Cheryl O’garro wants to see better pension inclusion for gig and temporary workers like herself
In our Pension Diaries series, we speak to people of all ages in the UK to find out how much or how little they have saved for retirement and the realities of putting money aside for your future.
Today, we speak to Cheryl O’garro, who is a gig worker taking on temporary roles such as brand ambassador, front of house and hosting.
Cheryl, 35, who lives in north London, is keen to see the gig economy supported properly. She has recently consolidated several small pension pots and wants to see auto-enrolment pensions for those with irregular income so they can save for their retirement.
What is your occupation and how did you end up doing it
I currently work as a brand ambassador, am signed up with three different agencies and do everything from sampling to conference support, hosting at events and handing out freebies.
My transition into temporary gig working wasn’t a planned thing. I used to be a recruiter for the National Gallery. It was full-time work and I was being paid a good salary and pension. It was a fixed-term contract and when it ended, I tried to get another recruitment role in the arts. But it is so competitive and there are not many of those roles around. I have done so many interviews, but always just missed out.
It got to the point where I had exhausted almost every place in London.
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I did my first degree in English literature at the age of 19 and finished at 22. After I graduated, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I thought about going into publishing but realised I enjoyed reading books more than I liked putting them together.
The problem with arts and humanities is that despite the fact you have all these skillsets in communication and presenting, there is not a straight career path. So I did a bit of this and that and worked in events, retail, hospitality and did some internships.
In 2016, I did a Masters in cultural policy management, which included modules on finance, marketing and research. I graduated and knew I could put myself on the business side of arts as I could now read a financial report, set up a company and understand marketing processes.
Although I started my own business as a freelance consultant, it doesn’t replace full-time work. It is the sort of thing you do as a side hustle alongside full-time work until you have enough clients.
Cheryl felt frustrated at not having a hard skillset so did a Masters to learn the business side of arts
I have essentially gone back career-wise into the kind of work I was doing before. For about 18 months, I worked in HR at the South Bank Centre and then went to do recruitment at the National Gallery. However, that contract ended in March 2023.
After struggling to find another similar role, I had to ask myself whether I wanted to become a recruiter in a different industry or stay in the arts in a different function and I decided I wanted to stay in the arts.
As a gig worker, I am now working with names like Google, American Express, Sky and FeverTree.
But I am back at square one trying to figure out whether I abandon the arts altogether or do it as a side hustle.
How many pension pots do you have and what is your estimated combined total?
I had my first job when I was about 18 and many of them had a small amount taken out as a pension payment, but I did not really think about it or understand it.
It was only when I was doing HR at the South Bank Centre in my early 30s that I started thinking about pensions.
I had all these different little pensions all over the place and had no idea how much I had. I had all these different letters with different numbers on and it was a huge mess.
Then I saw adverts for PensionBee, which helps people combine their pensions and I realised it was a solution to my life admin problem.
I followed their process and started finding and transferring all the little pensions I had into one pot with them.
I now just have one pension pot with PensionBee and it contains £9,342.
Cheryl has combined all her pensions into one pot
What is your biggest barrier to saving for a pension?
My main issue is that I get paid a set amount per day or per job as a gig worker – but there is no auto-enrolment into a pension.
I am registered with three different agencies to make sure I get enough work and the agencies get paid the money and they then pay me. I get holiday pay and they take off the national insurance and taxes, but there is no pension contribution.
I am not contributing anything into the pot at the moment as I would have to physically put money in the pot myself and I cannot afford to.
On paper, people hear I’m working at places like Google HQ and think that is amazing and exciting. It is if you are doing it at the weekends on top of having a career. But the reality is, I live in London which is really expensive and knowing I am not getting employer pension contributions means my future setting is not there.
What is your biggest pension regret?
It’s that I didn’t get the financial education I needed at school and did not understand pensions. When I was thinking about a career, I was focused on getting a good job with a good salary so I could live a nice lifestyle. I knew about the state pension, but did not realise workplace pensions were a thing and that employers will pay in money for you.
If I had known more, I would have taken a job with a good pension, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to do, for a few years to build up some pension money. You can change careers at any time, but once years have passed and you haven’t got a pension, you lose out on compound interest.
What would be your ideal retirement age?
I’d love to retire as soon as financially possible, but I know that is not going to be anytime soon. Realistically, I don’t want to wait until my 60s to retire and I’d ideally love to retire at around 55 so I can enjoy holidays and be a lady who lunches and at least be semi-retired by that point.
But my immediate concern is sorting out my career so I can get back on the ladder in a more stable way. I will feel more comfortable when I have around £50,000 or £60,000 in my pension pot because I know that will then be able to grow due to compounding interest. However, at the moment, I have a long way to go.
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