AIbu to wonder how I’ll cope when I retire?

Consult a professional independent financial adviser.

£1500 x 12 x 20= 360,000 with compound interest of 3% that is 492000
492000 would give a lump sum of approx 122,000 tax free ( max 25% of pot) and 21,000 a year on top of state pensions.

firstly what will you need to live on as a pensioner you will be mortgage free by then, as you are both working you will both get full state pensions currently this is about £10,000 a year each so £20,000 for two ( this is below tax threshold)
firstly as self employed you already mentioned you have savings for tax that can't be touched -- it 's not really savigns its future bills. In your postion with no sick pay etc you really need a 6 month living expeeenses saved up as an emergency fund before you save for anything else
if you as suggested can put £2000 a month aside for savings i would suggest £500 in savings and £1500 in pensions 1500 a month for 20 years is 360,000 plus compound interest even assuming modest growth of just 3% this will be 492,000 in 20 years time and would give an income of approx 22,000 or 11000 each
so with this and state pension you would both have 21k before tax after tax it would be about £1600 a month or 19k per year so a total of 38K after tax plus any money from downsizing will be a savings pot for holidays cars and extras.
I think 2 people with no mortgage can live quite comfortably on 38k or £3200 a month

@Mamaraisedadoughut they need to be saving nearly 3 x that, more like £250-300 a week each, or £15k a year each.

That would get them a joint pension pot of £600k plus whatever it earns, so probably a joint private pension income of about £30k a year, assuming they retire when OP is 68. Not masses when you take into account inflation but a realistic thing to aim for at this point.

They may need to set the money from downsizing and inheritance aside for eg care, any family commitments etc, so I think better not to bank on those when saving is an option still!

Youve got 20 odd years before you retire, plenty of time to pull it back.

You and DH earn a decent amount of money.
£100 a week into pension each - 10400 a year over 20 years- £208000?

You'll downsize when you don't need the office. Youve estimated that at over £200k freed up.

You've got a £60k inheritance coming. Save half? 30k
208,000
200,000
30,000
£438,000 - not taking into account that you could invest it which could increase the value, or interest that it will attract, or what is already saved.

£100 a week should be absolutely doable on your current income. If not, see why it's not and address your outgoings to see what you can realistically pay but it's what DH and I pay in on less than you earn.

It might hurt now, but old age should be more comfortable, when realistically you shouldn't be worried about money.

It seems odd also you are part time becuase there isn't more work. Can you not grow your business? If not l, you could get a second job. Working part time when you don't have to is a luxury you cannot afford with no pension provision.

One of the issues you have is as self employed people you have missed out on employer contributions. Workplace pensions are good because your employer pays in as well.

Anything over £50k salary and you're paying 40% tax. If you pay that extra £10k in to your savings it's tax free! When you retire every £100k in the pot gives you approximately £4k a year for life. That's on top of the state pension. If you could put £10k away each a year it's only actually costing you 6k, do that until you retire and you'll be fine.

Move to a cheaper area of the UK after retirement?

Start now. You could whack in a few hundred a month maybe and it will grow hugely over next 20 years. Also - plan to sell your house, downsize and use left over equity to fund retirement.

I have a financial planner, rather than an advisor, and I think speaking to one of those would be helpful for you and your husband, OP.

As people have said, you seem to have spent your pension on your house.

When we looked at mortgage affordablility we factored in pension contributions.

If you can save £2k a month, anticipate working for another 10years at least and are sitting on a large asset in the form of your house, you will be more than fine and a lot better off than many.

I'd highly recommend you speak to a financial advisor to make the best investment with that £2k a month. It will make you feel a lot more reassured.

I agree with PP you have been coasting along with an additional 10 - 20% income that should have been spent on pensions and NI.

Do you even have enough NI contributions for state pension? That would be my priority.

Then get a second job to push yourself up to FT hours and siphon as much as you can into a pension.

1. You have a very significant income compared to mortgage costs, start saving. Aim for at least a couple thousand/month. Seek a few financial experts to guide you as to what to do with that money. Think longer term investments but not risky ones due to your ages.
2. When it's time to retire, maybe in 15 years, you may need to sell and invest the money left over from your sale that wasn't used to purchase a smaller property.
3. If you only work PT look at getting another job to make up the hours. Maybe something that is less demanding but still stable income.

Have you been paying the right National Insurance payments to even get state pension. ?

check it out on the .gov website and if you havnt even got that, then you both need weekend jobs to earn enough to catch up the back payments. Start this now as you can only go back a few years, I think only 6.
so you will only get 20 ish years contributions to state pension.

have you not had this advice from your accountant??

@theduchessofspork@Peasnbeans Indeed. I don't think this is a troll thread. Yes the OP is in a fortunate position in that with hard work and commitment she can still probably get to a good place for retirement, but if you don't know about or understand pensions, as she has explained she doesn't, why wouldn't you be asking the question?

And OP is 48 not 40. It takes most people all their working lives to get to a decent place for retirement, of course it's trickier if you start later.

@Sureaseggs44 Yes - exactly like every other pension...? Unless that was your point, sorry. The OP will be able to draw up to 25% tax free and then receive a monthly income for life, which is taxed like any other income; the less they draw in a tax free lump sum, the higher their monthly income will be, but that income is taxed, so ...it will all depend on her circumstances when she comes to retire.

It just means you're going to have a bit less spare cash over the next 20 years. Pension savings are tax free so start to stash away as much as you're able and maybe try and overpay your mortgage when you can.

An independent financial advisor might help you to consolidate your thoughts and what you do next.

Sadly not. My dad works in a high earning self employed profession and says so many he knows have big fancy cars etc and all the trappings of a wealthy life but no savings /pension savings (in some.cases.they even rent their homes).

It sounds like you have plenty of options

Save lots/downsize at some point/ start paying into a pension

So I am not really sure what the worry is. If you can earn that much from your job you surely have the skills to start reading up on pension planning

Another option many take is to move into public sector work (NHS/civil service/local govt) as these have very generous pension schemes. They work out particularly well financially if you are later in your career too.

I’d agree.

op, the way it works is people pay into their pension. They save what disposable income is available over and above this and all their bills and fun money

you effectively spent your pension on house, and I assume a lifestyle element.

the fact you’ve spent everything you have, and have no savings or pension,when close to 50, is a risky decision.

but it is fixable to an extent. You should have some savings behind you, and you need to pay into a pension. Costs are only going to get higher over the next 2 decades, so the money you will habe available will be worth less to you. Assuming you can start to contribute to a pension

In addition, with kids, it is really important to try to have some savings behind you. What happens if one of you gets ill? Or one of the kids and someone has to stop working. Or if one of your businesses fails or declines.

its a very precarious situation financially. Yes lots of people don’t have savings or a private pension, but generally that is due to low income for multiple reasons, not financial mismanagement.

They are too old for a LISA. Must be opened before age 40 and can only contribute until age 50.

Reported for.. spending too much money??

Well you have 20 years, which is quite a long time, so crack on with it while your health is good.

See some financial planners

Up your hours - if you can’t work more hours at your job get another one. Unless there’s something wrong with your health or you have extensive care responsibilities then you can work FT