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)

[DoubleTweenQueen]

@Futurama1 Oh dear!

Don't you think the majority of folk in the UK couldn't dream of building up a similar pot for their retirement?

For someone who earns well and I presume is quite bright, I honestly am flummoxed to think of what you hoped to get out of this thread??

And no - I'm not sharing my financial situation on SM

[AJ1425]

I checked mine yesterday, was quite pleased to see my predicted pot is £106k based on my current contribution of £51 a month.

Then saw this would give me predicted 2k a year 😔 my employer pays 15% to my 6% as well. Hoping to boost this next year when no longer paying full nursery fees and then a bit further again when I can work full time. Especially as my husband pays 0% into his pension.

[Dinosauria]

@Harryfrog12

Just seen your salary, great way to keep you under the high tax threshold

True, nice way to not pay your share op.

[Sciurus83]

You aren't getting hate. You're being very reasonably told that your experience is way way outside what the vast majority of people would be able to relate in any way to. That is not hate.

[Thehop]

You earn more than we support a family of 5 with.

Our pension will be state, plus hopefully getting something for our v cheap house and not needing care.

[Bunnycat101]

You must know you’re very unusual to be putting away over 30% of your salary into your pension. Your salary is higher than average but isn’t huge so either your living costs are low or you’re living with someone else high earning as most people on £60k couldn’t afford to sacrifice as much as that.

If you can manage it, you’re doing well though re pension. The depressing thing is though even at your level of savings, the pot won’t be as big as most people would expect.

[FireworkParrot]

I do think it's important for people to think about their pensions, a lot of women (myself included) have piss poor pensions in comparison to their partners due to going part time or taking time out of work to care for children and I see a lot of people burying their head in the sand about it.

Obviously if you're living hand to mouth each month and simply don't have anything spare then pensions are going to be way down the list of priorities but most people should at least be thinking about them and putting figures into online calculators. It is sobering how much you may be entitled to in retirement when you look at your projected pot.

For what it's worth, I'm aiming for a pension pot of £250k. I pay in £160 a month between myself and my employer's contributions and am in my 30s. It's not enough.

[ChewChewPanda]

I agree your post was tone deaf OP and my answer is no use to you anyway (am in a DB scheme so no choice on contribution level and no pot as such). BUT looking at the way you are setting your goals, I think you should get a bit more advice. It’s not really helpful to say you want £x for x years and just multiply them together, because for many of those years the pot will still be big enough to get you some return if you leave the rest of it invested. So you need to look at either an annuity calculator, if you are likely to buy one, or a pension calculator that can tell you how much you can draw down before you make much dent in your capital.

[CoolOven]

I'm retired and my pension pays me £25 a month. That's because my first child was born disabled and I've been her carer for 37 years now so I never worked again. Shit really. That wasn't my initial plan.

[Ragwort]

How insensitive to say that £60k isn't a 'wild salary'. If you are fortunate enough to earn that much how can you possibly not understand that it is a very high salary and way beyond what most people earn? .

[Lulu2021]

I currently pay in £316 pm (fixed percentage of my monthly pay as it's NHS pension). Then it gets topped up I assume but no idea by how much. I've never thought much about it. Maybe I should ....

[Ragwort]

As a suggestion there is a free service called Pension Wise (gov.uk) where you can book a detailed chat about pension provision. My DH had an hour's consultation with them today & found it very useful.

[gindreams]

What an unpleasantly smug and pointless boast

[Lulu2021]

And just to say I only earn 13k less than OP. So how are they putting away more than 6 times what I am?! 🤔

[Goawaymorningsickeness]

People say the Police pension is gold plated but they don’t realise how much is paid in every month for thirty years. Every penny of that pension is earned and deserved, your husband’s pension included. I hope he has many happy retirement years to enjoy it 💐

OP your figures are ridiculously unrealistic for over 90% of the population. Not sure what the point in your post was really, other than to make others feel shit.

[Philandbill]

Also my first . What a great way to make people feel rubbish. Thanks for that

[ShanghaiDiva]

what’s the AIBU of your post?

[TheAntiGardener]

I think this post demonstrates the power of employer contributions - the op’s employer is contributing 16%, which is right at the top end for dc schemes. Recruiters are often surprised I’m so interested in pension schemes, but my employer contributes more than the average (not 16% though!) and going down to what many seem to offer would have a huge impact - even on a higher salary. We should definitely prioritise pensions when looking at employers.

I’m slightly surprised at the reaction op has had. I’ve seen posters with grander finances - such as a couple of young posters asking about £600k+ mortgages recently. Those posts have generally received neutral advice and other posters reacted negatively to critical posts.

[Embroidery]

What if you die before 65. Live for now ffs.

I am 49 and have 5000 in pension. Im hoping to pay off mortgage by age 60.

[hotmeatymilk]

I’ve seen posters with grander finances - such as a couple of young posters asking about £600k+ mortgages recently. Those posts have generally received neutral advice and other posters reacted negatively to critical posts.
A £600k mortgage is debt, though. The OP is talking about a savings tax wrapper in amounts more than people can earn, let alone save. Not comparable imo.

[thepastisanothercountry]

12 million should do it I think though if I manage to up payments and my investments do well in my 50s perhaps that will be 15 or 20

In my other more realistic pension pot I'll be lucky to end up with a thousand a year!!

[Againstmachine]

Bare minimum, and the schemes which many have have been forced to be part of whilst on minimum wage are pointless.

Very poor taste OP.

[hotmeatymilk]

I think it depends on what you think you need to live on. I would suggest also stocks and shares plus maybe as you get older look for income from another source like property because 20k ain't going to get you that far
Please join OP in corner

[Fupoffyagrasshole]

Meh the world will
Probably be on its way out by then so no point saving for the future - there won’t be one.

[Idrinklotsofcoffee]

I’m 35 and contribute £360 a month. I up my contribution by 1% every year based on advice from a pension advisor. Based on investments I hope to have £450k by the time I need to draw it.