Nobody should set a 7am alarm at 70

Picture the scene. It’s 6:59 on a chilly January morning. There’s frost outside. Fog. We know - this isn’t the usual way a blog on pension advice starts. But stick with us -  this scene explains why we started mynestegg.

It’s 6:59. In one minute’s time, Bob’s alarm is about to go off. Bob is 70. He worked all his life, and he worked really hard. Bob’s still working. Part time, admittedly. But not by choice.

In one minute’s time, 70-year-old Bob’s alarm is going to go off. He’s going to wash, shave, get dressed, gulp down a cup of tea and walk to the bus stop. His shift at the supermarket begins at 8:30, and there are shelves that need stacking, trolleys that need pushing.

Bob’s thoughts aren’t about retirement planning. He’s one of the millions of people who don’t think they’ll ever retire, because the state pension doesn’t cover the life he wants to live.

Retirement planning is the difference between the 7:49am bus and a 7:49pm flight

It didn’t need to be like this for Bob. He could be tucked up in bed. He could sleep in until 8:30, 9am. Potter around in the kitchen. Glance at his mynestegg app and look forward to 7:49pm, when the plane from the airport takes Bob for a well-deserved winter break in Gran Canaria.

All it would’ve taken to replace the 7:49am bus to the big Tesco with the 7:49pm flight to Las Palmas (complete with a glass of wine mid-flight, he’s on holiday after all) would’ve been the right nudge in the right direction at the right time.

If we could go back and meet Bob aged 40, or even 50, we’d answer his questions on retirement planning and nudge him towards the tools and calculators that show how much he could save for retirement if he starts right now.

What age can you start a pension?

It’s 2005. Bob is worried that he’s missed the boat for retirement planning. 

Is it too late, he wonders? What age can you start a pension?

If only mynestegg had been there, we’d have told him that Bob, you can start your pension at age 50. The best time to set up your pension is the day you start your first job, but in the real world very, very few of us think to do that.

The second best time to set up your pension is right now. It doesn’t matter if you’re 40, 50, 60 - if you’re earning money, the very best wisdom about pensions you’ll receive is this.

Start your private pension today.

Don’t leave it a year - that could take a year’s wages out of your retirement pot.

What age do you start paying into a pension?

What age do you start paying into a pension? Whatever age you are when you set it up.

When Bob was 25, the government’s pension auto enrollment scheme was non-existent. But if it did exist, he’d have been paying a small part of his monthly wage into a pension, backed by his employer.

And we’d still have told him the same thing.

Start your private pension today. 

Nobody told Bob that when he was 25, or 55, or even 65. That’s why on that cold Monday morning in January, with frost on the ground and fog in the air, it’s 7:00am and his alarm has just started ringing.

Here at mynestegg, we don’t think anybody should set a 7am alarm at age 70.

That’s why we make it easy to set up a pension. Easy to transfer any old workplace pensions in a pot you control. Easy to plan for your retirement, to set your goals, and to see how you’re progressing towards meeting those goals in real time.

If you don’t want to set a 7am alarm when you’re 70, we have one piece of advice for you.

You can probably guess what it is.

Start your private pension today. 

We’re always looking to make saving simpler. To learn more about how to set goals, save for the future, or choose the right pension or ISA, visit the mynestegg Knowledge Hub.