Would You Raid Your Pension?
November 19th, 2008 No Comments » | POSTED BY ROB
A report released yesterday suggested that many of us would contribute more to our pensions if we knew we could dip into the fund at a later date if necessary.
It’s an tricky conundrum for the Government – on the one hand, it needs to get more people saving for their retirement so that it doesn’t have to provide for them, but on the other hand, allowing us to dip into our pensions could mean that our pension pots are worth less at retirement.
I’m all for getting people to contribute more for their future, and I think it would be good to give some access to funds, with certain rules attached, such as only allowing a maximum proportion of the overall fund to be withdrawn and possibly limiting the number of withdrawals you can make. This is something that’s done in other countries, so I’d be interested in hearing how it works abroad, and what rules are attached to withdrawing funds (leave your thoughts in the comments below).
For those of us in the UK, let me know what you think of the idea. Do you think it’s a sensible move? Would you consider raiding your pension to help yourself out in tough times, knowing that it could mean less money for your retirement?
On a related note, I also recently reported about the cost of suspending your pension contributions. With many people struggling with their money, saving for retirement which may be 20 or 30 years away can be difficult to justify, but decisions made now can have a large effect on your future.
