To ask how much your retirement pot will be

[Futurama1]

Off the back of some threads today, how much are you aiming to have in a retirement pot?

I’m going for 600k at today’s value which seems an insane amount but 20k per year for 30 years + state pension. What are you aiming for?

I put 2k per month in currently (inc employer contribution)

Put in as much as you can OP as you never know what’s round the corner.Life has a way of levelling off the playing field.Both my husband and I are hoping to actually make it to retirement and he earns a bit more than you but bringing up a family is expensive so our goals were different about what we spent it on.Now it doesn’t really matter to us as no amount of money can help us! Have a biscuit from me too

@MeanderingGently

Many of us don't earn 2K a month. I'm in a minimum wage job. To answer your pension pot question, nothing. I don't have a pension pot. I shall be living on the state pension when I retire, which is only a few years away.....

I'm in the same position x

I will have, on current estimates £42k a year plus state pension. I have a couple of healthy final salary pensions.

About 1.6 mill

Why would anyone put this in AIBU? Short-sighted and totally unaware of those around you.

Put it into the Investments or Money section or something if you want financial advice.

I don't earn much now, but when I did a decent % was put away for retirement.

I think where we go wrong with pensions is that people think they are some mystical thing that is hard to understand.

In reality they are just a savings plan designed to support you in retirement. You can pay money in over the years and can get money added to it by your employer or topped up by the government if you are self employed in the form of tax relief. You therefore build up a pot of money which you can then invest in an annuity to give you a guaranteed amount per year for life. So for every 30 grand in the pot you get approx 1 grand per year .
If you don't like that option (And personally I don't ) you can choose to eek out the money by withdrawing it in chunks . You can take 25 percent tax free in one lump if you choose and can draw down smaller amounts tax free as and when ( up to 4000 a Yr I think ) and make it last that way. Anything withdrawn above that is taxable.
Some.v lucky people have a gold-plated pension which guarantees a good proportion of their wage for life but these are rare these days and highly prized.
Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs guys but some people said they didn't understand pensions at all so hopefully I have given a quick summary and hopefully got the major facts right as I am no expert!

@flapjackfairy

I think where we go wrong with pensions is that people think they are some mystical thing that is hard to understand. In reality they are just a savings plan designed to support you in retirement. You can pay money in over the years and can get money added to it by your employer or topped up by the government if you are self employed in the form of tax relief. You therefore build up a pot of money which you can then invest in an annuity to give you a guaranteed amount per year for life. So for every 30 grand in the pot you get approx 1 grand per year . If you don't like that option (And personally I don't ) you can choose to eek out the money by withdrawing it in chunks . You can take 25 percent tax free in one lump if you choose and can draw down smaller amounts tax free as and when ( up to 4000 a Yr I think ) and make it last that way. Anything withdrawn above that is taxable. Some.v lucky people have a gold-plated pension which guarantees a good proportion of their wage for life but these are rare these days and highly prized. Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs guys but some people said they didn't understand pensions at all so hopefully I have given a quick summary and hopefully got the major facts right as I am no expert!

Good explanation

Well done Op 👏👏👏👏, well done 👏👏👏👏

Zero, I'm 40 and still haven't paid off my student loan, let alone had money for a pension.

All those NHS workers saying they don't know how much they'll get in retirement - look it up in ESR it tells you exactly what you'll get .
I have three pensions as I left and came back after kids , so some pension at 60 and some at 67.
It's east to look up

Where are you getting your £4K from @flapjackfairy ?

Once you’ve withdrawn your 25% (if that’s what you choose to do) all further withdrawals are taxed at your appropriate rate.

In truth ... I'm relying on my exh's rather excellent public sector pension that I get a decent chunk of monthly!

This is such an interesting thread and a relevant topic for me as I have just started to really take notice of my pension. I am an NHS nurse and have been for 23 years so very fortunate to have a final salary pension I can take at 60. This will give me around 24k per year plus a lump sum of around 60k. I will also be downsizing my house to provide another lump sum so I can go at 60 considering dh will be 70 by then. I was shocked to see my pension contribution this month at just under £500 with a take home pay of £2600 (we got the 3% back pay this month so my wages are not normally that high). I felt a bit sick at seeing that £500 as I could so do with it now but the reality is I will need it much more when I am 60.

It all seems so far away but the reality is 15.5 years will fly by and I will be wondering why the hell I did not plan better.

@Cocomarine
Oh sorry as I said not an expert just grappling with the issue myself at present.
So you can take up to 4 grand a year tax free or a lump sum of 25 Percent of the total value but not do both ? Thanks for the correction .

Wow, some of the nasty comments on here towards the OP. So much for the sisterhood. We should all be thinking about our retirement and making financial plans. I’m fully aware that not everyone can afford such high contributions but are we just here to hand out biscuits to everyone who has something we’d like? ‘I work part time’, ‘DH is a high earned’, ‘I’m expecting my fourth child’. Lots of things on here are choices someone wishes they could make but for some reason, talking about pensions seems to get lots of people rattled

Jesus and here’s me thinking I’m going to do really well for myself to get a lump sum of £80k and a small monthly pension amount 🤣

Thank you @WombatChocolate for making me think about this stuff instead of sticking my head in the sand! Where is a good place to start (book, website, etc) for people like me with no clue to go to get a clue? Thanks!

I think it is important to talk about pensions, especially as women. I have always saved towards my pension both in employment and as a freelancer but like so many I took time out as a SAHM. It's only been the last 5 years that I took a closer look at the figures and had a terrible shock. However, at least now I know I need to save a lot more and improve my NI record.
Realistically, I won't live like a Queen and will probably need to downsize to access equity in my home, oh well.

Money doesn't buy manners.
Or kindness

It's also important to claim children's allowance even if your partner or you earn over the threshold as it gives you NI contributions towards your state pension.

@Cieloazzurro

Wow, some of the nasty comments on here towards the OP. So much for the sisterhood. We should all be thinking about our retirement and making financial plans. I’m fully aware that not everyone can afford such high contributions but are we just here to hand out biscuits to everyone who has something we’d like? ‘I work part time’, ‘DH is a high earned’, ‘I’m expecting my fourth child’. Lots of things on here are choices someone wishes they could make but for some reason, talking about pensions seems to get lots of people rattled

Isn't it weird. I suffer infertility and I don't get rattled at others saying they've had a positive! I am pleased for them.

Some people are so sad, I feel sorry for them.

About 20k for the whole of my retirement the way it's going. The whole thing terrifies me

Pensions come in two varieties: defined benefit and defined contibution.

Defined benefit is usually a fixed % of salary and related to the number of years worked for a company. Typically, you get 2/3 of your final salary after 45 years. Nowadays, as rare as hen's teeth.

Almost all pension schemes are now defined contribution.. You and your employer pay in to a pension investment scheme in defined proportions. The money is invested and when you retire, you get an income based on the investment performance of your pot. If it was well invested, congratulations. If it went wrong, bad luck.

Gordon Brown fucked the system up in his first budget by removing a techicality called the pension dividend tax credit. From the UK having the best funded pension system in Europe, which could pay all its creditors, it lurched into deficit, where it remains.

Fuck all. I think I’m expecting about 3k per annum plus a state pension.