Civil Service Pension Increase - Advice Needed

waddo


Joined: 29/11/2008
Posts: 1966

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 13:02

Pleased to anounce that despite the Credit Crunch and the rise in inflation and all around costs across the world, the Civil Service has come up trumps yet again.

I note from my pension payment that my pension has risen by £4.48 a month and urgently need advice on how I can invest this huge sum of money so that I can be rich and famous by this time next year.

Maybe I should have put in more than 17 years with them to have got an even bigger increase - or maybe I should have just put all my earnings in a sock under the bed for an even better rate of interest................

No complaints 10.30 TL a month extra will buy loads of ???????

flightholiday


Joined: 19/07/2007
Posts: 3217

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 13:30

Painful for you but be glad if you had a commercial pension you might have less - you know what has happened with endowments don't you.

waddo


Joined: 29/11/2008
Posts: 1966

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 14:04

Flight,

Only posted as a joke and no, have no idea what happened with endowments as I never had enough income - since I left the military - to put any money into them anyway. The last insurance guy who conned me into a pension scheme, with Allied Crowbar, is sitting rich and happy on an Island off the Malaysian coast (I kid you not) whilst the money I put into that pension scheme over a ten year period is now worth £11.90 a month - wow!! £26K in and £11.90 out, now that is what I call a real bargain. Saw me coming and then watched me going when it was too late.

Because of that I stayed away from pension schemes unless they were run by the government but not sure now if that was a sound idea or not - too late anyway. Take care out there.

Blackie


Joined: 20/12/2007
Posts: 129

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 14:19

I have a company pension scheme with one of the big pension providers about 18 months ago they enabled me to track my pension pot online, how depressing is that. About a year ago when the banks went belly up I had a ring side seat watching the pot shrinking by a third in the space of a week. It is recovering now and I should be able to quit my retirement job with B&Q by the time I'm 75

ROBnJO


Joined: 30/06/2008
Posts: 1289

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 14:21

waddo



If you are frequently in the UK, I would suggest you invest your £50 odd a year into Equities for a potential return of up to £500 in value.



Including dealing costs you could buy 1 Share in each of 5 or 6 UK Companies.



This entitles you to attend Shareholders Meetings and AGM's.



There you will get anything from a Coffee and couple of HobNobs right up to a full lunch with fine wines and loads of Company vouchers for goods or services.



Pick your Companies to suit your tastes. e.g., avoid DynoRod, but go for Caterers/Food or Wine Merchants etc.





Rob

The-Wicks


Joined: 27/05/2007
Posts: 2279

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 14:27

waddo - I think you should take your time and consider very carefully what to do with your £4.48 monthly increase. Perhaps you could contact the theiving b....rd from Allied Dunbar and join him for a break in Malaysia while you consider your options??



They tried to sell us a pension thingy when my husband retired from the fire brigade - I took an instant dislike to the bloke that came round and so didn't go with them (fortunately). Unfortunately, we, like many others, have fallen foul of the credit crunch with regard to endowments.



Now remember, don't rush into anything

andy46


Joined: 12/09/2008
Posts: 38

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 15:15

Hi Waddo,



I get a Civil Service pension and was amazed that the increase was 5%. Better than most other pension schemes. However I suppose if you only have a small pension, the increase will not be very much. In my case I was one of those who had allegedly been overpaid so my increase is probably less than yours.



andy's wife

fiendishpaul


Joined: 18/05/2008
Posts: 1720

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 15:25

Hi Waddo

Save your pension increase each month and then every year bung the lot on the 100/1 shot in the Grand National.

You would have been sitting pretty on £5376 last weekend ;-)

Regards

Paul

joseph


Joined: 17/04/2008
Posts: 709

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 16:27

I like this post, because despite the humour, it puts things into perspective.



I think when talking of civil servants and bankers etc we need to be careful we don't paint every one with the same brush. There are thousands of ordinary folk working in these "industries" who are being let down by those at the top.



Case in point, RBS have announced 5000 job cuts in the UK.



Am willing to bet these cuts will be on ordinary people working behind the counters etc who are worried sick about their jobs, mortgages, kids etc?



Tough times for everyone?



Regards Joseph

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 17:25

joseph yes its tough but we all have to live with it/ i now have 3 kids with children of thier own now unemployed all gone through uni and have degrees. How can I help when we have lost all our money in cyprus. Its hard but we have to do what we can and remember ou r survival inscinsts

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 17:42

You could write to your Government pension fund and inform them that due to climate change it is particularly cold for this time of year, temperatures falling to minus Celsius level and could they kick in your cold winter allowance of £20 a week! Worth a shot?



Richard

ROBnJO


Joined: 30/06/2008
Posts: 1289

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 17:44

Joseph



re RBS, they are not making cuts in counter/front end staff, thankfully, because these are the workers who take the 'brunt'.



Discussing this on another board, I just posted:



"A friend in RBS is not surprised at their job losses. In his division they have 150 IT, middle management & Back Office staff probably going. No-one actually knew what they did & reckon the workload could be covered by 20 decent staff."





p.s. I was way ahead of waddo & The-Wicks!



I took out plans with Hambro Life, years before they became Allied Dunbar. A bit like Dr Who they have morphed into Zurich.



Much nicer envelopes and headed paper,.. but same old cr*p returns! :-(





I used to think I was 'well endowed',.... I wasn't!

Equitable Life?,... no it wasn't!

Scottish Amicable?,... not very friendly!

Scottish Widows?,... most male policy owners have topped themselves!

joseph


Joined: 17/04/2008
Posts: 709

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 19:09

Rob...



re



I used to think I was 'well endowed',.... I wasn't!



Equitable Life?,... no it wasn't!



Scottish Amicable?,... not very friendly!



Scottish Widows?,... most male policy owners have topped themselves!



Very good



My Endowment policy from 1980s is currently running about 40% shy of the "promised" payout. Funny... I remember when we first signed up and dreaming about how we would spend the extra £0000s we were told to "expect"



I'll come clean... £33000.00

Expected payout... £19000.00

Shortfall ........ £14000.00



I have a feeling some on our forum could probably leave that in the shade especially younger members



Having said that, I maintained and still have a much much smaller endowment from our first house (1978) which has reached its target payout.



Joseph

waddo


Joined: 29/11/2008
Posts: 1966

Message Posted:
09/04/2009 21:07

Just my luck! I see the exchange rate has now gone to 2.29 so there goes my rise!



I think there is a plot here and that go old Gordon is at the bottom of it somewhere - he should be at the bottom of something anyway.



Take care out there