To ask how much is in your pension pot and your contribution %

Early 30s
NHS pension, I have been paying in 13.5%, which will change to 12.5% from April.
I'll get a defined amount based on my salary across my years of work. If I stay on the same salary in the NHS until late 60s I'll get c. £55-60k per annum.

zero, I invested in property instead

The Local Government scheme is one of the best there is so you might got a nice surprise. I would get in touch and find out what you have there. They should be sending you annual statements.

I'm 45.
Earn £45k
About £150k in pension pot. I pay in 8% to get max employer contributions of 15%.
Been paying in for 18 years but increased over time.
Also have a previous final salary pension with 7 years in so think that's about £3k per year.

Plan to get a couple of promotions and hopefully think to retire around 55/60. Once the mortgage is paid off can wind down and maybe go part time as I'm already feeling knackered.

I was unusually anal about pensions in my 20s and early 30s before having 8 years off and working p/t on a very low income for a few years. When I changed jobs 12 years ago my public sector money was catching up with my public sector earnings so I transferred in three pots and bought ten years in the final salary scheme to add to the ten I'd worked again.

Fortunately this was just before the LGPS locked into salary average rather than final salary. It locked 20 years into the final salary scheme. Subsequently I have had some promotions. A few years ago, I breached my pensions allowance. That was expensive.

I hope to retire next year on about three quarters of a occupational pension. It will pay about half my annual salary. I'll be 65 and will have 35 years of full NI contributions for a full state pension.

The value would exceed £1m if I were in a defined contribution scheme.

It was achieved by a combination of luck and design.

DH was self employed for the majority of his career and will draw down from his pot into which there were no employers' contributions.

I've found this thread really useful and have learnt a lot. Thank you to all who've contributed.
I've 43 and it's only in the last couple of years I've given any thought to pensions. I definitely need to do more research and maybe increase my contributions when I get past nursery bills/current hideous mortgage rate.
I'm extremely fortunate to have a civil service pension with an employer contribution of 27.1% which I will hold on to for as long as I can. The salary is nothing compared to many of the posters on this thread but the pension keeps me there (and thankfully I love my job). I hope I've got that right. Just worked it out from my payslip and it seems to tally with civil service pension info online

Why do you say that? I work in pensions and everyone I deal with has a huge pot. Lots of people save heavily.

I have exactly £5,727.09 in mine. I’m 42 and been in the role 3.5 years. My salary is only £15k so didn’t think that was too bad. Every pay rise, I increase my % contribution.

Before this job, I have 12 years of a Local Government Pension scheme. No idea how much that’s going to give me.

I’m heavily relying on my husband’s pension to keep us going! 😬

I am embarrassed that I don’t know. I think it will be a decent amount. i cannot find where to access this info as it’s not on my ESR.

I am a hospital consultant and have worked full-time since I was 23 and am now early fifties. I was paying 13.5% at one point but that’s going down to 12.5%. I am in a better position than many. Just annoyed I will have to share it with my husband 😏

Nothing like the amounts on here. Auto enrolment didn't happen until I was older and got very little before then. Should clear the mortgage early next year and will then max out what I can to pensions.

OP I think how much you should have saved is completely dependent on your circumstances - debt/mortgage, inheritance, current and future lifestyle, how much you need in retirement and when you'll retire.

45. Pots currently add up to about £475k and I'm putting about 25% in with another 5% employer contribution. Also recently became mortgage free so hoping to ramp up contributions and aim for early retirement.

I started a job out of uni in 2000 and have worked ever since, all 3 employers have had employer contribution pensions of 10% - so the contributions have increased over that time in line with my salary - I need to check my first and current pots but my middle pot has £24k - I was with that employer for 5 years - my salary is now much higher and my current monthly contribution from my employer is £550 per month but I need to find out what my pot is at and I was at my first employer for 12 years and need to check out my pot with them. So I am hoping that it is around 80k across all 3 pots ' although u know I need to ramp it up a bit in future years to have a decent annual pension payment from that

Lots of people on these kinds of threads fib. Big time!

Couldn't have put it better myself @SallysLeftCheek-your first three lines are SO apt...

"There is no such thing as "retirement at age X".

Retirement is a financial status.

It's long been that way in the UK."

My financial situation will be of no benefit to your question OP, it's not conventional, and I'm self employed, however I like my job, so I've dropped my hours down and am drawing down 25% of my (less than £100k) pension pot. I have chosen to do this as after taking financial advice, as I've decided as I'm now on the wrong side of 50, and have lost more than 3 friends to cancer. I'm not prepared to take the gamble that I may be fit and healthy by state pension age, not that I could live on that in any event. I just want to enjoy life now, with my adult children, taking them places and having a bit extra for my hobby. I'll be happy to sit and watch telly in later years and I can downsize if I can't live on the state pension-well who can- but I don't need much to be happy.

Thank you @Express0 & @Britpop123
Yes, I was only being approximate...
DH transferred out of a pension few years back and I do remember that the amount was more than 20x annual projected pension + lump sum.
I really need to get more clued up - getting more advice (mainly around DH's pension as he is approaching 55) next month so I'll pay attention this time...

33 and have a two small pots worth currently around £15 together and then a defined benefit scheme which I think if I were to think in ‘pot terms’ is on around £70,000 or the equivalent of just shy of £4000 a year from retirement age.

Civil service - pay is rubbish when I consider what we do as I would get double my salary in private sector but the benefits are worth it in my opinion.

And often just as misleading!

Very true. Pension income that is indexed is very valuable.

Mid 50s and retirement planning is worth around £1M. Not just pensions though. Save at least £50k a year.

I'm a 33 year old GP partner so need to pay both the employer and the employee contribution to the nhs pension, which I believe works out at about 28% of my income in total. As it's a DB scheme I don't have a 'pot size' as such, but should have a £40k+/year (in today's money) pension by the time I reach state pension age if the scheme doesn't change in the meantime, although I will likely retire earlier with an actuarially reduced pension.

My husband (private sector/non-medic) is also 33 and pays 25% into his pension, with a current pot size of around £150k. He was a bit late starting due to many years of studying including a doctorate during which he didn't have access to a workplace pension, but it has paid off and resulted in him earning good money now so his pension is accruing quickly. Aiming for ~1mil pot (in today's money) by late 50s so that we can retire together at that stage.

I understand. As someone who works in the pensions industry I just like to point out the differences accurately to help people who might be comparing their private pension pot with a public sector defined benefit scheme and wondering why their employer isn’t putting 20+% into their pension.

As a rough rule of thumb take the defined benefit (the pension you’ll get per year) and multiply by 20. That’s the value of the pot of it were a defined contribution scheme.

so roughly, the teacher with a 30k a year pension would need a pot of 600k to get that in the private sector

public sector pensions are still huge and people don’t understand their value

Thank you

On my annual statement it says

Lifetime Allowance
Your total pension amount represents 20.44% of the current Lifetime Allowance at this statement date.

My projected pension x 20 + lump sum is £219,378
20.44% of £1,073,100 is £219,342

I wasn't suggesting it is accurate transfer out value - just what I used an an approx. guide to estimate a 'pot' for comparison. No intention of transferring out.

I was really just saying that £50K didn't look right for a teacher just off retirement as an estimated pot (assuming a reasonable length of service etc.) for comparison.

Haven't a clue. Probably won't make it to 70 so not worth worrying about 🤷🏻