Baby number 2 will be arriving in the next few weeks and, besides making me think about how much I need to tidy up/organise things, it has also made me think about our future.
Soon we will have 2 little ones who will be dependent on us and as well as making sure they have everything they need as they are growing up I also want to be able to help out with things when they are older.
Thinking about our children’s future makes me realise how old we are! Most of the time I still think that I am in my early 20’s when in reality I am closer to 40. (Excuse me a moment whilst I sob!)
My husband and I will be able to retire officially when we are 68 which seems like a lifetime away. When it comes to saving money though it isn’t.
Luckily my husband has a good workplace pension which means we are already working on our nest egg. As I am self employed I worry that I am unable to contribute. I know that there is the state pension but this seems to be dwindling constantly and I don’t hold much hope in there being anything left in 30 years time.
I have recently learned that you can set up a personal pension which the government will contribute too. Nutmeg offer a personal pension where the government will pay 25% of your contributions up to £40,000 if you are a tax payer. They do all of the hard work for you and their fee is one of the lowest available.
Pensions baffle me as I can never work out what the outcome will be. I know it obviously involves how much you put in and for how long but working out how much you will recieve at the end of it all is quite confusing. This pension calculator works this out for you.
Having a plan for the future gives me piece of mind. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment and only think about the here and now. Having children and having to be responsible has opened my eyes to the bigger picture. When did we get so grown up?
