Key Features
AVOID BEING OLD AND POOR
Forget (for a moment) the investment growth and the guaranteed minimum returns – just by having a pension plan, and regularly adding money to it each month instead of spending it, Future You will have a LOT more money! It’s often said that the only two certainties in life are ‘death and taxes’; just remember that death is usually preceded by old age, and taxes are usually preceded by some sort of income or wealth. Us nomads are less likely than the non-nomads to have a pension plan forced upon us by an employer, and for the younger ones among us, even state pensions are not looking as good (or as likely) as they were for our parents’ generation (although, a shout out to all the Greek pensioners who had their state pensions significantly reduced without their agreement, and also to the UK women who now have to work for five years more than they were originally promised before they get their state pension). Get a pension, get it in your own name (not a company or government’s name), grow it as much as you can, and enjoy a comfortable retirement, anywhere in the world. You will need money when you’re old. You will not want to work forever. You need a pension.
DESIGNED FOR NOMADS, AND FULLY GLOBALLY PORTABLE
Moving lots? No problem. Changing banks or credit cards often? No problem. Want to withdraw money in retirement to a bank account you’ve got on the other side of the world? No problem. Pay into your pension from any card in your name, and withdraw to any account in your name in future, anywhere in the world. Change your details online, whenever you like, and get on with enjoying yourself rather than dealing with the pointlessly complicated processes and procedures that you often face with non-nomad-focussed financial institutions.
LOW RISK, DECENT RETURN, AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
By default, all monies are invested into a low-cost S&P 500 tracker – the five-star-rated iShares S&P 500 UCITS ETF – a strategy recommended by Warren Buffett, the world’s most successful investor, which consistently delivers a long-term annualised return of around 10% per year. It’s ideal for pension investments, isn’t very volatile, and doesn’t need any management (or management fees). And because it’s got such a long track record of strong performance, banks and insurance companies are happy to provide that all-important capital guarantee and those guaranteed minimum returns in exchange for your regular monthly pension plan commitment. As Dory nearly said: “Just keep saving, just keep saving…”
GUARANTEED MINIMUM RETURNS
Ok so we kinda mentioned this above, but it’s a big deal so we’re giving it its own section. With this pension plan, you get guaranteed minimum returns, AND still get 100% of the upside of the S&P 500 index over the duration of the plan. Where else do you get that?! No, we couldn’t find it either. The guarantees increase with the duration you choose – so for the 10-year plan, you get the return of the S&P 500 index over those 10 years, or 100% of what you’ve paid in, whichever is higher. For the 15-year plan, you get the return of the S&P 500 index over 15 years, or 140% of what you’ve paid in, whichever is higher. And for the 20-year plan, it’s the return of the S&P index or 160% of what you’ve paid in, whichever is higher. Superb. It’s the best plan we could find, it’s the one we have for our own pensions, and it’s the one we think you should have also!
SOME FLEXIBILITY, IF YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED IT
Whilst we strongly, strongly suggest that you just pick a plan and stick with it, there is flexibility if you need it. If in future you need to stop paying in for whatever reason, or you need to make a withdrawal, you can – without losing what you’ve already invested, and whilst still receiving 100% of the return of the S&P 500 index. If you stop paying in, or make a withdrawal, you lose the guarantee of the minimum returns – but it’s still a good investment even without the guarantees (it’s just so much better with them). So don’t worry – the worst case scenario, if you need to stop paying in or need to take some money out, is that you still have a pension plan which is invested in a highly recommended, low cost, low risk index tracker. Just try and stick to the plan, and get the super-cool extra benefit of guaranteed minimum returns – and make Future You more wealthy!
GET POINTS, MILES, OR CASHBACK – FOR FREE
If you’ve got a credit/debit card that gets you airmiles, hotel points, or cashback etc – you can use it to pay into your pension and save up those points or miles so much quicker. Where else do you get paid for transferring money from yourself to yourself?! There are no credit or debit card charges, you can change the card you use at any time, and you can make sure you stay on-track for your retirement (and the guaranteed minimum returns) even if you need to occasionally use a credit card to delay the actual payment of it until next month or later. Prioritise your pension plan, and get as many points, miles, and cashback as you can whilst you save!
AVOID BEING OLD AND POOR
Just in case you’ve been distracted by thinking of credit card rewards – remember the main point. Avoid being old and poor. Future You will thank you for it…