Pensions

[Bowieblue]

Not sure if this is the right topic...but I am divorced with 2 children 18 and 20. I have no pension and have no entitlement to any of my ex husbands pension as we divorced before this became law. I am 49 years old and have 15 years until I retire according to my present company policy. Does anyone know of any pension or similar schemes that would benefit me at this stage, not having much time to save and accumulate a good amount for retirement?

[WendyS]

Does your company have a pension scheme? If so, you should join it, especially as many companies will also contribute towards it. And if you belong to a company pension scheme and you can afford it, you can make additional voluntary contributions to top it up.
If you don't belong to a company scheme you can set up a stakeholder or private pension with one of the big companies like Standard Life but you should seek advice from an Independent Financial Advisor before making a decision because some schemes have expensive set up fees. Alternatively you can make the most of your annual ISA allowance which is �7,000 a year, either putting �3000 into a Cash ISA and �4000 into equities (unit trusts) and having all the dividends reinvested or putting the full �7000 into an equity ISA which will have time to build up (although there is always a risk of a stock market downturn just as you are retiring). But pension schemes also invest in the stockmarket too, so there is always a calculated risk. The benefits of ISA's is that any income you eventually take from them will be tax free whereas any pension income will be taxed.

[Bowieblue]

Thank you for your information and taking the time to answer.