Poker Pensions

[cia260895]

LOL this reminds me of when i was getting divorced,there was a lot of arguing about my pension as she wanted it and i didn't want her to have it obviously but I lost the argument,any way i sent her all the info and she eventually came back and offered it back to myself at a price (cant remember exactly how much)

I remember saying i thought it totally wrong that i should have to buy back what was originally mine and told her i wasn't interested.

It turned out that the pension we were arguing about was my state pension which i opted out of serps and put it into a Private pension plan and she couldn't actually have it.....

[phatomch]

.

[doubleup]

There will be no fee's and ill split any commission I make with the blondes in question.

That ain't free m8


ps I'm a compliance officer - we like to say we help the business, but we really just like being c*nts

why aint it free ?

look at an illustration - when it says cost of advice = zero its free

[phatomch]

.

[doubleup]

I give up on this site sometimes, you offer to do favours for people for free, no charges and offer to split my commission and just get grief.  wdib

like I said I'm a compliance officer - we're all b4astards, don't take it personally

[cia260895]

go to skill school and re train as a plumber they always need plumbing advice...

[redsimon]

LOL this reminds me of when i was getting divorced,there was a lot of arguing about my pension as she wanted it and i didn't want her to have it obviously but I lost the argument,any way i sent her all the info and she eventually came back and offered it back to myself at a price (cant remember exactly how much)

I remember saying i thought it totally wrong that i should have to buy back what was originally mine and told her i wasn't interested.

It turned out that the pension we were arguing about was my state pension which i opted out of serps and put it into a Private pension plan and she couldn't actually have it.....

Opting out of SERPS (State Earnings Related pension) only opts out of SERPS  or as its known now S2P, you are still in the State Pension.

Tbh I think any poker players who have "retired" and have a bit of gamble are probably wasting money paying NICs or taking out a stakeholder. If you have no pension income when you hit 65+ then if Pension Credit (PC) still exists you will get this, which is MORE than the State Pension and is not based on any contributions.

Of course PC could be abolished in the next X years before you retire

[byronkincaid]

state pension is a ponzi scheme of course and with the amount of money Crash Gordon is borrowing atm it will no doubt collapse 2 days before my retirement

[Bongo]

state pension is a ponzi scheme of course and with the amount of money Crash Gordon is borrowing atm it will no doubt collapse 2 days before my retirement

I never knew you were 64! 

[Geo the Sarge]

LOL this reminds me of when i was getting divorced,there was a lot of arguing about my pension as she wanted it and i didn't want her to have it obviously but I lost the argument,any way i sent her all the info and she eventually came back and offered it back to myself at a price (cant remember exactly how much)

I remember saying i thought it totally wrong that i should have to buy back what was originally mine and told her i wasn't interested.

It turned out that the pension we were arguing about was my state pension which i opted out of serps and put it into a Private pension plan and she couldn't actually have it.....

Opting out of SERPS (State Earnings Related pension) only opts out of SERPS  or as its known now S2P, you are still in the State Pension.

Tbh I think any poker players who have "retired" and have a bit of gamble are probably wasting money paying NICs or taking out a stakeholder. If you have no pension income when you hit 65+ then if Pension Credit (PC) still exists you will get this, which is MORE than the State Pension and is not based on any contributions.

Of course PC could be abolished in the next X years before you retire

Pension credit may well be more than state pension, however to advise people not to invest in a personal pension of some sort is reckless imo.

With the right advice and correct product and investment a personal pension is a must these days.

Agree that there are some shitty ones out there but stick to the main providers and get a decent advisor and you'll benefit greatly.

And I agree with doubleup, there are NO charge - free pensions out there.

Unfortunately I have the compliance c***ts to deal with on a daily basis 

Geo

[Div]

The advantage of a pension for us in 'normal' jobs it that we get tax relief on our contributions.

The disadvantage is we then get taxed on the income we take from the pension when we retire.

UK pro poker players don't pay tax, so there's no relief to be gained. With that in mind, from a purely financial point of view, I'd suggest an ISA as a more appropriate investment. You can invest in a wide range of asset classes, and all growth and income is tax free. So you'd pay no tax ever - assuming the govt doesn't change the rules.

However there is something else to be considered. Do you have the financial discipline to leave that money be, regardless of your ongoing poker results, or is there a danger you will cash out the lot and go play $500/$1000 NL after a burst of tilt?

In that respect pensions are a really good choice for tilty players who have been on a good run. The money is locked away for a long time and cannot be unlocked in one big lump sum - regardless of what daytime ads tell you! (Unless you die, at which point the risk of you blowing the dough can be assumed to be minimal)

Another thing to consider is do you plan on taking out a mortgage at any point? I've always thought for well bankrolled players an offset mortgage would be a good idea. Keeping your bankroll in an offset account means it's easy to reach but at the same time it's saving you interest on your mortgage.

Disclaimer: I'm not a qualified financial advisor.

Edit: This is the bit from the HMRC about their top-up (which they call relief). It's currently £720. Not convinced that makes it worthwhile but there's probably an argument for considering putting your 1st £2,880 into a stakeholder scheme.

Even if you are not a taxpayer you can still get tax relief on pension contributions. You can put in up to £2,880 in any one tax year and the government will top this up with another £720 - giving you total pension savings with tax relief of £3,600 per year.

[byronkincaid]

nice post Div, you have covered a lot of what I have been thinking about. Mike Sexton said that if a poker player has a credit card then he has a bankroll, let alone a bunch of ISAs.

would still love to know what some older pro's are doing, burying head in sand? I suppose I have up til now.

also on the ISA thing there's so much contradictory stuff, for example I read this and thought yay, I'll fill up a UK tracker ISA and the year after a US one then maybe something sexier like China or India, this stuff is LOL easy

http://homepage.mac.com/j.norstad/finance/total.html

then read this and think I need to find a good fund manager

http://hedgefund.blogspot.com/2007/06/john-bogle-and-index-funds.html

then think Fk it do some research, do it all myself in a SIPP mmm derivatives are ultra sexy

http://www.zealllc.com/2001/monster.htm

but whatever I do I seem to need to be winning about £300K a year to be able to afford a can of baked beans when I'm 80

[Splash]

lol i blogged something on this in 2006 and managed to depress the fk out of every poker player who read it...

http://wonkyjim.blogspot.com/2006/04/do-you-really-want-to-be-playing-full.html

[AlexMartin]

I was planning on having a mattress full of fifties. bad idea?

[Ironside]

I was planning on having a mattress full of fifties. bad idea?

bit hard and cold sleeping on all that metal