So close to SHTF

[korolev]

Whilst I agree Money is important, I have to say ensuring your pension is stocked up is probably the worst thing you can do with your money RE: a SHTF situation, Private pensions are not great investments at the best of times and are mostly inaccessible except for very limited circumstances and even then you'll only get it trickled back.

In fact I would go as far as to say most Private Pension plans are a Con

What if, by some mracle the faeces doesn't interact with tbe whirly thing and you live to a ripe old age with minimal pension. You could be skinf for a long time.

I've been planning mine and wifeys pensions for a few months, with a view to retiring at the ripe old age of 57 or 58 (so around 2020). The company is trying to close the final salary scheme but I've a lot already in it so should be ok.
As far as pension planning goes you have to consider what revenue streams will come online and when; Between us we have at least 5 key dates when pensions will start (and stop in the case of a drawdown of one pot).
For me, finance is a boring as f..k, but it's far more important prepping than buying tinned potatoes.

[Deeps]

I've been planning mine and wifeys pensions for a few months, with a view to retiring at the ripe old age of 57 or 58 (so around 2020). The company is trying to close the final salary scheme but I've a lot already in it so should be ok.
As far as pension planning goes you have to consider what revenue streams will come online and when; Between us we have at least 5 key dates when pensions will start (and stop in the case of a drawdown of one pot).
For me, finance is a boring as f..k, but it's far more important prepping than buying tinned potatoes.

Totally agree, quite a few of us use the logic of 'its a form of insurance' to justify prepping, this is exactly the same. If you can't work then you need to make provision and having the wherewithal to keep a roof over your head and food in the belly at the best of times is basic prepping as far as I'm concerned.

Hope it all goes to plan with the financials mate.

[Bad Wombat]

Whilst I agree Money is important, I have to say ensuring your pension is stocked up is probably the worst thing you can do with your money RE: a SHTF situation, Private pensions are not great investments at the best of times and are mostly inaccessible except for very limited circumstances and even then you'll only get it trickled back.

In fact I would go as far as to say most Private Pension plans are a Con

Most pensions - yes. Try a SIPP based on one of the ultra low cost tracker funds. A shares based ISA will do a similar job though, as long as you don't go bankrupt. Pensions are protected, ISAs are not.

[Arzosah]

I think the conclusion to be drawn here is preparation in depth , not concentrating on just one thing. Food stocks are great but far less so if you're forced out of you home because you can't pay the bills , money is great too but if the shop shelves are empty , all that dried food is great but if the water is cut off or contaminated...
Well you get the picture.

Grenfell's post from the first page exactly sums up all the points being made, and sums up how I think about stuff too.

Nobody can survive on water alone - we need shelter, food, first aid, medical and dental capabilities, nearly all of us need other people to interact with and so that we can help one another. ... balancing the preps is so important. Bit of bottled water, a few tins, some plasters and bandages, then a few more bottles, a few more tins, then some pain relief, then a water butt, some dried beans, and some disinfectant ... all of it gradually builsd up, and makes your whole situation more resilient. See, I worked in the buzz word

[jansman]

Resilience.Good call there Arzosah! I get the impression that the regular contributors here are not doomsday preppers. I know that Mrs.J and I are not.It's about layers isn't it?

I recently moved jobs.The pay structure in the old one was static.Everything going up in price,wages not,and some *really*hefty expenses at the start of the year.Something had to change,as we were burning through savings and there was nothing to replace them.We regard our savings as 'emergency resources ',so it was alarming to us.

For the first time ever,I am on monthly pay.So chuck in that along with a tax issue that saw me get nailed for 40% at the end of the old gig,then we knew it was, " here we go again. " However,a month up the line,we got by on our extensively stocked pantry and ram- packed freezers,and spending only what was necessary,as I was using double the petrol at least.

With the help of rounded preps,we sorted it.Don't get me wrong,it was not SHTF,but there were a few heavy ripples on the pond.It could have been illness or injury ( a far,far worse situation),and in the times we live in now,there is zero help from Social Security,or what there is can be seriously delayed.That's a 'real world' reason to prep,and have domestic resilience.Time to start building up the resources now,ready for the next sh#t storm!

[Plymtom]

I get the impression that the regular contributors here are not doomsday preppers. I know that Mrs.J and I are not.It's about layers isn't it?

Absolutely, prepping for us is a way of avoiding stress in hard times and getting through them ( when you are a carer for more than one disabled family member you can rest assured the shit has already hit the fan and that elements of their lives simply wont improve) living life as best we can, keeping well stocked is the man part of it, I can't lose my job without losing my partner and some of the kids too, it's the worst form of job security on the planet, so whilst doomsday scenario's always make good talking points, much of the things one would do like home security, back ups for cooking etc, have a practical in our pre and hopefully not in our lifetimes apocalyptic world

I mean peace breaking out in Korea and Trumpy being able to take some of the credit, who would have think it? Mankind has to go to the edge of the cliff, peer over, then think &^^$ that! Which is in many ways where I hope we are on the brink of, as is apposed to jumping off it, not that prepping will be any less relevant, everyone should prepare to a degree, too many depend on others to get through, and I don't mean the state after all I'm on benefits myself ( also a for of insurance for those who happen to fall on hard times (( or in our case an entire family struck by a genetic illness they knew nothing about till it was way too late indeed disabled for 17 years of 25 before a firm diagnosis and real name be put to the underlying cause)), I mean friends, family, and neighbors, the sort of person to whom to our cost we find that life and help is far from a two way street, it is they who drive us inward, not the risks of an incoming doomsday

[Seminole]

Whilst I agree Money is important, I have to say ensuring your pension is stocked up is probably the worst thing you can do with your money RE: a SHTF situation, Private pensions are not great investments at the best of times and are mostly inaccessible except for very limited circumstances and even then you'll only get it trickled back.

In fact I would go as far as to say most Private Pension plans are a Con

What if, by some mracle the faeces doesn't interact with tbe whirly thing and you live to a ripe old age with minimal pension. You could be skinf for a long time.

Yes, but that is not the situation being discussed, is it?

[Deeps]

Whilst I agree Money is important, I have to say ensuring your pension is stocked up is probably the worst thing you can do with your money RE: a SHTF situation, Private pensions are not great investments at the best of times and are mostly inaccessible except for very limited circumstances and even then you'll only get it trickled back.

In fact I would go as far as to say most Private Pension plans are a Con

What if, by some mracle the faeces doesn't interact with tbe whirly thing and you live to a ripe old age with minimal pension. You could be skinf for a long time.

Yes, but that is not the situation being discussed, is it?

You maybe have a more narrow definition of SHTF than I do, not having a pot to piss in for my final X amount of years would be pretty shitty I reckon.

[Seminole]

Definately on different wavelengths

[jansman]

If you read back to the second post in the thread, you will see that money is definitely on everyone’s wavelength. Until there is a different way, money is how we do it, and how we all get by.