To think I am fucked for retirement?

The information is freely available. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/understanding-and-qualifying-new-state-pension

Well I'm going to have to sack my pension adviser and the gov.uk website then!

How long have you been at the most recent employer? would that explain the £2400 plan value - if not as other PP state it could be the overall annual amount.

If you have paid into a pension over the last 8 years and worked at 3 places they could all have 3 separate providers and will set them all up individually. for example, 1 is Aviva, 1 is Peoples Pension, 1 is St James

You can find these out through you old employer records and if you wanted to you can put them all together so you have it all in one place.

Also I know others have mentioned it but its not going to just be £200 p/m when you retire - you are continuing to work and pay in, you will also get (in todays money) £800 p/m from the government. If you added up your bills and removed the mortgage what do your bills come to? this is the amount you are aiming for as a minimum to live off. once you have sourced your other pensions and can work out what you have now, what you are paying in you might be more comfortable. If not, once your mortgage is done you can up the savings.

Hi OP. Podcasts are good places to start. Women & Money Cafe. Claer Barret Money Clinic. Making Money podcast, especially an episode from around July 2023 with Lisa Conway Hughes on sorting out your pension and retiring well.

Some steps they all recommend:

• your workplace pension is free of tax going in - your contributions get taken from your gross salary before tax is charged, so they're an effective tax break. So maximise this. If your employer will match your contributions, take advantage of this if you can afford to pay in more.
• Get your pensions in one place.
• If you have your rainy day/emergency fund together, and you haven't any expensive debts, you should start investing. You can put a small amount of money each month into a stocks and shares ISA - use a tracker fund, like Vanguard, or Wealthify, where the fees are very low and you aren't paying a fund manager to try and outwit the global financial markets. Vanguard do target date funds - say you want to retire in 2045, you can put your money into that fund, and they will automatically shift the ratio of holdings from higher risk equities into lower risk bonds as the fund maturity date approaches. This sounds like gobbledegook right now, but it gets clearer, honestly! All the growth in ISAs is tax free, so you won't pay any tax on income you eventually take from the ISA funds.
• Don't forget your state pension - a full 35 years contributions generates an assured income, currently, of over £200 per week, and this is still under the triple lock, so inflation-proofed. You can check your national insurance record online (HMRC - get yourself an account via Gov.uk) and pay voluntary contributions to catch up on part or unpaid years (up to a point).

Rebel Finance School do good YouTube content, if you like info that way. Ramit Sethi's book I Will Teach You to Be Rich sounds like a GRQ scheme, but isn't, it's just lots of sensible advice, and you can get it from the library.

Take it bit by bit, and follow the steps they set out. You don't mention any debts, you have an emergency fund for disasters, you are close to paying off your mortgage and you have a good job with a pension which you can build upon. You are in a better place than you know! it's a good point to get more in control and start thinking about what you want from your retirement, and how to get that.

An NHS pension is so far beyond what 99.9% of private sector pensions offer, it's irrelevant.

A private pension can just as easily reduce by 500/yr as rise by that amount, regardless of the contributions made.

Sadly many people don't realise just how incredibly valuable (and expensive to the country) public sector pensions are.

No, you are incorrect. The 35 years only applies to anyone that started paying NI after 2016 which is when the New State Pension replaced the more complicated Old state pension system. Anyone paying in before the 2016 date will have had there entitlement calculated at that point and that calculation determines how many years tbey need to pay in.
Anyone that started to pay NI after this date will have a blanket 35 years needed.
There is plenty of information regarding this online.

Are you sure it isn't £24,000? At 8% you will have been putting in aound 2,500 to 2,800 year which would be around the 24,000 mark.

You would need to put a lot more than that to end up with a monthly pension of 2,400 so I don't think it is showing you your pension payments.

You would also get state pension though.

Could you have another pot from a previous job?

Im same age as you & in a similar financial place when it comes to pensions.
I got a pay rise & upped my pension payments to try & improve my hopes of not being broke when I retire. Unfortunately my bastard of an employer keeps deducting my pension money but it doesn't make it to nest. So check your pension company have all the payments you have made.
I'm currently trying to claim it all back with help from the pension ombudsman but there's some loophole in the law that lets employers get away with this & I could loose the money that was deducted but never paid after 12 months.
I'm also looking for a nice new employer that doesn't steal their staffs wages

Don’t take financial advice from random people on the internet - ask locally for recommendations for a financial adviser and get proper advice. There are reasons why financial advisers are regulated…

Don't feel stressed, I have £0.00 in my pension pot at 44 and not at all worried!

I don't believe this is correct. It depends upon when you become eligible for the state pension, not when you started to pay into it.

There is a really good personal finance course on this with Rebel Finance School. At 42 you have time but you are better off investing than overpaying your mortgage.

Do you work in the public sector or the private sector?

That's usually the first clue on defined benefit (where your employer takes the risk of the pot size and guarantees how much you get on retirement) and defined contribution (where you and your employer contribute an agreed amount each and your pot is then invested, so you take the risk on how much it grows).

You're only 42 you have heaps of time to improve things.

Have you considered working in the public sector for a period? It's worth investigating, you could really bump up your pension (it's particularly impactful towards the end of your career).

If you're 42 and the remaining £140K on your mortgage will be paid off in 6 years; then by 48 you'll have a massive amount of money freed up each month to save and invest, and still another 20 years of work in which to prepare for retirement. That seems an enviable financial position to me.

OP, there is time to understand this better and sort it. I don’t think you’re in a terrible place - your mortgage progress is brilliant. Re-frame, do some learning about pensions and get every scrap of info to understand your current pension and then make a plan for the future.

If you earn around £35,000 then 8% of this is £2800, so is it possible the £2400 is what you paid in this year to your pension?

It should then say somewhere what the "pot" is, and how much a month/year this would be if you retired at 67.

You'll be entitled to state benefit of around £900 a month, even without your private pension. If you don't have a mortgage to pay, surely you'll be able to cover any other bills with that amount? Or do what many people do and downsize, which should free up at least 100k in cash when you sell. Not sure why you're panicking about having to rent, but I admit I'm not particularly savvy about finances. I'm self employed and will be relying on the state pension lol.

Contact the pension provider and ask them. Find out how much you pay every month and ask for a breakdown. It can be 2400 after 9 years

Only skimmed the thread so apologies if this has already been said but I think it means you have a pension pot that would give you around 2.400 per year when you retire.

that would work is you’re paying 8% of 35k in and your employer is paying the same. Over 9 years than means your pot would be around 50k which gives about that per year

so no it’s not loads yet but it’s only 9 years so keep going and it’ll grow. Most have to pay 30-40 years in to get a decent pot.

Understanding Pensions is very difficult for many OP, so you are not alone. There are different kinds of pensions. The following is a link to the Gvt website which explains a bit here

So before you panic any more I would suggest you do the following

1. Speak to your current employer and ask them about your pension. What kind of pension is it, what benefits you get and how it is all worked out
2. Check with your previous employers about what kind of pensions you have with them and get as much information as you can

Someone should be able to explain to you what the £2,400 is exactly. You say it is on your online banking that you saw it, but that's confusing me - usually any pension provider sends you regular statements of where you are at?

You'll also have your state pension. Plenty of people live off that alone.

Deep breath, OP. You’re getting a lot of info, and you’re unlikely to need an advisor. My recommendation is to watch the Rebel Finance School videos. They’ve just completed their 2024 programme and the videos are on YouTube. They have loads of great resources and take you step by step through getting a handle on your finances and understanding your financial mindset.

The 35 years for full new state pension only applies to people that did not start paying NI until after 2016. Anyone paying NI before that time cannot rely on the 35 years. It can vary for them from high 20s to over 40 years.
The best thing to do OP is check your personal tax account online and you will get an accurate time frame for state pension contributions. Then trace your pensions and that will give you a much better idea of your position.