Why the self-employed need a pension plan | MoneyTalk

Ed: The way we work is changing. More of us want to forget the 9 to 5, the daily commute and office politics. In the UK now, one in seven of us have decided to become our own boss, whether that’s self-employed, freelancer, consultant or contractor. More and more of us are working for ourselves.

Worklife is one of many new pop up work spaces for the self-employed.

David: We opened our first space in Camden in August 2015 and really the big driver behind it was we saw the world of work was changing. So what we had was record numbers of small businesses growing, growing numbers year on year of freelancers and what we saw was an attitudinal change in the world of work. So more and more freelancers entering the market as well as bigger businesses now engaging more with project teams and looking for flexible solutions for their staff or remote workers.

I think this change to work is not just for the young generation, I think across the board, people with the skill set are realising I can leave work, become self-employed and have a real flexible working life.

Ed: This shift in working trends gives people like Claudia more flexibility.

Claudia: I get to really decide on my own schedule, on my own tasks. I get to focus on the things that I love. I don’t need to be micromanaged. I get to be a master of my own time. And those who are closest to me, they maybe see more of these flip sides as: so much administration, accounting, marketing, business development.

Ed: Services like Worklife can help the self-employed with many of the new challenges they face but they can’t do everything. A place like this can give you networking opportunities with likeminded people, superfast broadband and good coffee.

What it can’t give you is a readymade way to  save for your retirement. You’ll need to take care of that yourself and the  self-invested personal pension (also known as a SIPP) is one way of doing it. You won’t have an employer paying in for you but you can still boost what you pay in through  tax relief offered by the government, and that extra help can be vital in the task of saving enough during your career to give yourself a financially secure retirement.

Claudia: I think about it a lot now and I already take steps, baby steps perhaps, to do something about it. But, I suppose I would worry that is it going to be enough? Am I suddenly going to find myself at 60, 65, 70 and think it’s not enough, what am I going to do now?

Ed: Self-employment means being your own boss but it also means being your own marketer, your own business development manager, even your own social media guru. And with all those short term concerns, it can be easy to take your eye of the long term and what happens when one day you stop working.

If you want to enjoy the same freedom in retirement as you’ve enjoyed in your working life, you’re going to need a pension.