Pension panic

[Revelwithacause]

I looked at my pension pot from my employer and it projects that at 66 if I retire on the same salary as I am on now (I’m 40) I will get £15000 per year plus a £35000 lump sum.

This has panicked me a little. Is this terrible? Will I get a state pension on top of this? Kicking myself for burying my head in the sand about this up til now.

Yes, you should get State Pension in addition. Not sure what age you’ll be eligible for that though.

It’s not too bad. With state pension it will be about 25k a year. If your mortgage will be paid off it’s probably enough to live on, depending on how many holidays etc you want.

You can log in online and check your NI contributions to ensure you'll have enough years that you've paid enough NI to qualify for the state pension. No idea what age we'll be eligible for it (I'm late 30s so a similar age to you.) But it's something.

The main things I'm trying to do is make sure my mortgage will be paid off before retirement so I don't have that worry and put whatever extra I can into my pension. You can only do what you can do but the earlier you start planning and saving the better.

Sounds ok.

You will also (as a pensioner) get; free prescriptions, 'Winter Fuel Allowance (I got £500 this winter), and a 'bus pass' - which, depending on which part of the UK you live in - can also include free local train/tube/tram travel.

You have 25 years plus until retirement so get saving now. You want time on your side so don’t delay.

Be glad you have taken stock now while you still have lots of time to improve your situation.

Ok I’m less panicked now. £25k a year is fine plus mortgage free. I do have around £30k in savings that I try not to eat into except for real emergencies. There of course is the possibility that my wage will rise and DH is on a bit more than me with better scope to rise in his career