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'm not explaining very well, hence saying a IFA was needed.

You can invest in any risk profile pension you want of course, but at a relatively young age, with a long investment period, many people would go for a higher risk profile pension, and those come with potentially higher returns. You might be looking at a predicted 8%+ return, say, compared to the 1-2% interest you'd save by not having to pay the mortgage each month. (Though it's more complex than that.) I was absolutely not saying that it would be higher risk to put the money in the pension, but trying to explain that the potential returns on the pension investment could well be better than the benefit of paying off the mortgage earlier (due to the fact that with a long term investment the pension could be invested in a higher risk profile fund, which means higher predicted returns which would exceed the mortgage interest). I don't know if that's any clearer.

Sorry, posted too soon, of course you could put your money into a pension investment at the lower end of the risk profiles, but your returns would be lower, and therefore may not out-perform paying off the mortgage early.

My DP already has £100k in a pension and half a mil equity in his house. God he's a smug bastard

And higher risk investments can bomb and go bust, because they are higher risk. Obviously.

You're more likely to get a return that beats inflation with a long term investment. Trackers tend to do better than actively managed funds and are cheaper too.

Personally I prefer a medium risk with a sensible return. My ISA portfolio probably returns around 5% which is fine with inflation how it is and low interest rates.

But I work on an assumption of 4% return on the pension, and it's nice if it's higher.

Since I was 7, I cut back on toys & penny sweets & diversified my portfolio from an early age.

18 into workplace pension. On my first day while still 17 I was introduced the pension person who said I'd get the invite when I was 18 and to join as i'd not miss what I never really had and the contributions I made when I was young have the longest time to grow. Really thankful to that man and glad I took his advice. I've contributed my whole life to the various schemes I've had the opportunity to and hoping that it will mean that I can retire before 67 given I've been a tax payer since I was 17 so that will be 50 years tax and NI by then.

OP just start by putting away what you can as soon as you can.

As you get closer to retirement age you can choose a good moment in a boom/bust cycle to switch to a more conservative risk profile. But really you need to be looking at the individual's big picture - other investments, mortgage situation. The level of risk I'm prepared to take, given a very comfortable situation, may be different from you or the PP's, which is why it's worth her consulting with an IFA to look at what's best for her.

17. First job was in a bank.

I've paid into a pension since I started working (but this was after a degree and PhD so I was in my late 20s). Been with my current employer for years but they have changed the scheme twice reducing the value to me each time (from final salary paying out 66% of my salary to hybrid scheme paying out 30% of my salary to frozen scheme paying out 10% of my salary). I also pay AVCs which go into a defined contributions pension but only started doing that in my 40s. And I have S&S ISA which I've paid into for years and years. I save about a quarter of my pretax income as long term savings. Plus we have a big house so the plan is to downsize at some point to free up cash. We both have good jobs so we can afford to save a reasonable sum each month and DH is public sector so his pension is going to pay out many multiples of mine. Thankfully.

@LemonPrism why the “duh”?

30. I had saved a reasonable amount before that which was earmarked for it but I had a long period of illness and burned through it. It's a big regret. Also DH was in a military job and unless you stay in for 20 years you get nothing, so he was 30 too.

OP, your comment about your partner spending money like water definitely suggests that you should look after your own financial interests and pension.

You currently earn a low wage while you also do all the childcare and are studying. Try not to take all the financial impact of this by yourself. Childcare costs are a joint responsibility, as is a decent pension for both of you - £50 pm is likely to be nowhere near enough, and both are more important than spending £hundreds pm leasing new cars.

People leasing new cars but not contributing to a pension are basically setting themselves up to a poor retirement or having to work beyond the age that they want to/are capable of.

"Also DH was in a military job and unless you stay in for 20 years you get nothing, so he was 30 too."

That isn't true, how many years was he in? The military pension is very good (though not what it was) and it's non contributory. There's a calculator to work out how much he will get.

21 my first job

@BacktoMA unfortunately not the British military and definitely true. 😭 Thank you though, if it had been the UK I'd be breaking open the champagne.

@Obligatorync oh sorry, how rubbish!!

18. I joined Barclays straight from school and was automatically enrolled into their final salary (non-contributory) pension. I was with them for 30 years.

I feel incredibly lucky and am hoping to retire at 60.

Just before i was 22 - 1st job after qualifying from uni.

I hadn't thought about it but my dad told me to join - i remember him saying as it was my 1st job Id never miss the money as i hadnt ever had it and got used to it iyswim. They were wise words that i am grateful for now.

24, first proper job after studying, in 1999. Cashed it in after 2 years to scrape together a flat deposit. People thought I was mad as it was a final salary scheme (University sector).

Value of flat went up by 500% in the next decade or so though, and pension was downgraded to defined benefit. So I’m pretty happy with my decision.

I have a stakeholder pension now with a good but not great amount now. Should be mortgage free in the next two or three years and plan to ramp up pension contributions then.

I am not sure if i have royally messed it up.

I didnt start until i was 30 (my job had crap contributions 3% matched) as all cash went towards first house deposits (no regrets there yet as i made 220k tax free in 6 years and I am now in my "forever home" at 36.)
From 32 -36 was paying in 8% (4% Matched and bonuses went in too)
Now paying in 23% (8% employer contribution 15% own)

No idea what I'll end up with buy we will see...

You should have some idea what you’ll end up with if you check the projections from your annual statements. You shouldn’t stay in a state of not knowing if it’s messed up or not - find out! Then you can adjust as necessary.