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)

Erm ive actually no idea. 14 years worth of military pension, an NHS pension and state pension. Although I dont know exactly how much it'll all be worth, I think ill be ok

It will be interesting to see if the pp who has said they expect to get £30k a year in retirement in exchange for a £220/month contribution will attract the scorn that the op has. (Not suggesting they should btw!)

I know which I think is the (vastly) better deal.

Completely agree with someone upthread who said it was worth considering public sector to boost pension. A family member recently joined the dwp - finding out about their pension was a real eye opener. They will get further, faster, with a lower % contribution and on a lower salary than I can get by making significant sacrifices to boost my contributions. Oh, and guaranteed too. I try not to think about it rather than be bitter.

Still fascinated by how much anger there is towards op compared to threads where 20-somethings consider buying £1m houses.

Thank you wombat!

Pension provison is preparing for the future. Unless you are certain to win Euromillions, then everyone here needs to pay into a pension. Never ever avoid the minimum contribution required,unless you want to be old and brassically poor.

You are joking me right?
I do accounts and payroll. Most people contribute a few £100 per month at best.
Stealth boast. If you didn't realise this then this is even more staggering.

If you want to earn 60k like OP there is nothing to stop you doing so other than your own bitter whining.

Putting aside the pile on in respect of the "insensitivity" shown by the OP, what we should be drilling down to is the need for each and every one of us to be aware of financial planning.

Having read "pension pot" threads for some years now, it is blindingly obvious that so many women appear to be completely and utterly fucked. There are so many factors at play:
Lack of initial knowledge
Giving up work to be a SAHP
Working part time as a result of parenting
Lower paid work because of parenting
Losing the breadwinner/partner's pension with relationship breakdown

We have to educate the young about their future. We have to educate the girls about how their future (family planning) choices will impact on their old age. We need to teach priorities. Education = qualifications = better job prospects = income/savings. We need to prevent the rabbit hole of women in low/no paid work.

I know there are many families where there is nothing spare at the end of the month to put into a pension. If you can see where things have gone wrong for you (excepting through no fault of your own through ill health etc) try to prevent the generation coming up behind you from making the same errors.

@donemeover you said the only thing stopping you. And you said it to everyone on the thread 'whining' so you can assume some of those people are disabled. Go self employed doing what? I can't drive. I can barely walk and I am on the waiting list for 5 joint replacements so I think my dear, that would put the breakers on a high flying fucking career.

@Belindabelle I totally agree, pensions seem to be such a dirty subject, yet we should be talking about them and understanding them!

There appears to be an alarming number of people without a pension scheme in place, friends included

Lovely thread.

Contribute as early as you can for as long as you can.

My dad was very proud of his pension pot but died at 66. Just saying.

And in the real world........

I've paid in 5% since I was 22. My employers have paid in between 1% & 3% I've usually earned upper end of basic rate tax bracket.

I'm now 58. With 36 years paid in and compound interest on those payments over 36 years, it has reached £400k pension pot. I'll work a few years more (I hope) because I still have a small mortgage. When I stop work, I'll withdraw £18k per year until 67, and then £10kpa from then on, plus I'll have my £9k state pension.

Starting early and sticking at it has helped. I'll be a bit better off than my dm, have an occasional holiday and hopefully run a very small car.

I don’t see this as a bragging thread. There’s lots of people who have a decent pension pot, and lots who don’t. It’s reasonable to want to have a discussion.

FrDamo, have you ever lived on a very low income? If you have, you might understand better that it is definitely not always about poor choices. There are far larger political questions to be considered. Including sex-specific ones like the list you have given. Why is it that mothers are penalised for bearing/raising children? Is that fair?

Also education does not necessarily have much bearing on eventual income. It's a lot more complex than 'get a degree, all will be well'. Depends on lots of other factors.

From this thread all I would say is that people, especially women taking time out from the workplace, do need to consider their retirement options

I was lucky I started working in a financial institution 25 years ago and one of the first things they asked if you wanted to sign was pension contributions

Please do review your retirement options and make them better if you can

@hotmeatymilk

Then use your brain next time and post in Money Matters or somewhere more appropriate than AIBU. Ideally post nowhere and just count piles of money like Scrooge McDuck

🤣🤣🤣

@flowersmakeitbetter

At the rate I'm going it will be £5.21, a bottle of ginger beer, three buttons, a paperclip and a packet of Quavers.

i.e. nowhere near £600k

Have my very first

I've just spilt my drink, you e killed me!

I’m a civil servant, I will have around 150k lump sum I guess and up to 20k a year if take max sum. Hoping to get another promotion well before pension age though.

Op- sounds like you are being very sensible with your pension planning. It's good that you are able to put away a good chunk. Of course most people cannot save much/any- but I know plenty of people who earn similar but prioritise much shorter term goals.

I recommend that you check out the pensions and retirement section of the Money Saving Expert site forum (under Work).

Come the revolution ...

My mum has a limited state pension, topped up by credits. It only works because she's 86, owns her house outright and really doesn't want to go far from her postcode. No car, no unnecessary spends. She's 86 and I think she should see a doctor for several reasons. Her practice won't see her, so I will buy a private slot with a GP.

Worked in childcare- childminder, private nurseries, TA, STA and HLTA 30 years. SAHM for ten years. Four children.

Retired last year a couple of years early - £5, 750 approx. That’s it. Was never one to clock off, sneak longer breaks or have any time off unless genuine.
I haven’t taken any yet. I was gutted.
Luckily I was left some money from an aunt and my parents. I invested it and put some into another property to help my children.Thankfully our house has been paid off and I have just less than a year left. We needed a larger house at one stage but didn’t buy one because we didn’t want to take that risk.
I have to wait 18mths for one pension and four for the other at 68.
We have lived modestly had one second hand car, not had fancy holidays - camping in Yorkshire, Scotland and France. Flights to family but no hotels etc. We don’t buy lots of clothes or go out much. I did as many hours as I could manage stepping up to 28hrs when the last child went to Secondary. Very few TAs get full time hours anyway.
I feel quite depressed about it. We took out an Endowment mortgage on our first house that we were told would give us about £55,000 at 55. It didn’t.

Great that you are getting that much but remember a lot of us won’t be.

As my dad used to say, I'll probably be working until lunchtime on the day of my funeral.

I'll be lucky if I can afford to retire. I can't believe people afford to squirrel away 2k a month.

Think I've got about £120k in mine at the minute. Still at least another 26 years to work before opportunity to retire.