To ask how much is in your pension pot if your mid 30s?

[Kanfuzed123]

I started working in a proper PAYE job at 28. Didn’t know the foggiest about pensions and the place I worked in did the bare minimum which at that point was like 1%/2%.

ive moved around a bit work wise so got 3 separate pots and did some life admin today and saw I’ve got 30k. I’m 33.

my husband has around the same. His pension provider has a calc that shows if you continue at this rate you’ll have X amount by state retirement age and can expect X amount per month and what sort of lifestyle it correlates to. DH’s calc said it would be 3k a month which correlates to a moderate lifestyle. That whole thing seems baffling, since when is 3k a month (no mortgage) moderate and not comfortable but whatever.

maybe that should fill me with confidence that it will be enough in retirement but it doesn’t really. 30k at my age seems low? Any one?

@Kanfuzed123 Oh yes, sorry, I did mean it for you!
His salary isn't too dissimilar to mine, but his employer contributions are much more than mine so that makes sense

Mine is awful. Only started paying into TPS four years ago at aged 38 🥴

Currently, I'm getting £100 per month 🤣

70k, age 35. Didn't start until it was compulsory, so late, but compensated by 1) putting in £800/month on top of my standard contributions for a while when I was earning more and 2) taking a couple of years on a potentially riskier high growth fund to catch up a bit (NEST Sharia Fund).

Employer contributions will be 10% from April, and I'm going to reassess once we've moved house in the next year.

£41.

Absolutely fuck all, hoping to start paying into one by next year

@wineandsunshine
TPS scheme is defined benefit - so you will get a fixed amount no matter what the market does,
hang on to that with all fingers and toes

I'm 34 and have the grand total of zero.

Early 40s.
Private pension - 40k total.
LG Pension after 5 years predicting around £4k per year.
Hoping to hang on to the LG job for a good time yet to build a decent pension.

35 and £160k, DC pension. It seems to be performing pretty well at the moment somehow! DH doesn’t have much of a pension though so once we’re through the nursery years we plan to plough a bit more into one of them. I am forever grateful of some wonderful ladies I worked with in my early 20’s explaining the importance of contributing into my pension to me!

Well, this is depressing. 35 with about £25k plus an unknown (probably tiny) amount in an NHS pension that I have no idea how to check.

But that’s pretty much the same as me so basically I plan to absolutely maximise what I can put in, and save to try and get a few BTLs to subsidise us too / give to the dcs

@Borgonzola You can check here

I have £80k at 36 and very much feeling like I should be putting more in, which I can do in a couple of years once the eye watering nursery fees are done with.

We have a big mortgage though too so really unsure whether to focus on overpaying that or building pension pot, or both?

There with you on all 3

@Mumski45 wow thank you!

I’ve got a lot in mine but am 37 and have been paying in 20% of my salary since I was 25. (Atm employer contributes 5% and I put in 15%).

BUT DH’s pot is tiny as he is self employed and a low earner so I know that mine is going to need to cover us both. We have small kids so high childcare fees atm but once those stop we are also going to put a lot more into ISAs.

Salary sacrifice is the way to build a decent pot.

If you're a 40% tax payer, for every £580 of income you lose via salary sacrifice, you get £1000 into your pension.

That's an immediate 72% return on your investments. Compound growth on £1000 will be much quicker than on £580 in an ISA.

I didn't start my pension until I was 30 and now, at 46, have £280k in my SIPP. It would be a lot more, but i made some bad investment decisions and lost around £50k.

Oh well... I'm now just using passive accumulation tracker ETFs to prevent any further bad decisions. I'm happy to track the broader market.

I thought the same, but I have £45k in one pot and it says £5k per month if I retire at 68 (in 35 ish years) and without state pension - which is way more than I though it would be…

I have £75k in total though across two pots.

I’ve just used the calculator recommended and am currently looking at £1937 per month, which I’m v.pleased about considering I only work 3 hours per week. I have a few tiny workplace pensions, which I haven’t counted but my pension pot is £55,000 and I pay £200pm into an SIPP. I’m 39.

Once my LO starts reception, I was planning in increasing my hours and aiming to save £2000 per month but can see I need professional pension advice as that will be far too much.

This is when public sector for all its pain comes into its own! I've no idea because we are public sector and have been for nearly all our careers, but DH is military and I am a civil servant who made a senior grade by early 30s so we are sitting pretty tbh, assuming we continue to put the service in.

My last projection was around £50k a year if I took no payout and retire at 68, but I don't plan on retiring that late, but also hope to have a few more promotions in me yet as I am still in my 30s. DH's is c £20k a year but he will leave in his 30s so will earn another pension in his next career. I was private sector for a couple of years in my 20s so I have another pot that has £15k.

Honestly, I wish we got better pay and smaller pension, I need the money now not all when I am 70!

I'm 36 and have around £42k. I only started taking it seriously a couple of years ago and started doing salary sacrifice. I'm about to do another mat leave but when I return, I intend to increase my contributions even further as DD1 will be starting school so we will save on childcare and have a bit more flex in the budget.

I cannot say this enough times.

Get your housing secure.
I have tax clients paying £1200 a month for static caravans
out of DB pensions

I have no mortgage
and can take lodgers at £9000 a year tax free if needs be

Mid 40’s and have around £700k in a private scheme. The vast majority of this has been accrued in the last decade when I’ve been able to make maximum level contributions via salary sacrifice each year.

I'm 30, have 15k in it just now. The future outlook bit varies wildly. It says at a medium prediction, I could get 8k a year, but at a high prediction, 22k a year.

I am 36 and have nothing. Maybe a few hundred somewhere.
Ive now been in the NHS scheme for 2 years but probably leaving the NHS soon so need to get a better understanding of what I should do next. I have no idea how it works at all. I’ve tried researching and am no clearer.