Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

How much do you have in your pension at late 30s?

131 replies

oneflewoverthe · 12/12/2023 17:25

I'm 39 and I just checked my pension. I have just under 19k in total. Pitiful! How does it compare to others of a similar age? I'm sure I will regret asking this question as most will be much higher. Tempted to get a lower paid public sector job just for the pension. Currently on 40k. I've upped additional payments of £300 per month and my work pays in the minimum amount required by the government.

OP posts:
WorkCleanRepeat · 12/12/2023 20:22

I'm 41 and in a similar position my pot is 30K. I'm also considering a move to the civil service for the pension!

belladonna22 · 12/12/2023 20:23

£170k at 37, but I've worked in the financial industry my whole career with good pay and good employer matching. I currently put in 6% of my salary per month and my employer puts in 11% or 12%.

The general guidance is the % you should put in is half your age when you start contributing, e.g. if you start saving into your pension at 30 you should be putting in 15% of your salary per month. This reflects the fact that the later you start, the more you have to put in in order to catch up.

I also encourage everyone who has a partner to find out what their partner's pension is. Too often when separating men offer to give their wives the family home in return for keeping their pension, and women tend to agree as they are emotionally attached to the home, when in reality the pension can be worth multiples of the home. This is one of the drivers of women retiring on much smaller pensions than men (aside from lower pay, career breaks, etc).

Lovelydovey · 12/12/2023 20:25

41

About 20k in a personal pension
Plus 10 years of a final salary pension
Plus 10 years of a career average pension

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General money Retirement & pensions
FantasticMax · 12/12/2023 20:26

40 with about £135k. I contribute about £750pcm now, so hopefully that will help to grow the pot over the next 10 years or so.

Purplerain0505 · 12/12/2023 20:32

I’m early 30s with £11k but it started ramping up in recent years when my salary shot up. I’m paying in only 3% (employer pays 2%) and I’ll be upping my contribution as soon as I’ve bought a house.

My husband has only about £2k in his and he’s older than me. So that’s a bit of a concern.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 12/12/2023 20:34

I'll be forever grateful to my dad for insisting over 30 years ago when I was at uni that the minute I started earning I should pay into the pension scheme and then I would never miss the money cos I'd never "had" it in the first place as spending money. He was right. I wish I'd have told him when he was dying that that had been the best piece of advice he'd ever given me.

EVERY parent should teach their child this.

Original poster
oneflewoverthe · 12/12/2023 20:38

CurlyhairedAssassin · 12/12/2023 20:34

I'll be forever grateful to my dad for insisting over 30 years ago when I was at uni that the minute I started earning I should pay into the pension scheme and then I would never miss the money cos I'd never "had" it in the first place as spending money. He was right. I wish I'd have told him when he was dying that that had been the best piece of advice he'd ever given me.

EVERY parent should teach their child this.

I agree and I will be teaching DS this.

OP posts:
CrabbiesGingerBeer · 12/12/2023 21:04

I had roughly £100,000 at that age thanks to good advice from my accountant father who also told me to start a private pension the minute I got a job.

I have since transferred to the public sector and currently have a pension of about £8,000 per year from that job with 20 years to go.

fixies · 12/12/2023 21:06

40 k at 40ish. Just got a public sector job so hopefully that will bump it up a bit.

cristokitty · 12/12/2023 21:09

I'm 34 and have around £5k in a private pension. I've moved jobs and have 3 years in the local government pension scheme which is defined benefit and will give me £2,000 per year at the moment. It is going up slowly but far quicker than the pension from my old employer.

I was living overseas for several years so didn't start until I was 28.

ExcitingTimes2023 · 12/12/2023 21:10

i have no idea. All I know is that I’m opted out of my pension for the second time as I can’t afford the contributions at the moment. Cost of living and all that 🤷‍♀️. Iv had to opt out on two occasions for maternity leave. Probably sweet FA in there to be honest x

muddlingthrou · 12/12/2023 21:10

£85k at nearly 36. I'm v.glad I've so far resisted dropping my pension payments even when things have been tight. It does add up, and compound interest is your friend. Like others on this thread, I'm going to encourage my DC to start early.

Citygirlrurallife · 12/12/2023 21:33

I’m 40 and due to being a freelance creative have never paid in. Now I’m finally regularly earning (ish) I will start but we were lucky/savvy enough that the first home we bought (small flat in London) we still own so basically that’s my pension. Currently worth £465K and will be mortgage free in 4 years at which point the rent will go straight into a pension pot (doesn’t even cover the mortgage now but appreciate how fortunate I am to have it)

DH is 42 and I think has around £300K thanks to a US tech industry job for 10years

Dacadactyl · 12/12/2023 21:40

Started paying in in my early 30s as I was a SAHM during my 20s. Now 38 and projected income (if I work til I'm 68) is just under 10k per annum during retirement. That's on a part time wage but will go FT in my early 40s so it should rise. I also intend to make additional payments into the scheme in order to bump it up.

Mintearo7 · 12/12/2023 21:50

Around 110k, aged 38. It’s funny as I’ve recently upped my pension to 35% of my wage for a few months to cover a recent shortfall during maternity leave. Have decided with DH to just leave it like that (was going to reduce contribution back to about 10% soon). We don’t miss the extra money arriving in my pay - we adjust a few things and spend less than we did. You really do live by your means!

Cheshiresun · 12/12/2023 22:00

£340k or thereabouts up until now. I've been in the scheme 22 years though and it's a public sector one.

ThreeRingCircus · 12/12/2023 22:01

I'm 36 and have just over £50k in my pension pot. I'm still working part time with young children and therefore my salary is not high but I've tried to pay as much as I can realistically afford into my pension. I put in 15% of my salary and my employer contributes an additional 5%. I'm aware it's not really enough but I plan on increasing my hours in a few years when DDs are older.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 14/12/2023 07:57

Cheshiresun · 12/12/2023 22:00

£340k or thereabouts up until now. I've been in the scheme 22 years though and it's a public sector one.

I've been in a similar length of time but I guess we must be in completely different salary bands. 😂£340k?!

5thCommandment · 14/12/2023 08:04

39 and just shy of 200k in the pension, mortgage free. 160k in ISAs. Earn 135k/yr, wife is a SAHM and does an amazing job, pushes me to keep going. I'm hoping to put in close to the 60k max each year.

Original poster
oneflewoverthe · 14/12/2023 08:29

5thCommandment · 14/12/2023 08:04

39 and just shy of 200k in the pension, mortgage free. 160k in ISAs. Earn 135k/yr, wife is a SAHM and does an amazing job, pushes me to keep going. I'm hoping to put in close to the 60k max each year.

I hope your wife has some kind of private pension provision too. You can put it even if she doesn't work.

OP posts:
StillWantingADog · 14/12/2023 08:36

A bit over £60k at 45. I have been paying something into it for over 20 years. Currently paying £400 a month into it. Overall the value is only a bit higher than what I have put in, which if you consider inflation makes it lower. I’m sure there are smarter ways of investing it.

Stickthatupyourdojo · 14/12/2023 08:42

I'm 37 and have approx 50k. My employer has recently started offering 13% if we pay in 8% (I currently do 5% to their 8%). I've just finished my second and final maternity leave so I think once we know what our mortgage will be when the fix is up in a couple of years plus nursery costs have reduced a bit I'll try and do the 8 to their 13%. Hopefully I won't have too much of my student loan left to pay then too which will help.

christmaspaws · 14/12/2023 09:06

Mintearo7 · 12/12/2023 21:50

Around 110k, aged 38. It’s funny as I’ve recently upped my pension to 35% of my wage for a few months to cover a recent shortfall during maternity leave. Have decided with DH to just leave it like that (was going to reduce contribution back to about 10% soon). We don’t miss the extra money arriving in my pay - we adjust a few things and spend less than we did. You really do live by your means!

Yes but it's easy to talk about living within your means when you earn enough to do that!
I live alone so everything is on me, on a take home of £1700
I couldn't afford to put 35% in a pension

Original poster
oneflewoverthe · 14/12/2023 09:09

@christmaspaws I think the poster meant she had 110k in her pension pot, that wasn't her salary. Unless I'm reading wrong.

OP posts:
Original poster
oneflewoverthe · 14/12/2023 09:10

@christmaspaws but I couldnt afford to put in 35% either.

OP posts: