To think I am fucked for retirement?

Hi OP - are you getting paper statements on a yearly basis? These should have more information about what’s been paid in over time.

Also can you log in to your pension provider on a computer? I find the app for mine doesn’t have much detail, but from my laptop I can find out more, like a projected income, and how long I’ve had the pension for.

It might be that's what you are looking per month, or lump sum payout before monthly income?

If it's the same as mine, because Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group I can see my pension pot in my list of accounts on Lloyds and Halifax bank but it's very basic. OP needs to go to her actual pension website. I find it quite handy as I'm retired now and the pension sits there and I can see the amount hopefully go up, though it has sometimes gone down.

Sorry - not quoting the right post, but I wanted this to be directly to @Realstudd

https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details

If you've always paid into a pension over the last 3 jobs, the pension you can see on your existing online banking system is likely only one of the pensions that you've contributed to.

You need to find the pension pots you've previously been paying into. Above is a link to the Pension Tracing Service, but you should look back at any paperwork or emails you might have had from your current and previous employers about who their pension scheme is managed by.

Pension companies are, I believe, supposed to write to you every year with information about your pot and projected income. It's possible, therefore, that they've also got the wrong address details for you.

This webpage - https://www.gov.uk/transferring-your-pension gives you a link to MoneyHelper which gives free, impartial information about transferring your pensions, as you do now have the ability to combine your pots with one provider.

The main MoneyHelper website (https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement) might help you understand it all a bit better.

Please do also sign up for a Government Gateway account to check the status of your State Pension pot also. https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

But that's not what you were originally saying. Your original comment was that you'd get the pre-2016 pension for contributions before 2016 and only the current, higher, level for contributions since then. At no point did you mention contracted out years.

Believe me, at close to state pension age I am totally on top of what I'm due to get, as is my financial advisor!

Being generous, I'll assume we're talking at cross purposes and not continue this discussion with you.

It could be that you have just looked at one of the three pension funds, possibly your current employer? You will have the paperwork somewhere re pensions from when you first started working at a company. Otherwise use the link someone has provided to search for the other two companies.

A pension will grow quicker if you put all three pension pots into the same one, your current employer will let you know if that is possible.

How much longer will you be paying off your mortgage? The bulk of my savings were accumulated once the mortgage was paid off and I was able to invest the same amount each month into various funds.

You keep saying "online banking".
Where exactly are you looking because it won't be your normal bank account, it must be a pension portal or statement?

You will be fine OP
check your entitlement to full state pension.
use the tracing service to find all your old pensions
Open a SIPP (self invested pensions plan) and transfer all old pensions into it.
You then have 26 years to plan and make payments to your SIPP and workplace pension to make sure you have a healthy retirement pot.
Aim to retire mortgage and debt free with a workplace pension, state pension and Sipp all paying out.

I think it probably is the projected pension but you need to check. This isn't nothing, you will state pension, your pension pot will grow. Remember when you retire you won't have a dependent child, you won't have a mortgage. My pension is way less than I earned and I've never felt so well off, my youngest graduated a few months before I retired, the mortgage had finished, I had no commuting costs. Try not to panic.

OP contact the 3 companies you have worked with and find out who their pension provider is, then call the pension company, they'll be able to track your pensions through your NI number. Once you have the details of all 3 pensions move them into one pension, see a financial advisor to determine which is the best scheme for you.

If there is just this £2400 on the online banking and no other figures, how is it described, it will likely be the pot, can you log into you actual pension website as there should be much more details on there, usually if there is a projection and a load of blah about how they get to that sum which I doubt would be on your bank account. You may have to contact the pension company for log in details.

@Realstudd contact the HR dept at each company, ask details of pension, subsequently amalgamate them into one. It's not stressful. It didn't take me long. You just need your NI number, dates you worked there and they will provide details of the pension provider. I did it a few years ago. Of course, you don't have to amalgamate but for ease it's simpler to have a singular workplace pension

You can't have 2.5k in your pension pot after 10 years of paying 8% on a 35k salary, I'm guessing that's your annual payment but you should have state pension on top of that and plenty of time to increase your earnings and up the pot 💐 don't panic, see a financial advisor xx

if you've moved jobs you'll almost certainly haev different pensions at the different jobs so three pots not one.
Ring them up and ask them to explain
however you're not in a bad posittion. Keep paying in, ideally pay in a bit more. But in returement if you've paid off your mortgge then living costs will be much lower than now. And if say you pay off your mortgage in less than 10 years then that will give you another 10 years at least to save up.

I agree with this too @Realstudd - My defined Benefit pension NEVER showed on a bank statement. I suspect you have a defined CONTRIBUTION pension. But really, you need to speak to your HR or similar to ask them. No-one on here can definitively give you the correct answers. Plus, your previous employers will need to have your current address for their pensions andif you have moved, they won't know when it times to claim your pension(s). You really need to get some advice/learn about your pensions right now so that you know what the score is when you come to retire.

I would probably do a lost pensions search, sort out any paperwork that you may have, have a good read of it all and then get some free advice from the Pension Advisory Service

You have to be very careful when considering what healthcare is available abroad.

I can't think this is right... Call your pension provider and get it all explained to you.

Yes, as I said it can vary from late 20s to over 40 years. It clearly says that if your NI record Started before 2016 you may have been contracted out and it means you usually have to pay in for more than 35 years. Not always but usually. It is bei g contracted out that makes it variable.It then says If your NI record Started After 2016 you will need 35 years.
I dont think it can be explained any more simply. What I said is correct. It is there in black and white. If you choose to interpret it differently fine but probably best that you don't give advice to an already confused OP.

Speak to a professional as soon as possible, this is too important to get wrong and you still have time to fix it.

There also retirement flats for over 60s I think

I'm not sure a defined benefit pension would show on online banking, mine just showed a pot value for defined contribution.

Another option is maybe move somewhere cheap/abroad?