 'party time' and blow a big percentage on a flash car and/or a few mega luxury holidays. However, others will have planned their retirement on spreadsheets years before and essentially live their lives the same as before retirement with a few luxuries that they've planned beforehand in the most tax efficient way. Yes it's boring, but that is the way to ensure your retirement money will last
The ideal plan I think is to be drawing down so it eventually runs out when you die. The problem is we don’t know that date, so the best you can do is make a guess, but you will typically need more income 65-75, after then slow down a bit. Post 80 the majority of people less active and less spending being done
In my view it's more sensible to have both a pension and an ISA to get the full benefit of both. Access to cash pre-retirement age and access to cash after. So many people will draw their 25% from their pension pots at 55( soon to rise) simply because they can and then nor have much else in the way of savings and then not have sufficient to live on later in life. A combination of both seems the most cost effective solution. As for the people who say what's the point of saving in to a pension. The govt need us to make our own provision because the country can't afford to support everyone. People on max state pension of £9300 will almost certainly need to top this up with state benefits as £9300 is not enough to live on and that's assuming you've got the full 35 years qualifying contributions in the first place. The other advantage of drawing retirement income from both an ISA and pension is that one dilutes the tax on another. If you drew the same pension as ISA each year you would have the effect of halving your effect tax rate to just 10% assuming that all your retirement income was under £50k
@@MeaningfulMoney Unfortunately inspite of the video people still don't get it. That's why I stated what seems toe to be obvious. Great video. Well done.
Great information. Question - As retiree not paying tax atm, if I withdraw £20k from my crystallised pot to deposit into my £20k ISA UK Tax allowance, is the £20k taxed automatically on withdrawal at the basic tax rate of 20% = £4k, thereby leaving £16k net. (having already taken my TAX free allowance of £12,570 for the year). The only benefit I can see is faster access to the ISA cash v Pension withdrawals which takes up to 3 weeks!
Brilliantly informative as always Pete. Even though it’s only a week since we found you, we’ve learned so much already. I have a Final Salary pension (in a big multinational company) as well as using my full ISA allowance each year. If I’ve understood correctly, it would make perfect sense to take a tax free income from my ISA as much as possible when I first retire and try not to touch my pension pot as much as I can 🤔 Keep up the good work 👍🏼😁
Tread carefully here, Nick. If your pension is Final Salary, there is no pot, just the guaranteed income and maybe a tax-free lump sum at the beginning. If you defer your pension, then the scheme will usually increase it when you do eventually take it to reflect the fact that you’ll be drawing it for less time. Please seek advice if you’re unsure, and start with your day-to-day needs, NOT with the tax system. Your needs come first.
@@MeaningfulMoney Thanks for the advice Pete. Yes, we have several options with our FS pension including a tax free lump sum and also a stepped option. Will definitely be seeking advice before making any decisions 👍🏼😊
The math for Pensions is obviously better. However there is also the problem of access. With an ISA you can drawdown whenever you like, pension age keeps rising.
Not a private pension. I have both a high S and S ISA as well as a sipp. You can't rely on one entity you need both to level up along with property equity. Hard cash savings also helps.
Good video and explanation. However you missed the part where pension providers take administration fees from you, this can significantly reduce the growth
The pension providers charges may be muchlower these days, but so are returns, so watching what you are charged is still very important. Actually it could be the most important aspect of chosing any form of investment.
@MeaningfulMoney … all this is great and you assume someone has dependants… what about not having spouse to pass Pension to and no one to get inheritance tax as non existent?
Great video. Stays away from all the "you need 1M to retire" nonsense in favour of well defined illustrations. All this before accounting for the fact that your company is likely to offer anything between 6%-14% matching. Free money you should definitely be taking.
Are you saying that the government adds on 25% to the total amount added? So if you added £100, your employer matched it then the government added to it you'd end up with a monthly pay in of £250? And it only cost you £100? ...for example.
Thanks for a great video ~ a useful and clear explanation. It always "hurts" when you make a withdrawal from the pot, but you have to reconcile the initial benefit of the tax relief of the pension plan to reduce the annoyance of giving 20% "your earnings" back to HMRC. It's even worse with Standard Life making the assumption that they will tax your withdrawal at 40% and you then have to submit a P55 form and wait a month for them to refund the overpayment. C'est la vie apparently.
Thanks Pete for another great video - not sure if others have asked already but will be super interesting to see how using Lifetime ISA for retirement might change things here with the annual bonus?
The amount of tax we are charged in the UK is absolutely sickening. The older I get the more I am outraged that almost everything is taxed at least once, and often targeting those who have just tried to save their own money or invested it somehow.
@@marcusnelson3520 great….so even with huge taxes have you tried using the nhs, even though they are getting more and more money it’s getting worse and worse. Most would be happy with taxes if the could see the true benefits. Like nasa sls shows that chucking money doesn’t make a net improvement. Not to say free market but a balance In the uk it’s death by a 1000 cuts, a tax here a tax again and then again, now a sugar tax now a fat tax… oh a green city tax that’s 45£ a day because you can’t afford a new car, next will be a co2 tax then a energy used tax ect yet nothing will change Labour and the conservatives are one and the same on this
@@HankHillspimphand Germany, France and Austria pay more into their NHS as a percentage of GDP. It’s complicated though, because I am not sure how social care is counted. I don’t know enough about these issues. I’d imagine that salaries for doctors and managers are costing a lot. The NHS needs to become more efficient. At the moment there are still backlogs from COVID-19, so it is a tough time to assess the NHS and how long it takes to get treatment. Hopefully within a couple of years things will improve. Labour and the consrvatives are different. Labour will increase taxes on income, savings and invesments to spend more. The conservatives will do the same, but less so. Really, what this country needs (particularly London), is for rents and property prices to decrease. I’m just not sure how that is possible without a market crash.
Uk is like a tax haven compared to most European countries, I moved back in 2022 and pay close to zero tax by contributing to my private pension and getting refunded. That’s why nothing works in this country.
Love these videos, they are so well put together and easy to understand. My question, is 6% growth realistic? my pension pots admittedly smaller than those described don't get close, especially after charges and inflation
Long term returns from UK equities have been around 5% plus inflation. Say 7% including inflation if BoE 2% target is met. But that's before costs and funds have internal and also explicit costs and pensions have costs so what's really achievable is below 6% if using UK large cap (market capitalisation, so big companies) equities. You can improve that by adding some small caps and maybe emerging markets. Personally I'd have gone with something like 4.5% for a high equity balanced managed fund, have the monthly contributions increase with inflation then say that "all numbers are in today's money" to keep things nice and simple. But 6% before inflation is good enough for his case, though I think he partly shot himself in the foot because it produced a high emphasis on inheritance tax benefit that 5% would have reduced. Since I expect the target audience to be those early in accumulating money I think more focus on benefits while alive and potential early retirement would have been a more productive approach for the target market I expect. But he's highly capable (and should know I have a friendly and understanding smile while writing this) so he undoubtedly had his reasons for his choice, different though it is from mine.
Rates of return are not dictated by the size of the pension, but by the way they are invested. 6% is a reasonable long term growth assumption, though when I’m planning with clients I use 5% to be conservative.
Ftse100, in 2001 was 7200 and in 2021 7200. Thats 0% capital growth for 20 years. In the meantime you get dividends which are about 3% currently. Thats supposedly 2% inflation (currently 4%), 1% real. Inflation may boost earnings, but will ultimately crush asset values as the yield must rise above inflation or money flees. There is also a very real risk premium which has disappeared from that 3% return. So where is this 5% REAL 'long term' ABOVE inflation return guaranteed from the stock market?
@@SlobberySlob It's in the 95% of the global equity market which is outside the UK. Plus you get much greater diversification. Higher reward, lower risk. It's what professional investment managers - I used to be one - call a no-brainer.
For me the big problem is: a lot of things could change long term including the tax rules for both, if that happens with ISA you can take action, take rhe money, pension you have no option.
Hi Pete. This might sound a really silly question but I only have an ISA, so no experience with the pension. When you talk about 20% tax relief, how is that sum actually added to your total? For example, if I put £10K into the S&P 500 via a Vanguard SIPP, does the portfolio automatically state £12K or is there a process by which the tax relief is added? Many thanks.
If u put 10k in Vanguard will claim the tax ftom hmrc and add it to your portfolio. Typically it takea about 6 to 8 weeks before u see the money in. Btw on 10k u will get 2.5k not 2k. This is because the 10k is the net of gross less 20pc tax. So u earn gross 12.5, hmrc keeps 20% tax ao 2.5k. U r left with 10k. U put 10k in vanguard and canguard claims 2.5k from hmrc. Hopefully makes sense
@@rufdymond yes having £1m and retiring at 55 would be great, but I see no point in retiring and not enjoying life just to maintain the pension pot with the aim of passing it down to children. I fully expect my children will benefit from my estate when I die but that will not be how I plan to live my later years. Yes plan to minimise any IHT liabilities they might face but No to planning to leave them an almost unused pension pot
No Pete, this isn’t “useful”, it’s … gold dust. I am right in the middle of these kinds of calls and so this and your LTA video are so incredibly helpful. Not sure I can say thank you enough 🙂
Pete, I'm a big fan of your videos. I remember watching this particular video when you first released it and thought it was great. Unfortunately, now that I understand tax and pensions much better, I am less sure it's as helpful as I thought it was when I first watched it. Multiple people have pointed me at this video when I've tried to correct their understanding of the advantages of a pensions vs ISAs. To be clear, I'm not arguing that there aren't plenty of compelling benefits in lots of circumstances, but there's some people who are confused about what these benefits are and seem to have picked up some misunderstandings from this video and other UA-cam content creator videos on this topic. Firstly, I love the idea of lettings the maths do the talking, but I believe that there are mistakes in the calculations. For example, the amount of money accumulated in the pension looks to be wrong. The pension number in the video is 20% more than the ISA number, but I think it should be 25% more. You could argue that using the large pension value would tip things further in the favour of pensions so the mistake doesn't matter much in video in which you are advocating for pensions. But it does risk undermining confidence in letting the maths do the talking if the maths looks to be wrong. The comparisons of ISA vs pension values during retirement (e.g. at age 100) are comparing net value (in the case of the ISA) with the gross pre-tax value (in the case of the pension). I think saying "So they are more than £500,000 better off" is very misleading given this. If this particular comparison use the net values for both (apples to apples) and if the maths didn't have errors in it, then the ISA and pension would have exactly the same net value. This is because this example is assuming zero tax free cash and base rate of tax both at contribution and withdrawal time. It's the tax free cash and any difference between the effective tax rate saved at contribution time vs the effective tax rate at withdrawal time, that makes pensions perform better than ISAs in the pure numbers game. Given this, I think people could easily reach the wrong conclusion given this part of summary: “Yes you are taxed on the back end with pensions, but the growth and compounding on the tax relief is so so valuable. Really doesn't take that much to reach this critical mass so that you really can't undo the benefits of that growth.” On the other hand if you have an employer who is happy to match contributions in a salary sacrifice scheme (in a sense converting reduced NI into contributions) then that is really free cash in my mind. Though I realise that's beyond the scope of this video where it was keeping things simple. The IHT benefit is likely a huge deal for many people. But I think the video distorts this somewhat by comparing the net value of the ISA with the gross pre-withdrawal value of the pension. The video does mention there will be potential income tax to pay but brushes this aside as not wanting to muddy the waters. It might have been more helpful to assume beneficiary withdrawals would be subject to the basic rate of tax as a reasonably representative lower estimate of the tax they might incur. A couple of benefits of pensions compared to ISAs that are not related to better tax treatment which are often overlooked: 1) I believe that ISAs are included in means tested benefit calculations, so while an ISA gives you that emergency fund, you might end up having to spend it in circumstances you didn't expect to have to (such as illness or redundancy); 2) you generally get better annuity rates and more annuity escalation options when purchasing using a pension rather than cash purchase (e.g. you can't get a money purchase index linked annuity). I hope this feedback is helpful. I really like the content you produce and have learned a lot from your videos. If you are ever developing a v2 of this video, hopefully these ideas are something you can consider and are useful. I know you've done a couple on the abolition of the LTA and new tax free cash rules. But perhaps a v2 of "pensions vs ISAs" might still be useful? Who knows it might even get another 500k views?
Hi Alex - I spotted this comment a couple of weeks or so ago, but have only now had chance to sit down and pull out the spreadsheet I used for the video calculations. Imagine my horror on realising that I had actually understated the contribution to the pension vs the ISA! I can't actually believe that it's taken three years for anyone to spot that, but you're right - even though it makes the pension look worse that it will in fact be, it doesn't engender confidence. I don't think I've ever made such a maths blunder - a bit worrying, but I'll blame it on brain fog from hormone-induced chronic fatigue at the time... I think the death benefit comparison is a bit more subjective. I've yet to have any beneficiary of a post-75 drawdown plan take the lot out in a lump sum, incurring potentially higher or even additional rate income tax in doing so, so I think the comparison stands in this case. I'll also stand by the critical mass statement, for now at least! As I was talking in the summary about the pension holder's point of view rather than that of any future beneficiaries. You just know I'm going to revisit this video now! And I'll seek to address some of your other points in that, too. I'd like to thank you for the gracious nature of your feedback. Plenty of people would be snarky, but you haven't been and for that, I'm very grateful. Now I'm off to self-flagellate to punish myself for incorrect maths, which I really can't quite believe...
What about scenarios where you recycle your ISA savings into a pension later on? I.e. putting savings in to an ISA when on lower tax rate early on in career then withdraw them and pay into a pension when you hit higher brackets to get the higher relief?
After buying my house and bringing up my sons, I have only had spare money at age 40. I'm 46 now and have some premium bonds ISA and my work pension, I pay most of my savings into the ISA but after watching this Might up the amount I pay into my work place pension. Should I talk to a financial advisor?
Very slick. First time UA-cam has suggested your videos to me, and I've got to say, very impressed. I'm still not a fan of pensions though and too late to convert now, being mid 50's?
I’m 72 and drawing against all my pensions but enjoying trying to trade for our future and that of our four children. Are you suggesting having investments (possibly those offering a dividend) in an ISA and a pension forgetting a GIA account?
I've kept much of my savings in cash for safety, but I'm unsure if it's right for retirement. Contemplating investing $400K in stocks, as I've heard investors can profit in tough times. Unsure about my next move.
It's impressive how much you saved during your working years, a feat not many achieve in a lifetime. Now that you're retired and rely on your investments, it's wise to redistribute your capital to mitigate risks during market fluctuations. Consulting a financial advisor can help simplify this process.
Due to my demanding job, I lack the time to thoroughly assess my investments and analyze individual stocks. Consequently, for the past seven years, I have enlisted the services of a fiduciary who actively manages my portfolio to adapt to the current market conditions. This strategy has allowed me to navigate the financial landscape successfully, making informed decisions on when to buy and sell. Perhaps you should consider a similar approach.
this is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? i'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation
I'm being guided by "Melissa Terri Swayne" who is widely recognized for her competence and expertise in the financial market. She has a thorough understanding of portfolio diversification and is regarded as an authority in this field.
Thanks a lot for this suggestion. I needed this myself, I looked her up, and I have sent her an email. I hope she gets back to me soon.
I admire your dedication to educating your audience. We all aim for financial stability and a better life. Achieving this is possible through wise investments, frugal living, and careful budgeting. I'm grateful that I learned the importance of working hard for financial freedom at a young age.
Even though I engage in investing, I feel disheartened by my lack of expertise in assessing the performance of individual companies and determining the optimal timing for stock purchases. The erosion of my financial reserves due to inflation adds to my concerns. At this point, I require precise market trajectory information, but I find myself unsure about the appropriate course of action.
I wholeheartedly concur, which is why I opt to entrust the day-to-day decision-making to an investing coach. With their specialized knowledge and extensive research, it is highly unlikely for them to underperform. Their expertise is centered around harnessing the asymmetrical potential of risks while also employing measures to safeguard against unfavorable outcomes. I have been collaborating with an investment coach for more than two years
Your advisor must be really good. How I can get in touch? My retirement portfolio's decline is a concern, and I could use some guidance.
Sonya lee Mitchell is the licensed fiduciary I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment.
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed right now. I wrote her an email and am waiting for her reply. Hopefully, she responds soon. I plan to start the year on a strong financial note.
I'm not sure if it's possible, but a really useful video would be about how to balance pension and ISA contributions if you want to retire before the age at which you can draw from your pension (which I think is increasing to 57, and probably further before I get there...). It seems stupid to have £1m banked but not be able to retired because its locked in a pension you can't access yet.
you can always access what you have in the ISA however, thus I prefer that. But I still put as much as the employer will double into pension
@@MCSMIK thanks, yes, this is also what I'm doing. But it will get to the point where you have too much in the ISA. If you have a £1m+ ISA then you probably won't spend it all before you reach pension age. So I guess it would have been better to put some of that money into a pension for the tax efficiencies.
Yep benefit of an ISA is if you have a recession you can pull your money out and buy another investment such as a property or use it for your own benefit such as an expensive holidays or health costs you might require or to help your kids
You can still retire at 55 if you have a pension from before the change. I have 2 pensions from different employers. The older will allow me to retire at 55, so I'm keeping it for that reason.
Great information. But the constant zooming in & out is very annoying
& distracting
My fear is that the more you are sensible and take advantage of current tax efficencies etc - a future government will just raid the pensions and ISA's of the people who were more forward thinking and went without in the short to medium term. There is already murmurings of mansion taxes for property over a notional value, so a tax on people who for years put everything they had into their home perhaps investing a lot of time and what money they had to improve it at the expense of new cars, holidays etc.
Sadly Iain, being sensible and planning ahead just means that the government can find ways of making you use that money when older, while still just covering the bills for those who spend it all.
I think the retirement plan should be live well for 10-15 years reducing the pot a good bit, then start to cut down a bit. When you think about there are not that many party animals at 80 spending all their cash on wine and women and wasting the rest 😀
Yes, and if you've got a nice fat private pension pot, you can rest assured you won't get a state pension.
Very true. Be prudent in this country and the government makes you pay for everything. Piss all your money up the wall and you get everything given to you for free.
It's rare that governments take a step back when it comes to tax and they will always punish the self sufficient. Just look at America now with the 10k student loan forgiveness.
I can only think of New Zealand that have scrapped both Capital Gains and Inheritance Tax.
I've also heard that Singapore scrapped a lot of taxes.
Spread your risk with as many legitimate investments as you can, shares, bonds, pensions, property and ISA’s. It’s impossible to say how each will be treated for tax in 20 years time. Indeed, your savings may all be blown on care home fees - if so, make sure you have enough money to make it a 5 star one…
Amazing video, A friend of mine referred me to a financial adviser sometime ago and we got to talking about investment and money. I started investing with $150k and in the first 2 months, my portfolio was reading $274,800. Crazy right!, I decided to reinvest my profit and get more interesting. For over a year we have been working together making consistent profit just bought my second home 2 weeks ago and care for my family.
Hi. I’ve been forced to find additional sources of income as I got retrenched. I barely have time to continue trading and watch my investments since I had my second child. Do you think I should take a break for a while from the market and focus on other things or return whenever I have free time or is it a continuous process? Thanks
@@Essien-ij However, if you do not have access to a professional like Clementina Abate Russo, quitting your job to focus on trading may not be the best approach. It is important to consider all options and seek guidance from reliable sources before making any major decisions. Consulting with an AI or using automated trading systems can also be helpful in managing investments while balancing other commitments
@@Fatihu-nq Oh please I’d love that. Thanks!
@@Essien-ij Clementina Abate Russo is her name
Lookup with her name on the webpage.
Best thing I did was do nine years in the raf ,even though it’s not a huge pension ,it will make such a difference to my life
I'm 40 this year, I have just finished paying off my mortgage. This would not of been possible with a pension. My ISA is giving me freedom and choices. I have also avoided any higher interest rates with the mortgage.
Could you make a video about late to start retirement options and strategies please? For people that haven't given it much thought until they're in their 30s 40s 50s please?
Guessing as you asked this a year ago, there is no advise. I am in my 50s. when i first considered pensions, i could not afford the "mortgage" they wanted. Not sure many could. Trying to build a business and i have my state pension, but no idea how i will afford to retire at 70. Never could afford a mortgage either!
Unfortunately, almost all of these youtube (cough) money gurus talk a bullsh#t game. Additionally, they are not interested in the slightest in answering questions - as you can instantly tell looking below and elsewhere. Your best bet is to talk to a real adviser, not the jokers you find in social media.
Yes that would be very good listening
@@nbc911 The more you look at this and similar channels, the more I'm convinced these channel owners are only interested in people with sizeable pension pots, paid-up own house, plus other sources of income.
I've asked question and seen others ask only for all of us to get completely ignored - ESPECIALLY if you don't own a house. The channel owners are clearly only in it for 'the clicks', unfortunately.
James shark did it
Sound advice, when I was at peak earnings, mortgage paid off, kids left home, I paid a huge amount of my salary into a sipp, and in those days saved 40% tax on the way in, and now draw out at 20%. I was also lucky enough to also save into Peps,(remember them), and ISAs.
Result, I retired at 55.
Yes, I was lucky, I was a high earner, but knew it could not last, it was killing me mentally, but I had the option now to retire.
Thanks for the video.
Same hear - I’m 57yrs - Big SIPP and ISSAs - job not killing me so all still growing……nice. feeling
Nice, shamefully I have a job that kills me, isn’t highly paid as a professional in the crumbling music industry, I have paid what I can into a pension, but now 59 it’s not worth much, and can’t see me ever being able to retire..or even know what the best plan is to do with such a small pension that matures next year. Keep paying in & working I suppose as no other choice.
@@boomish69 Oh sorry to hear that - you must feel trapped - I know others in that position. My advice is to put your health first - even if you earn less. You will be happier day in day out, will be more healthy and may find your happier working another 10 years or so
Do you think its likely SIPP withdrawal age will be increased by the government?
@@user-lz3lr6jj5w please check that £20k is allowed yearly. Think that amount is too high percentage wise.
I have to say I am really young and just starting my career and found all the pension stuff overwhelming but you are a god sent with how easily you are explaining it. Thank you so much for sharing your valuable knowledge
Glad it’s helpful - thanks for watching!
Make sure you contribute to the workplace pension! Your employer legally also has to contribute too. Should be automatic but check your payslip
😂😂
This s true from a tax planning point. However one very big advantage of ISA is time. You dont have to wait until you are 55 to start drawing monies. You can draw at any point, just in case you need it
Agreed. With an ISA the money is always yours if you need to access it for any reason. With a pension the money you’ve put in is only yours when the pension rules say it is.
Conversely, putting money in a SIPP ensures you don't access it too early. I see that as a very big advantage. It's tempting to withdraw from an ISA - if you are clearly planning for retirement, the SIPP withdrawal date limitation is a non-issue for most people.
Exactly.
This is more like a disadvantage over pensions as people always find something(like lucrative new investment)which is more important than your retirement money and taking advantage of compound interest
@@ivangeorgiev8724 With a strategy and self discipline you can achieve any goal
Not sure if i did the right thing, but i blitzed the mortgage payments before savings and pension.
Every spare bit of cash i paid extra off the mortgage.
Only when the mortgage was clear did i start pension and ISA.
It made sense to me. It was so nice to be mortgage free very early.
it depends on the actions you take now.
If you lets say had a 25 year mortgage and payed it off in 20 years if you was to now invest for the next 5 years with your old mortgage payment and your overpayment you would be behind by a small amount if you instead invested the difference and then just put the overpayment as an investment into lets say an ISA (Pension is a bit more difficult to quantify here ISA and mortgage are both after tax so its a bit easier to look at).
So on paper yes it is better to not pay of your mortgage if you just look at the maths but in my opinion knowing you are mortgage free will give you much more confidence that you no longer have the biggest debt in your life that can affect your housing.
Overpaying mortgage, Upping pension or doing ISA are all good if you are doing any of these you are likely doing much better than the average person.
(ofcourse this is just hypothetical math right I am no financial advisor or anything so do take it with a grain a salt)
@@ekkeking Thanks for your grain of salt, it's appreciated.
What I did once I was mortgage free, was buy another property to rent out, ( yes another mortgage haha, but one somebody else was paying off ) , then as soon as I hit 55, I took out 25% from my pension to pay off the rest of the mortgage on the rental property (very high buy to let interest rates ) .
So now I'm mortgage free on both properties, I planned to fully retire at the end of this year at 57, a bit of income coming in from rental property, plus ISA and small pension I can draw down if needed.
But, it's all a bit pointless though, as I have stage 4 cancer, but am determined to beat it. It's not going to cheat me out of my hard earned retirement plan.
So it's spend spend spend now , holiday galore time and just see what happens.
The future is uncertain, so I'll be grateful for each day .
A great choice given the interest rate fluctuations. You have a pension in your property and will not have to pay tax on it. Older generations know how much a roof over your head is worth, despite all the idiots on YT telling you that rental is even an option. No matter what, they can't repossess your home if you own it outright!
This is the best video I have seen explaining UK options. Subscribed.
Great explanation. So many of these kind of videos always presume the person has a family to leave money too. Singletons advice is very rare
Hoping to retire in 10 years at 62 so maxing out my ISA and paying into 2 pensions.
My wife will be very well off if I go before then. 😢
I've been trying to teach members of my family about this stuff for years but they just switch off. Great video
Most people including me don't realise the important of pensions and saving for retirement in our twenties. Can you do a video advising people who need to start saving at 40 and what kind of pension pots they can expect.
Finally!!! I've been saying this for ages!!! Plus ISA vs Investment ISA would be interesting, as the tax issues shouldn't be there surely
This. Please.
Yes please make a video on starting pensions in your late 30’s/40’s 🤞🏻
@@falconvelocity do you mean cash isa vs stocks and shares isa? Cash isa is pretty useless as they pay very little interest
Sheraz, a simple calculation is as follows
£100 a month invested for 30 years with 5% pa growth becomes £83,700 with all the compounded interest.
That is a modest amount a month, what is always stated is to utilise your company scheme to get your employer to put in their maximum. It’s free money and helps any pot grow.
£1 from you actually only cost you 80p if a standard rate taxpayer.
If you pay into a personal scheme using your taxed salary then every £1 becomes £1.25 with the tax returned and soon you are building up a good pot, and always save when you get paid or before your paid ( company scheme) as what you don’t see you don’t miss
Very good. Clear and concise. Like your final comments. It’s good to have multiple options. Thanks
Thanks so much for this!!! I've been so massively stressed trying to understand the best way to save for retirement. This has been the first video based in the uk that's actually explained pro's and cons. So thankful for this.
I’m glad, Paul. There’s tons more at MeaningfulMoney.tv
@@MeaningfulMoney thanks. I've subscribed on Google podcasts and will definitely take a look at your website.
This is a really good site, and advice you will hear is always be in your company scheme if the company is paying in as well as it’s free money. If your able to salary sacrifice into pension this can save tax as well as you can take yourself below the 40% tax bracket.
My thinking is pension first, and then if you have extra cash to invest think of an ISA
I have been lucky as in my 50’s I was in my best paying job plus good annual bonuses, I used this to really boost pension funds ( I had no credit card debts). Job has changed and earn 50% less but I can manage on this and still save extra into my pension
Realistically, how many of us will live to 100...both my parents died by 75
Hi Pete. I would just like to express my gratitude to you for this content, this has been a game changer for me. Your name came up in conversation yesterday with one of my patients in Hayle, a former colleague of yours at Jackson's GB (I'm sure you will figure out who it is) . I expressed to him how I had stumbled across your content on UA-cam and how it is helping so many people. Next time I am in Penzance I owe you a drink. I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into making these videos. Thanks so much. Rob
Hi Robert. Thanks for such a lovely, encouraging comment. Any time you’re in PZ, do pop into the office - I’d love to chat if diary permits!
Why do they not teach this at School ? Seriously, so many of us are ignorant of this stuff but it is essential ! Thank you, love the way you present, I don't feel like I'm in a lesson (& get bored) and I understand you.
Thank you, Sue! Really glad it was helpful and comes across well 🙏🏻
Very true. Education could be so much better,
Problem is that the goal posts keep moving so by the time you’re thinking about pensions everything you learned in school would be outdated.
Best concentrate on maths not tax.
@@twig3288 That's true, but the basic principle of compound interest and why you should save in your twenties is a good thing to learn. I wasted so much money in my twenties, and I wish someone had just told me what that would be worth if I saved some of it... I'd probably own a house now.
@@devononair That’s maths. It doesn’t change depending on the government.
Pensions and tax however do change and so cannot be learned because of the inconsistency. It used to be that tax cannot be retrospective, that was until Gordon Brown became chancellor.
Totally agree with this video 👍 and I continue to suggest to youngsters to get saving into both pots... Annual return on my pension this year is 27.2%. The ISA is 28.7% .... BLOODY BRILLIANT !!! I'm seeing around 20% year on year, but this year has got my thumbs up 👍👍👍Retired a couple of years back at 56.
The one big advantage with an ISA is you can access it before you retire.
So if you have unexpected bills, it's a useful pot of money to dip into.
3:13- net yes you pay tax on pension income which you don’t pay on isa. But good point on IHT situation and final summary - both makes sense
I have two pensions. I would much rather have had a Roth 401k throughout my working lifetime. $500/month invested from 25 - 65 at 9% is $2.3mil. I have $100k that i like to invest in a non-retirement account, Where would you invest this as of now?
I would avoid the index funds, mutual funds, or specific stocks for the time being. 5% fixed incomes are the safest bet for now. Save your cash for when the market actually shows signs of recovery.
45% of Americans do not invest in the stock market because of lack of guidance. Every year you don't invest, you are falling behind. I’m hitting numbers in the stock market I used to dream of… Going from $50k to $600k in my portfolio is surreal all thanks to insights from my financial advisor.
Great gains there! mind sharing details of your advisor please?
She goes by ‘’Melissa Terri Swayne’ I suggest you look her up. To be honest, I almost didn't buy the idea of letting someone handle growing my finance, but so glad I did.
I’ve just closed my S&S ISA and transferred into my SIPP - thanks for the advice!
I’d always have both, given a choice!
Also time horizon s very important. For someone who were born in the 50 to 70, their retirement age was fairly low and so can still enjoy a lot of the pension when they retire. Sadly the life expentency doesnt move as fast as the rise in pension age - we barely live until our 80 or 90 in best case scenario these days, so having the abiliyy to draw things out earlier from an isa becomes more important
Life expectancy is headed back the other way. But the govt keep increasing the age to meet some figure in some spreadsheet at the treasury.
I loved this video and agree with the math, however my father was on a final salary pension earning some £20000 PA sadly he died at age 62 which means he only ever saw £40000 of what I assume was around a £600000 pension pot? My mother then received a £10000 pension for the rest of her life, she died at age 88 she actually received £260000 from my dads pension pot. What I want to know is what happened to the rest of the money that was in this pot? This is why I have always used an ISA at least I know what is left goes to my children
The insurance company gets to keep it.
@@JayPatel-jp1weIs this true? Do you happen to know why it isn’t treated like other assets in an estate and bequeathed to beneficiaries mentioned a person’s Will? Or even via the Intestate process, if there isn’t a Will.
do you remember that bloke you always saw at the pub? lol. Seriously though it sounds criminal. There are lots of fraudsters in finance. I was subject to one when living overseas. At that time I was young and naive but realized soon enough that I got a bad deal so stopped contributing in after 2.5 years. 20 years later and the extremely high fees ate all my investment. luckily it was only about 4k. I couldn't withdraw without a huge penalty meaning I'd get barely anything so left it. Sorry to hear your father wasn't able to enjoy his retirement.
Good video with great illustrative calculations.
One point i think you missed out in favour of an ISA is the money is always there and available to you to extract if you need to. Say your 45 years old and your dream house/car etc comes available but you are £20k short, the isa could be used. The pension couldn’t in this scenario. I know saving is mainly about the end retirement benefits but there maybe bumps or opportunities on the way there.
Especially with personal pension age increasing to age 57-58. As with most things its all about having a balanced savings portfolio to cover different scenarios
what might be really helpful is a excel spreadsheet for some of these amazing videos. that way we could put our basic details in and see how that pans out. I know there is the voyant go stuff and I will get to that but a basic excel spreadsheet here or there might help us get to the academy stuff a bit quicker? Just a thought Pete but all in all I love the videos you produce. Might be in the market for a new financial planner later this year as the fees on the current one are likely to bite off quite a chunk of what I'm putting into my pension.
Yep, we got this wrong, thanks so much for the video Pete - you may well have saved us a ton of £££ (and our estates - we'd no idea SIPPs weren't in the IHT calculation). You're a hero, keep up the fantastic work. Jay
With inheritance tax at £325K per person and then an allowance for your main home on top of that works out at aboutv£500K per person before inheritance tax starts to become due.
Anyone who has an estate value above that figure needs to take advice on the ways to minimise tax liability. Why the government feels it’s right to tax the estate of a deceased person who will have paid taxes on their earnings which they used to build wealth and a buy a property I do not know.
It is only I HT three if you die below age 75. As that is impossible to predict it is a questionable advantage.
The more of your videos I watch, the more I realise how ignorant I am about finance.....But then again I would imagine most people are.....Thanks for the excellent videos
I’m sure you know more thank you think, Tony. Keep watching and learning and you’ll be expert-level soon! Thanks for being here… 🙏🏻
This is all very interesting and is something I do spend time worrying about. I have way more tied up in ISAs than I do with pensions, but I like having the access to my ISAs and expect that I will most likely spend most of my live overseas so wouldn't want issues with pension funds stuck in the UK till I reach retirement age.
You can take out 25% of the pension pot tax free. You can take out the rest as an when you need it, paying tax. That money withdrawn would not be stuck.
You can transfer the funds to a qrops which is a qualifying registered overseas pension and extract in your new country of residence depending on where that is. This way the assets will be denominated in the currency you are located and you may also benefit from local pension rules around tax free entitlement etc. you need to realistically have been in the jurisdiction 5 years or longer to benefit from the higher tax free cash entitlement but you also benefit from now lifetime allowance limits. Caveat to this is that you are hit with a tax charge of 25% to move the fund to a qrops so hmrc can mitigate some of the tax receipts they will lose as you aren’t taking income in the U.K.
Don’t avoid pensions just because of this concern as it’s something that can be mitigated
Great video. Surely it’s worth highlighting the other benefit of workplace pensions, that being employer contribution so your monthly investment into the savings pot is far greater than the ISA?
Hi Pete - great series of videos. I’ve only recently discovered them. You do a great job, thank you
Great information. However, if you plan to move overseas check if the ISA is still tax free. For example, Canada and the US will make you hurt.
Very useful Pete. Could you cover LISA v Pension please
The thing is, it depends what the pension is invested in.
Company pensions by default are usually invested in some ridiculously low return mix of bonds and bad equity funds... usually to try and reduce volatility in the short term (pointless).
Whereas if you just simply buy the S&P 500 index fund from blackrock or Vanguard the trailing 10 year average return is 14% (as of 2024).
My solution has always been to change my pension immediately in any company i work for to "Freestyle" or "Custom" and basically invested it in a fashion to mirror what i do in my ISA.
I even bought Nvidia in 2007 in my BA pension where i had complete control 😂.
Great advice, great audio, great production. Think I've just found my favourite new YT channel.
Great to have you here!
Thanks again Pete for another great informative video. As someone who has started investing fully in Rental Property initially in my financial journey , then my SIPP pension again with property, and finally ISA's and the Stock Market in the last few years, i can safely say that your summary at the end (9:56) is actually the best advice and outcome for us all!! Empowered choice and options which, let's face it, is the secret to not only personal finance but Life itself!!!!
Thanks for a really useful video and the maths really helped. also, I hadn't appreciated the IHT differences. I would like to help my kids get on the property ladder and was planning to withdraw some of my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP, but thinking about it it would be better to use money from my ISA as any growth in the SIPP would also grow the 25% tax free.
Great video Pete! Could you do a similar comparison for LISA vs Pension? I'm 30yr old and just bought my first house and now I'm finally wanting to get a handle on planning for the future
Yes please, I was thinking the same
Noted. And thank you!
Well if your 30 you have nearly 40 years to grow your pension pot and you can secure your retirement by addressing it now even with a modest monthly saving.
£100 a month into your pension , assume 5% growth (on the £1200 saved) for 40 you have £152K at the end.
That £100 is total contribution, obviously as you earn more can save more (or have more taken automatically if in a company scheme)
Double the saving doubles the pot so you can see how big it can grow, and if like many pour money in when older, kids etc no longer a drain, house paid it gets better and better.
@@MeaningfulMoney yes , LISA on £250 pm with 25% bonus pa until age 50 and then £250 pm from age 50 to 65 would be interesting, Pete.
@Taiwo Omotosho yes, £100 month is 1200 a year. Assuming 5% growth on the £1200 is £60
Year two £1260 plus another £1200 with 5% becomes £2583.
Repeat for 40 years the compounded interest and regular contributions is how pensions score over a long period, yes I am assuming 5% growth and calculating that on the years total contribution, but there would also be periods where the return is much higher than 5% so it is working on an average. £152, 207.71p with this approximate model.
If you invested £1200 and got 5% pa return reinvested and left for 40 years with no more money other than interest added it would grow over 40 years to over £8000.
This is why people should look for regular saving into a pension fund where in UK you get tax relief etc. start early and your pot will be very healthy when your close to that retirement age.
Could you do an update on this now that pensions are under the IHT, please
It's a bit conservative 6% average returns and if it goes to market average at around 11% there is a big difference in the calculations on theory
And the difference between ISAS and SIPPS is with one you pay taxes on the initial amount only but with pensions you pay taxes after on the final compounded growth pot except the 25% tax free allowance
A working average
Could Pete be accounting for inflation by using a 6% conservative return?
6 % average returns is definitely not conservative!
good point on the taxes.For an ISA, If your a higher rate tax payer then it would take about 7 years at 8% growth to get back that 40% you paid in tax initially. So as an example 10k you would only get say 6k after tax then it would take almost 7 years for that to become 10k again at 8% growth.
there's no difference, the size of the pension pot will always be 1.25 the size of the ISA pot no matter what the growth rate.
Things most have changed . My dad used to sell pension for the pru . But what he thought he was going to get when he retired to what he got was about a quarter of the value . And when he sadly passed away the pension died with him . So know my mother gets nothing. If he had put the money in to a savings account there would still be money in there . ?
Things have changed, Thank goodness. I’m sorry for your loss. Pensions are far more transparent now.
This covers every conversation I have had with my dad for about 5 years, he is obsessed with complaining about paying tax on his pension!
Your dad’s grievances are entirely understandable.
Your Dad makes sense, he's spent a lifetime supporting the most useless government on the planet only to carry on supporting them, whether he likes it or not. Tax on pensions and savings is theft.
Hi, i could never get my head around pensions (young ignorance). Now 40 and with kids in tow, it’s something on my mind. I pay into a pension with my employer and their contributions are good, for now. I also, through work, have access to AVCs. Again, this is blows over my head. All the ‘old’ boys at work advise doing them. Is this something I should be paying into? Thanks. Great work.
I've been thinking along the same lines, Pension and ISA. Makes sense to always take the 25% tax free and transfer as much as possible of that in to the ISA. Brilliant video.
Depends on whether you need to plan for IHT; if you do then the 7 year rule, and giving from spare income, will need consideration. Trusts also, but complicated these days…
Not necessarily, but when someone is a financial planner and give examples to go hand in hand with their content you are not necessarily going to question it, with higher investing amounts the ISA will pull ahead, I think the video is not good at disclaiming that you should seek financial advice to your own circumstances.
Also, you cannot transfer from a pension to an ISA.
@@PrivateSniperUK except after you start taking lump sum or drawing down. All depends on personal circumstances
@@tonykelpie that's not a transfer though, that's a separate thing :)
I have been looking into pensions lately, Annuity's seem past there sell by date. You give them all that cash for about a 5% return and never see your initial investment again. Seems like an ISA or similar would be better for most people these days.
Good video still planning on retiring on a ISA only because I plan on retiring early at 40-45. Will have a work pension kick in at retirement age and will may also be eligible for state pension 25 years to qualify
That doesn't seem most efficient. Why not use ISA until 55 then pension from 55? That way you get 25% tax free lump sum out of the pension and also your whole income tax personal allowance out free of tax from 55 to state pension age. ISAs are good but the normal ISA can't match at least 25% added on the way in and so much of it untaxed on the way out.
@@jamesday426 I get an early monthly departure payment from my work when I leave at age 40 as I Will have been with them for 20 years ,which is about £8K a year and a full pension from them at 67. I will have enough invested at 40 to retire with the ISA on top I’m only considering working to 45 to qualify for the state pension.
@@tibz1490 tbh you'll be ok to retire if you don't live past 60 and there is zero inflation and you own a home outright.
I had a private pension in the early days of PPP, but the costs and charges were high and the investments performed poorly. So I went down ISA route. I don't accept that the ISA and Pension can be compared on the assumption of growing at the same rate.
Where do you get 6% growth in the last 10years? Especially in an ISA
Stocks and Shares ISA, balanced portfolio with not too much risk. Seriously.
Getting half% so bought a new car
The Rational Reminder podcast had an interview with Prof Scott Cederburg who argued that future tax rates mean investing post-tax (ie ISA) may make more sense, especially for younger people, than pre-tax (ie. SIPP). Based on his US analysis he recommend the amount you put in a pension account is your age + 20 as a percentage, and the rest in an ISA equivalent. I would be interested to hear what people think of this in a U.K. context.
I do Pension ( Minimum matched to Employeer ), Property ( My first house I rented out ), and ISA ( as much as I can afford ). This means I won't pay loads of tax as an OAP, and looking to retire early at 57 in 2033. Cost of living however is kinda destroying my dream !!
Best thing about the ISA is I can access it anytime I need it. I don't need to wait until the government says I can.
Very insightful video. However, if we did take into account inflation with price increases in rent/food and general living costs in the future when we retire; i think we'll be forced to take out higher sums out and thats when alot of tax will be applied. And thats when ISA's really shine out. Also with ISA's you can take money out anytime any not have to wait until you 65 to enjoy your hard earned money.
Would be interested in seeing a Pension vs Lifetime ISA comparison.
Isn’t that what he has just done?
@@keoghrichard1988 he might have covered it in another video, but not this one. Lifetime ISAs are not the same as standard ISAs. Lower annual subscription limit and age plus other restrictions apply, but crucially unlike normal ISAs, a conditional 25% government bonus is paid on subscriptions - effectively equivalent to basic rate tax relief on money in and still no income tax on money out.
@@matttyrer9096 ah ok! I see, valuable info! Thanks!
Thanks for the video, really interesting comparisons. I suppose the fear for many younger folks is that access to SIPP’s is dictated by wherever the state pension age is, minus whatever figure the government sets - which is both entirely out of the investors control and also which all signs seem to say will move further and further back (if it exists in the future, for those in their 20s and 30s, despite us currently paying for todays pensioners).
That seems like such a huge caveat, that SIPPs may be better in terms of compounding due to the tax relief, but you can’t access it until who knows when, if ever.
Being in my mid 30s I’m so skeptical about the future state pension age that it seems very sensible to sacrifice that (for me) quite marginal difference you outlined, in order to choose to retire at 60 if I want, rather a decade or more later
This is sound advice for already wealthy people, however the average saved into UK pension pots is a paltry £62, 000, with rampant inflation in food,fuel and housing costs coupled with stagnant wages the idea that a 25 year old has £250/month to contribute to a pension is a pipe dream for all but the high earners. I think it's highly unlikely that today's youngsters are going to be leaving an inheritance of anything like £3, 000 000.
Just an illustration that Pete is doing. Of course even those on modest incomes can probably still afford to save for the long term and putting away something , especially into a pension, will rarely be regretted by someone in the future. In my experience of dealing with clients, seeing a fund build up and grow is a great motivator to try and save a bit more and do what you can to build up a retirement fund to give people options in later life.
Agreed there is WAY too much focus on IHT in this video. I want to worry about how much money I can spend in retirement without going broke. Not how I can minimize IHT to my heirs leaving them 7 figure pots of money. Weird take by Pete. I guess he is influenced by his High Net Worth Clients.
This is great, I finally understand the difference! Thanks.
I’m glad, Steven - thanks for the feedback!
The problem is that you need to wait until retirement age before you can start withdrawing money with a pension and they keep increasing it! ISA's are better
I understand. That delay in access is the flip side to the tax relief on contributions though. ISAs are not better. They are different. Best option is to have both of you can, but if you have to decide between the two then earlier on in life the ISA is the more flexible option.
Very useful and very interesting. Thank you
Pensions and savings are important, just don’t forget to live in the meantime.
Half of us die by pension age and if you make it you will only find inflation ate your retirement pot.
@@sang3Eta hi mate, your pension isn’t just sitting around doing nothing - it’s invested in funds and growing too! Highly likely to beat the rate of inflation each year
@@RobYates312
Until Biden came along…
@@Project-Masculinity inflation is driven by demand after lockdown ending, common across most countries at the moment regardless of who is charge
@@RobYates312 Inflation is way higher than people think it is. I don't use CPI, I use money supply growth the M1 dollar supply is 14x what it was in the 07 banking collapse. $1.37tr to $19.4tr
Great point. I pay into my pension as i am a higher rate tax payer. I also do iSA funds because i like the flexibility.
The problem is that government can dip into private pensions whenever they feel like it. Gordon Brown’s famous pension raids helped to kill off final salary pensions in the private sector. At least with an ISA you can cash out and leave whenever you want provided the government don’t exercise their bail-in option (Cyprus style) which will convert your cash deposit into shares in the financial institution holding them.
How about investing in physical gold bullion which is exempt from capital gains tax, British sovereigns let's say with an average return of 10-13%
Thanks Pete, great work. As I won’t get the state pension until age 68 (provided the state don’t changed that in the meantime or indeed the state pension remains an ‘entitlement’) and therefore I can’t access my private pensions until 10 years prior, it seems important to ‘diversify’ my saving into ISA as well. Personally, once I’ve contributed enough to maximise my employer’s matched contributions, I’m paying into ISA. ISA I can take anytime (perhaps before 58 if I’ve had enough of real work) and is some hedge against state intervention on pension rules (eg. will 25% tax free sum still exist?) and tax (eg. Pensions into inheritance tax seems a no brainer).
Agree with your final comments. Great vid. Have multiple streams as nobody wants to wait until 65 to get their hands on the pension pot.
You can withdraw at 55 for private/workplace pension
Interesting thinking about pensions not as a retirement fund but more as an inheritance trust, something i hadn't even considered before.
How realistic are those income numbers though? I can't see many people with easy access to a £1 million+ lump sum taking only an £18,000 income. I feel most people will constantly be battling against themselves not to draw down the pot to near 0 before they die.
You may be right about the income level drawn, Ryan, but I had to strike the point somewhere. That said I have clients with seven figures in pension funds drawing nothing and spending down non-pension assets instead, purely for IHT planning. Wanted to dispel the myth that you give all the tax relief back on retirement in a pension.
Yes, retirement lifestyle planning is very important. Some people will think of the point they can access their pension pots as 'party time' and blow a big percentage on a flash car and/or a few mega luxury holidays. However, others will have planned their retirement on spreadsheets years before and essentially live their lives the same as before retirement with a few luxuries that they've planned beforehand in the most tax efficient way. Yes it's boring, but that is the way to ensure your retirement money will last
The ideal plan I think is to be drawing down so it eventually runs out when you die. The problem is we don’t know that date, so the best you can do is make a guess, but you will typically need more income 65-75, after then slow down a bit. Post 80 the majority of people less active and less spending being done
Wow, I was waiting for that information in the last part. Having a Pension and ISA.
Got there in the end, eh?!
In my view it's more sensible to have both a pension and an ISA to get the full benefit of both. Access to cash pre-retirement age and access to cash after. So many people will draw their 25% from their pension pots at 55( soon to rise) simply because they can and then nor have much else in the way of savings and then not have sufficient to live on later in life. A combination of both seems the most cost effective solution.
As for the people who say what's the point of saving in to a pension. The govt need us to make our own provision because the country can't afford to support everyone. People on max state pension of £9300 will almost certainly need to top this up with state benefits as £9300 is not enough to live on and that's assuming you've got the full 35 years qualifying contributions in the first place. The other advantage of drawing retirement income from both an ISA and pension is that one dilutes the tax on another. If you drew the same pension as ISA each year you would have the effect of halving your effect tax rate to just 10% assuming that all your retirement income was under £50k
I agree. That’s the conclusion of the video!
@@MeaningfulMoney Unfortunately inspite of the video people still don't get it. That's why I stated what seems toe to be obvious.
Great video. Well done.
Great information. Question - As retiree not paying tax atm, if I withdraw £20k from my crystallised pot to deposit into my £20k ISA UK Tax allowance, is the £20k taxed automatically on withdrawal at the basic tax rate of 20% = £4k, thereby leaving £16k net. (having already taken my TAX free allowance of £12,570 for the year). The only benefit I can see is faster access to the ISA cash v Pension withdrawals which takes up to 3 weeks!
Brilliantly informative as always Pete. Even though it’s only a week since we found you, we’ve learned so much already. I have a Final Salary pension (in a big multinational company) as well as using my full ISA allowance each year. If I’ve understood correctly, it would make perfect sense to take a tax free income from my ISA as much as possible when I first retire and try not to touch my pension pot as much as I can 🤔
Keep up the good work 👍🏼😁
Tread carefully here, Nick. If your pension is Final Salary, there is no pot, just the guaranteed income and maybe a tax-free lump sum at the beginning. If you defer your pension, then the scheme will usually increase it when you do eventually take it to reflect the fact that you’ll be drawing it for less time. Please seek advice if you’re unsure, and start with your day-to-day needs, NOT with the tax system. Your needs come first.
@@MeaningfulMoney Thanks for the advice Pete. Yes, we have several options with our FS pension including a tax free lump sum and also a stepped option. Will definitely be seeking advice before making any decisions 👍🏼😊
The math for Pensions is obviously better. However there is also the problem of access. With an ISA you can drawdown whenever you like, pension age keeps rising.
Not a private pension. I have both a high S and S ISA as well as a sipp. You can't rely on one entity you need both to level up along with property equity. Hard cash savings also helps.
Good video and explanation. However you missed the part where pension providers take administration fees from you, this can significantly reduce the growth
Stocks and shares ISA providers do the same thing. Both my SIPP and my ISA are with Vanguard and the fees are identical on both.
Minimal now a days compared to the 90’s
The pension providers charges may be muchlower these days, but so are returns, so watching what you are charged is still very important. Actually it could be the most important aspect of chosing any form of investment.
@MeaningfulMoney … all this is great and you assume someone has dependants… what about not having spouse to pass Pension to and no one to get inheritance tax as non existent?
Great video. Stays away from all the "you need 1M to retire" nonsense in favour of well defined illustrations. All this before accounting for the fact that your company is likely to offer anything between 6%-14% matching. Free money you should definitely be taking.
Are you saying that the government adds on 25% to the total amount added? So if you added £100, your employer matched it then the government added to it you'd end up with a monthly pay in of £250? And it only cost you £100? ...for example.
Man, you are the man I've been looking for all these years! Thank you thank you thank you!
Great to have you with us, Antonio!
UK government in all likelihood will raid pensions after starting wars abroad. So I'm prioritising ISA deposits and only paying in workplace pension.
Very good video . However it does not make sense to me. I am not a financial advisor.
Thanks for a great video ~ a useful and clear explanation. It always "hurts" when you make a withdrawal from the pot, but you have to reconcile the initial benefit of the tax relief of the pension plan to reduce the annoyance of giving 20% "your earnings" back to HMRC. It's even worse with Standard Life making the assumption that they will tax your withdrawal at 40% and you then have to submit a P55 form and wait a month for them to refund the overpayment. C'est la vie apparently.
Where do you get 6% growth from ?
Thanks Pete for another great video - not sure if others have asked already but will be super interesting to see how using Lifetime ISA for retirement might change things here with the annual bonus?
Don't forget employers add contributions to pensions, and behaviours can be adjusted to control some of the tax risks.
The amount of tax we are charged in the UK is absolutely sickening. The older I get the more I am outraged that almost everything is taxed at least once, and often targeting those who have just tried to save their own money or invested it somehow.
Tax is to pay for things like schools, the NHS and the police. Society can’t function without it.
@@marcusnelson3520 great….so even with huge taxes have you tried using the nhs, even though they are getting more and more money it’s getting worse and worse. Most would be happy with taxes if the could see the true benefits. Like nasa sls shows that chucking money doesn’t make a net improvement. Not to say free market but a balance
In the uk it’s death by a 1000 cuts, a tax here a tax again and then again, now a sugar tax now a fat tax… oh a green city tax that’s 45£ a day because you can’t afford a new car, next will be a co2 tax then a energy used tax ect yet nothing will change
Labour and the conservatives are one and the same on this
@@HankHillspimphand Germany, France and Austria pay more into their NHS as a percentage of GDP.
It’s complicated though, because I am not sure how social care is counted.
I don’t know enough about these issues. I’d imagine that salaries for doctors and managers are costing a lot. The NHS needs to become more efficient.
At the moment there are still backlogs from COVID-19, so it is a tough time to assess the NHS and how long it takes to get treatment. Hopefully within a couple of years things will improve.
Labour and the consrvatives are different. Labour will increase taxes on income, savings and invesments to spend more. The conservatives will do the same, but less so.
Really, what this country needs (particularly London), is for rents and property prices to decrease. I’m just not sure how that is possible without a market crash.
@Marcus Nelson thanks I never knew that's what my taxes go towards, idiot.
Uk is like a tax haven compared to most European countries, I moved back in 2022 and pay close to zero tax by contributing to my private pension and getting refunded. That’s why nothing works in this country.
Brilliant piece of advice and really good examples. Thanks for sharing
Love these videos, they are so well put together and easy to understand. My question, is 6% growth realistic? my pension pots admittedly smaller than those described don't get close, especially after charges and inflation
Long term returns from UK equities have been around 5% plus inflation. Say 7% including inflation if BoE 2% target is met. But that's before costs and funds have internal and also explicit costs and pensions have costs so what's really achievable is below 6% if using UK large cap (market capitalisation, so big companies) equities. You can improve that by adding some small caps and maybe emerging markets.
Personally I'd have gone with something like 4.5% for a high equity balanced managed fund, have the monthly contributions increase with inflation then say that "all numbers are in today's money" to keep things nice and simple.
But 6% before inflation is good enough for his case, though I think he partly shot himself in the foot because it produced a high emphasis on inheritance tax benefit that 5% would have reduced. Since I expect the target audience to be those early in accumulating money I think more focus on benefits while alive and potential early retirement would have been a more productive approach for the target market I expect. But he's highly capable (and should know I have a friendly and understanding smile while writing this) so he undoubtedly had his reasons for his choice, different though it is from mine.
Rates of return are not dictated by the size of the pension, but by the way they are invested. 6% is a reasonable long term growth assumption, though when I’m planning with clients I use 5% to be conservative.
Ftse100, in 2001 was 7200 and in 2021 7200. Thats 0% capital growth for 20 years. In the meantime you get dividends which are about 3% currently. Thats supposedly 2% inflation (currently 4%), 1% real. Inflation may boost earnings, but will ultimately crush asset values as the yield must rise above inflation or money flees. There is also a very real risk premium which has disappeared from that 3% return. So where is this 5% REAL 'long term' ABOVE inflation return guaranteed from the stock market?
@@SlobberySlob It's in the 95% of the global equity market which is outside the UK. Plus you get much greater diversification. Higher reward, lower risk. It's what professional investment managers - I used to be one - call a no-brainer.
@@SlobberySlob Nothing is guaranteed, but it is in the markets outside of the UK that this growth is mainly to be found.
For me the big problem is: a lot of things could change long term including the tax rules for both, if that happens with ISA you can take action, take rhe money, pension you have no option.
Hi Pete. This might sound a really silly question but I only have an ISA, so no experience with the pension.
When you talk about 20% tax relief, how is that sum actually added to your total? For example, if I put £10K into the S&P 500 via a Vanguard SIPP, does the portfolio automatically state £12K or is there a process by which the tax relief is added? Many thanks.
If u put 10k in Vanguard will claim the tax ftom hmrc and add it to your portfolio. Typically it takea about 6 to 8 weeks before u see the money in. Btw on 10k u will get 2.5k not 2k. This is because the 10k is the net of gross less 20pc tax. So u earn gross 12.5, hmrc keeps 20% tax ao 2.5k. U r left with 10k. U put 10k in vanguard and canguard claims 2.5k from hmrc. Hopefully makes sense
It's instant on vanguard for me. Only basic rate though. You have to manually claim higher/additional rate in a self assessment.
@@user-lz3lr6jj5w would definitely say speak to a financial adviser and get them to work with your accountant it gets very complex at those levels
@@joemacdougall9205 Hi. Does HMRC pay that extra tax relief as cash. Or top up your SIPP again?
I added some money to my private pension recently and the tax relief was added automatically. No forms, no nothing. Very satisfying 😊
Got it. So do both... if you can...
Absolutely!
If I get to 100 with a million quid ill regret not spending it. No point being the richest man in the graveyard.
Yeah or have a big chunk I can give to my son, who’ll be 70 at that point!
Most young people say that - I can tell you having the best part of a million at 55 is better than a kick in the nuts……
@@rufdymond yes having £1m and retiring at 55 would be great, but I see no point in retiring and not enjoying life just to maintain the pension pot with the aim of passing it down to children. I fully expect my children will benefit from my estate when I die but that will not be how I plan to live my later years. Yes plan to minimise any IHT liabilities they might face but No to planning to leave them an almost unused pension pot
Excellent video...have not seen this analysis done before and so helpful! Thanks, liked and subscribed...hope it helps the ego boost! 🙂
No Pete, this isn’t “useful”, it’s … gold dust. I am right in the middle of these kinds of calls and so this and your LTA video are so incredibly helpful. Not sure I can say thank you enough 🙂
I’m glad, Iain - thank you!
This is such an education , keep up the good work , Alex
Thanks Alex - appreciate the kind words!
Pete, I'm a big fan of your videos. I remember watching this particular video when you first released it and thought it was great. Unfortunately, now that I understand tax and pensions much better, I am less sure it's as helpful as I thought it was when I first watched it. Multiple people have pointed me at this video when I've tried to correct their understanding of the advantages of a pensions vs ISAs. To be clear, I'm not arguing that there aren't plenty of compelling benefits in lots of circumstances, but there's some people who are confused about what these benefits are and seem to have picked up some misunderstandings from this video and other UA-cam content creator videos on this topic.
Firstly, I love the idea of lettings the maths do the talking, but I believe that there are mistakes in the calculations. For example, the amount of money accumulated in the pension looks to be wrong. The pension number in the video is 20% more than the ISA number, but I think it should be 25% more. You could argue that using the large pension value would tip things further in the favour of pensions so the mistake doesn't matter much in video in which you are advocating for pensions. But it does risk undermining confidence in letting the maths do the talking if the maths looks to be wrong.
The comparisons of ISA vs pension values during retirement (e.g. at age 100) are comparing net value (in the case of the ISA) with the gross pre-tax value (in the case of the pension). I think saying "So they are more than £500,000 better off" is very misleading given this. If this particular comparison use the net values for both (apples to apples) and if the maths didn't have errors in it, then the ISA and pension would have exactly the same net value. This is because this example is assuming zero tax free cash and base rate of tax both at contribution and withdrawal time.
It's the tax free cash and any difference between the effective tax rate saved at contribution time vs the effective tax rate at withdrawal time, that makes pensions perform better than ISAs in the pure numbers game.
Given this, I think people could easily reach the wrong conclusion given this part of summary: “Yes you are taxed on the back end with pensions, but the growth and compounding on the tax relief is so so valuable. Really doesn't take that much to reach this critical mass so that you really can't undo the benefits of that growth.”
On the other hand if you have an employer who is happy to match contributions in a salary sacrifice scheme (in a sense converting reduced NI into contributions) then that is really free cash in my mind. Though I realise that's beyond the scope of this video where it was keeping things simple.
The IHT benefit is likely a huge deal for many people. But I think the video distorts this somewhat by comparing the net value of the ISA with the gross pre-withdrawal value of the pension. The video does mention there will be potential income tax to pay but brushes this aside as not wanting to muddy the waters. It might have been more helpful to assume beneficiary withdrawals would be subject to the basic rate of tax as a reasonably representative lower estimate of the tax they might incur.
A couple of benefits of pensions compared to ISAs that are not related to better tax treatment which are often overlooked: 1) I believe that ISAs are included in means tested benefit calculations, so while an ISA gives you that emergency fund, you might end up having to spend it in circumstances you didn't expect to have to (such as illness or redundancy); 2) you generally get better annuity rates and more annuity escalation options when purchasing using a pension rather than cash purchase (e.g. you can't get a money purchase index linked annuity).
I hope this feedback is helpful. I really like the content you produce and have learned a lot from your videos. If you are ever developing a v2 of this video, hopefully these ideas are something you can consider and are useful. I know you've done a couple on the abolition of the LTA and new tax free cash rules. But perhaps a v2 of "pensions vs ISAs" might still be useful? Who knows it might even get another 500k views?
Hi Alex - I spotted this comment a couple of weeks or so ago, but have only now had chance to sit down and pull out the spreadsheet I used for the video calculations. Imagine my horror on realising that I had actually understated the contribution to the pension vs the ISA! I can't actually believe that it's taken three years for anyone to spot that, but you're right - even though it makes the pension look worse that it will in fact be, it doesn't engender confidence. I don't think I've ever made such a maths blunder - a bit worrying, but I'll blame it on brain fog from hormone-induced chronic fatigue at the time...
I think the death benefit comparison is a bit more subjective. I've yet to have any beneficiary of a post-75 drawdown plan take the lot out in a lump sum, incurring potentially higher or even additional rate income tax in doing so, so I think the comparison stands in this case.
I'll also stand by the critical mass statement, for now at least! As I was talking in the summary about the pension holder's point of view rather than that of any future beneficiaries.
You just know I'm going to revisit this video now! And I'll seek to address some of your other points in that, too. I'd like to thank you for the gracious nature of your feedback. Plenty of people would be snarky, but you haven't been and for that, I'm very grateful.
Now I'm off to self-flagellate to punish myself for incorrect maths, which I really can't quite believe...
What about scenarios where you recycle your ISA savings into a pension later on? I.e. putting savings in to an ISA when on lower tax rate early on in career then withdraw them and pay into a pension when you hit higher brackets to get the higher relief?
After buying my house and bringing up my sons, I have only had spare money at age 40.
I'm 46 now and have some premium bonds ISA and my work pension, I pay most of my savings into the ISA but after watching this Might up the amount I pay into my work place pension.
Should I talk to a financial advisor?
Very slick. First time UA-cam has suggested your videos to me, and I've got to say, very impressed. I'm still not a fan of pensions though and too late to convert now, being mid 50's?
What about all the management fees which need deducting from pension pots?
Same as from a Stocks and Shares ISA, so assumed to be the same in the example.
That was very informative thank you.
I’m 72 and drawing against all my pensions but enjoying trying to trade for our future and that of our four children. Are you suggesting having investments (possibly those offering a dividend) in an ISA and a pension forgetting a GIA account?