What age did you start paying in to a pension?

[Legoeverywhere92]

I'm 27 with a 4 year old who starts school next September so currently unable to put anything away and always opted out of pension contributions at work. I know I get a few years of N.I credits from child benefit but I'd like to retire with something decent so I'm not left in the same position as my mother who never worked and gets £113/week state pension (that's nothing).

When did you start saving, and how much did you put away per month?

Any tips on savings or good websites on saving for a pension/annuities etc?

I went to uni late and did 8 years there so didn't start a pension til I was 30. I contribute around 12% and my work around 20 Ish I think (can't quite recall as it's changed a few times) public sector - I should get around £2k a month from pension when I retire if I continue working til I'm around 60 ish plus lump sum which should be fine. I also invested in housing so should be ok ... well that's the plan! I never think of the money I pay into the pension pot as lost money I just don't count it at all, same as the child care voucher scheme we have at work, parking etc I just see my take home and work with that

OP if you're starting a pension, take advice from an expert if you're self employed

@violinrosa any contributions to your current scheme will help. The best thing for your long term financial future will be to join a public sector scheme; would be worth pricing it into your decision if you are choosing between more than one role. You could build up 20 years of career average benefits. Good luck.

23 when I started my first ‘grown up’ job, I paid around 8%, I know pay 12% and my employer pays 8%.

I have started a pension for my son.

My DD has just started work and I've made her pay in from day one. I'm sure she'll thank me one day!

Started at 30 when I started teaching. Paid it for 28 years and have just retired on a decent amount with a nice tax free lump sum.

33 and havent even started. Would love to but i've never had a spare penny. All i have is debt, no savings, no assets, no nothing :(

23, first permanent full time job after uni. Have done ever since (not sure what would have happened during my maternity leave? I can't remember if pension payments came out my mat pay.

I’m 22 and have been paying for 3 years now, I started paying in when dd was 1ish.

Sorry didn't see the rest of your questions, so from 23, I've mostly been public sector so just paid what I had to (usually about 5% of my salary) and they've topped it up 14-26% dependent on employer. Private sector wasn't so good only matched my 6%.

Paying into a pension has never been optional in my opinion, we were low income with high childcare costs and still ensured pension was paid, if you see it as a necessity you cut your cloth.

I was 19. So I can retire at 59.

Not till age 28 (due to studying/ill health) but now at 35 am paying in £1000/month (between mine and employers contributions) so pension starting to look a bit healthier slowly! Its definitely not too late to start!

@Iamthewombat Thanks, wombat. I’ve just been looking up civil service pension schemes and am trying to figure out what the employer contribution is at different pay scales (anyone know?!)

Looks good and slightly better than the teacher pension scheme which I have one measly year in 😒

Not until I was almost 27. I was a student before that (undergrad, masters and PhD), and didn’t have any spare income. I’m 44 now, and contribute 20% of my salary.

I’ve already set up pensions for my DC (who are 13 and 15), and contribute to these every month.

@violinrosa it's roughly 26%

As soon as I could from 22 years in my first job. Had a little dead spot in the period where I had to be employed for 3 months before I could join scheme so stuck the money in an ISA instead. Back on final salary scheme which I'm very lucky to be on

Started at 19 paying an astronomical amount into a pension every month. 30 years later it paid out just over 140 grand. Well worth it and it was taken out at source so I did t really miss the money, albeit it was a lot of money.

I started full time work at 22 but it was 3 or 4 years before I was eligible to join the pension (bad old days) so probably 26ish.
I went self employed at 36 so it’s been my contributions only since then. I do wish I’d got more years of employer contributions.

Like a PP, I was never offered a work place pension by my employers (fairly small solicitors firms), or given any advice about pensions.

I came from a pretty poor working class background and neither parent had pensions. I wish they had given me some financial advice when I was young.

I started saving into a pension £150pm when I was self employed and 34, which is really late. It wasn’t going to give a huge amount but something is better than nothing

I stopped paying into that when I then moved into public sector when I was 36 so joined the civil service pension and pay in 5.45% per month. If I stay until then it will give me about £18k per annum but only if I retire at state pension age - 68. It reduces hugely with each year earlier I retire

I'm terrified of retirement, we have debt, 2 kids and are possibly never going to be able to afford to buy anywhere. I have a friend who has paid into the NHS pension for 40 odd years and has now realised she wont have enough to cover her rent each month.

I've paid into my NHS pension since I qualified at 22 I pay 9.3% I work part time and it's around £250 a month. I've never thought of it as my money to be honest it comes out in the same column as my tax and national insurance.

Joined employer scheme aged 22 when I left University and started working, have never opted out.

18

I started paying into the local government scheme at 21, Im 49 now. I can retire on full pension at 61, but the idea of retiring at 55 is very appealing!

Don't have one. Looked into sipp but the £100 I would put away per month, actually gives me back £90 after fees, even with the tax position changing my £100 per month into £125. (that was the lowest fees available.)

I will look into it again if I'm ever employed again. The employer contributions make so much difference. But next job is likely to be self employed.

18 and I can retire at 57. I work in the NHS and contributions are 12.5% of my monthly pay.

At 22. I am retired at 59.