{"id":65636,"date":"2025-05-01T12:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/65636\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T12:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:19:09","slug":"we-stopped-saving-into-our-pension-in-our-20s-and-have-no-regrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/65636\/","title":{"rendered":"We stopped saving into our pension in our 20s and have no regrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\tFor some, saving for retirement is not a priority – two people explain why their financial focuses are elsewhere\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

While millions worry about their financial future, some are taking a radically different approach \u2013 by not saving for their retirement<\/a> at all.<\/p>\n

For Melissa Howard-Clark and Charley Brennand, who are both in their 30s, the idea of a pension feels outdated.<\/p>\n

They are not alone as almost one in five British adults have no pension savings<\/a> at all and will have to rely on the state pension, recent research by wealth manager St James\u2019s Place found.<\/p>\n

Currently, the state pension is worth \u00a311,976 a year \u2013 or \u00a3230.25 a week \u2013 but a single person needs an income of \u00a331,300 each year for a \u201cmoderate\u201d standard of living in retirement, according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (Plsa).<\/p>\n

This includes a weekly shop costing about \u00a355; a two-week, three-star all-inclusive holiday in the Mediterranean; and \u00a330 for each birthday and Christmas present.<\/p>\n

But Melissa and Charley say they have no regrets. Here, the pair explain why they have stopped saving into a pension and why they would not look back.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve looked at property as a longer term asset\u2019\"\"Melissa Howard-Clark currently does not pay into a pension<\/p>\n

Melissa previously contributed to a pension, but she has not added to that pot in the eight years she has been self-employed.<\/p>\n

She does not not know how much is saved in her existing retirement fund.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old, from the Wirral, said she does not like the idea of locking money away for decades when she does not know what the return will be or \u201cif the rules will even be the same by the time I get there\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The i Paper, she said: \u201cI\u2019d rather invest in things I understand and can steer, like my business, which has grown steadily and given me more flexibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also started looking at property<\/a> as a longer-term asset, as well as dipping into stocks in a small way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe traditional approach does not offer enough value to outweigh the lack of access or adaptability.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is not actively saving for retirement at the moment, and she said she cannot see that changing any time soon.<\/p>\n

Melissa runs a creative content studio and consultancy, called Capturing Curves, which is her priority at the moment.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cTo be honest, I had not really thought much about how I feel about retirement until this interview, but revisiting it now, I would say I feel positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am building something that has long-term value and the potential to generate income or be sold in future [her business].<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not picture a \u2018hard stop\u2019 to work anyway, I see it as evolving into something slower, more flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, it was the financial pressure<\/a> that came from launching your own business which encouraged her to step away from pension saving. But now she said it is a conscious decision she is making and sticking with.<\/p>\n

She explained: \u201cI went from being employed to self-employed and then into running a business.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then I was 28, and I\u2019d already been paying into a pension since I was 17, so I thought a pause would not hurt too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut over time, and after a series of informal chats with other business owners and people in different industries, it became more of an intentional decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always lived by the idea that life is for living now. I\u2019ve got a young family, and I would rather put money into making memories, travel and experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also have an autoimmune condition, so part of me wonders how much I will realistically be able to enjoy retirement when I get there, which could easily be past 70 with the way things are going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melissa said she \u201cdoes not do regrets\u201d, just lessons, and if this turns out to be one, she will \u201clearn the hard way\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018I want to enjoy the now \u2013 it\u2019s a future me problem\u2019\"\"Charley Brennand says she has savings but is reluctant to invest them<\/p>\n

Similarly, Charley, 34, does not pay into a pension any more.<\/p>\n

She said she has had a few jobs in her twenties and accumulated a few small pension pots, which caused a lot of stress because she did not know what to do with them \u2013 whether to consolidate them or not as she believed it could be a lot of admin.<\/p>\n

She is also unsure how much she has in the pots combined. <\/p>\n

So, she decided to do nothing with them, saying: \u201cI switched jobs a lot, so I have a few pensions with minimal amounts in them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is very little financial education about the benefits or necessity of pensions and when the standard of life is declining so rapidly for many 20 to 30-something aged professionals. We are focused on paying our bills and keeping out of debt and maybe buying a house, not saving for a pension that seems so in the distant future.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a \u201cfuture me problem\u201d, she said. But when faced with the challenge of today versus the challenge in 30 to 40 years, Charley, who is a self-employed marketer from Salford, said she would choose to tackle the challenge of today.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI have savings, but again, I\u2019m reluctant to invest them for several reasons, namely the lack of education of how to do so, lack of confidence in investing, lack of people to speak to about it and the changing rules on what gets taxed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a self-employed person, she feels there is not enough advice out there on how to create a pension if you are not in regular employment.<\/p>\n

This is one of the main barriers for her, she said, adding: \u201cMy accountant briefly mentioned a stocks and shares ISA, but I did not feel like I could get any reliable info anywhere to help me feel comfortable making this decision, so I just avoided it altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charley does not think this is something she will change her mind about but said she is keen to move into financial investment to build up some sort of a nest egg.<\/p>\n

For those looking to save into a pension but are unsure where to start, a financial adviser can help. There are also many online services that can help, including Pension Wise and Citizens Advice. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For some, saving for retirement is not a priority – two people explain why their financial focuses are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,474,617,2499,2250,3028,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-65636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-pensions","11":"tag-personal-finance","12":"tag-retirement","13":"tag-savings","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}