To not have a good pension pot in my 30s?

[cheesenpickles]

I've always lived pretty close to the knife financially and the mandatory pension scheme only came in when I went on maternity leave then left my job to go freelance. I'm back in a traditional role now part-time but at almost 35 I think my current pension pot is about £300?

I just don't see where else I can save. My husband has an excellent, very well built up pension through his employer and we are almost mortgage free. I'm quite lucky in that my job can be done well into old age and some of the best people in my profession are well into their 70s.

How much would I need to, realistically, set-aside for retirement?

Are you are me Op ! I've sought of resigned myself to dying before retirement age to get round the issue

Anything's better than nothing. 30 years worth of saving will be worth it.

There is a big thing about pensions but in reality most people can't afford big contributions, a lot of people don't live long past 70 and with retirement age going up feel what is the point.

Live for today

£300 is a start! What about a LISA, because for every £4 you put in the government top it up with £1 extra. It’s capped st £4K per year

You still have another 35 years of saving. You have a 1 in 4 chance of living to 99. We all underestimate our longevity and £8k a year in State Pension (assuming you have 35 years of contributions) will not be enough.

We know that marriages break up and who knows what kind of settlement one might get. Please, please if you can, start saving into a pension. You get tax relief AND employer contributions and you have loads of years left to make a difference!

I know I sound pessimistic but I work in financial services and, quite frankly, lots of people are doomed to a very sad, poverty-stricken retirement. It is hard, I know, to save money given the cost of living nowadays but please do set aside whatever you can.

And as a general guide, the rule is: set aside (as a % of your wage) half of your age (at the age when you started saving) so you should really be aiming to set aside 17.5% of your salary from hereon in. I think this includes employer contributions but you may want to check on MSE or similar!

I would suggest making an appointment with an IFA.

However, go to a major pension companies website and they most likely will have a retirement calculator tool. You will need to put in your expected outgoings at retirement as well as your current pension savings. It will then tell you what your shortfall is, and some recommend how much you need to start saving.

It will include things like going out, buying presents, etc. At retirement age you don't want to be spending your remaining years stuck in the house, finally with free time but too poor to go out until you are no longer able to.

It's probably not going to make very nice reading to be perfectly honest. I really would recommend seeing an IFA.

There is a big thing about pensions but in reality most people can't afford big contributions, a lot of people don't live long past 70 and with retirement age going up feel what is the point.

The point is, it's free money, and you don't often get that these days.

If you pay £100 in, you get £20 back as a basic rate tax payer, so that £100 only cost you £80. Then employers have to contribute, but only if you do. Many employers match your contribution. So your £80 then becomes £200, on day 1, before you factor in any growth on your pot.

£80 to £200 in a day is 150% increase. Most people are lucky to get 1.5% in a year on savings.

If you can afford to turn down £120 free money for paying £80, you must be loaded!

Same here... I have already decided that I am not taking antibiotics after 70 and hope I’m taken by a benign flu because I cannot fathom the idea of going through hardship again alone in old age.

I'm 47 and don't have one either. Circumstances rather than choice but I'm retraining so plan to hammer it once earning properly again.

There's so much misinformation about pensions. As others say, if you don't pay into your work pension you miss out on your employer's contribution (essentially free money).

Pay in whatever you can afford, as something is better than nothing. Do not rely on your state pension. A lot of people are living to their 80's/90's and you don't want to be left on the bread line.

I have similar worries and same age, I do have a tiny pension but now having two kids in nursery is very hard to find any spare money to put aside. Husband does have a good military pension and mortgage will be paid within ten years but it’s still not a good situation

It's reassuring to know I'm not the only one in this situation. I'm now paying into my work one but 17.5% of my wage...yikes!!! That's SO much.

I don't think that the state pension will exist in the next 15-20 years, anyone who has any form of private or occupational pension won't be entitled to anything from the state, hence the 'we're all in it together' ads at present, make it mandatory to pay into a work pension, then they'll say you have that, no matter how tiny it is, you don't get any state pension.

I doubt that, but I could see the state pension being means tested and not available until later.

17.5% is the ideal. But anything is better than nothing! A handy tip: for any future pay rises, put the additional money into a pension - we all get used to living on a certain month and you cannot miss what you never allowed yourself to have!

You would be unreasonable to not have a good pension pot IF you could have built one up and chose not to. If you couldn't afford to at the time, that's a whole other kettle of fish!

You can't change the past, only start saving like mad at the first available opportunity.

If your husband has a fat pension and you've nearly paid off your mortgage in your 30s, why are you on the bones of your arse in your own finances? If necessary, your DH should subsidise the household expenses more from his own salary so that you can have your own pension. It's basic joint financial planning.

This calculator is really, really useful www.pensionbee.com/pension-calculator

It's more that I've earned less and sporadically. It's often all gone back into the house or childcare and prior to that I racked up a lot of debt as a student when my parents sold up and moved abroad (so where my peers would go home and work during the summer etc I was forming out for a houseshare in London).

His pension is very good from his employers end
and he pays the lionshare of our household expenses.

@sohot i only enrolled in a pension about 6 years ago, have since had two maternity leaves and taken a big pay cut, DH does pay most of the family finances and puts savings aside. I will have to pay more into a pension when I’m in a position to work full time again

I’m 40 and I have zero, with no hope of putting anything away.

Same here @Beansprout30 though more like 4 years ago. Two maternity leaves, self-employment etc. I definitely think I'll shove more in when financially we're back on an even keel (role is part time at the moment). We don't really pay out for luxuries as a lot of that is covered by my job role.

I'm 41 and apart from 18 months teacher's pension and a few years part-time Local Government pension, I don't have one either. I've never had a permanent, full-time job, so I've never been able to have one.

However, even the minimum state pension is more than what people on JSA get, isn't it?

It’s hard and depends on how you plan to spend your retirement. My parents live comfortably from fairly average pensions. I’m not going to lose sleep over a situation I can’t really change at the moment