Pension worry…help

[Pensionworry1]

NC’d for this…basically I was a sahm and had a late career change 5 years ago. I’m 40…My current pension is at 33k…projected at 240k. I’m aware this is not enough
now I do have a separate extremely small pension elsewhere and by that I mean about 1.5k per year once retired.

it’s also worth noting that I’m still at the lower end of my career ladder right now and have no intention on stopping here. My wage increases about 4.5%annually, my company pays 10% and I pay 5% (I can’t pay any more than this as I have a mortgage etc) I usually pay some of my bonus into my pension so I might put it all in going forward (usually about 8%)…is there anything else I can do? I suppose that’s it really isn’t it? Should I be worried? I feel like I should be 😩

Crikey 😮 we are literally just talking at home about me trying to increase my pension- due to our personal circumstances I need to try and put more in

You are luckier than I am. I was never in a job that offered a pension (mainly I was shifted from job to job by the agencies than help me find a full time perm job) and only now at 44, got joined into one for a part time job. My only hope is that I may inherit one day (but not guaranteed), and I hope to put that into a pension. I think the only way I manage to limit my worry, is to just put what I can in and hope once the children are grown, I can free up some money to put in then too.

I'm 47 and have about £150k in my pot plus a small pension from when I worked in the public sector so not great.

I've always paid in, even when I've been a SAHM and skint, even its just a small amount and tbh that's all anyone can do. I currently pay 10% and my employer 10% which I know is excellent and thanks to the advice on here I'll put any % payrise in there and aim for half my bonus too.

OP you're doing the best you can and are educating yourself - that's better than a lot of people.

You have a few years, so you can make good progress. Pay what you can into your pension. Try to make extra mortgage payments to pay your mortgage down sooner, even £100 extra a month helps. Try to live below your means (sounds obvious I know, and not always easy, but every little helps). Best wishes for a comfortable retirement

What don’t you agree with in this? If you put the numbers into a compound calculator you can see it for yourself.

Here you go, I’ve done it for you.

If you look at stock market growth over the last 50 years it has averaged between 10-12%. Yes some years it is much lower or indeed higher (volatility) but the point of investing is to do it over the long term which evens the bumps out.

How’s your husband’s pension? That’s what I’m banking on 😭 because I’m 40 and mine is around £28k. I pay in 3% and employer pays in 5% – I can’t afford more right now. AND I’m mortgaged til 74.

Welp.

What utter bullshit. There's always someone worse off than everybody and OP has a genuine and sensible concern about her pension. I wish useless, unhelpful thread police like you would piss right off.

@Lifeasafish2 look up DWP online Pension Tracing Service. Very easy to use.

It seems like an impressive sum, but I wonder a) how much annual pension that would buy, and b) what effect would inflation have had meanwhile?

I’m just sceptical of a year on year 10% return, but yes, compounding is incred Now, just like the growth in the final 10 years that f a pension.

You are doing your best and not putting your head in the sand OP. Just keep putting in as much of your bonus as you can. I'm retired early and I have never regretted putting in money when I was younger. The best advice my dear Dad gave me was to open a pension account the day I started work and keep putting what you can in it. It gives it chance to compound over time.

What do you suggest as an alternative then? Stay in the default fund or even (God forbid) cash and end up with a much, much lower amount that will still be subject to exactly the same inflation? And anyway £6m is still going to be a very decent wedge, even in 65 years' time.

OP I really wouldn't bother with financial advisers or podcasts. Just find out what investment options are available with your works pension. If there's a global equity tracker/passive fund then switch into that. Then don't give it another moment's thought, other than to stick in as much as you reasonably can when you can, until retirement. You've got plenty of time, you'll be fine.

It’s a fair point, inflation would probably reduce that growth by a percentage point or two overall but you’d still be left with a very healthy pot.

Edited to add I have no idea how I quoted myself! That was meant for @Toooldtopretend

I concede it’s a headline grabbing number, but the principle of invest passively and over as long a term as you can stands.

thats an extraordinary growth in 17 years! For 77k you’d need a pot of just under two million pounds. Assuming an optimistic growth rate of 8% up until 67 that’s £4K per month contributions. Well done! That’s genuinely impressive!

Absolute rubbish. Most people dont just have the state pension. The figure for pensioners relying solely on State Pension is less than 20% of all pensioners. Most therefore have more than state pension.

As I said, that figure includes my state pension. I currently save £2500 per month.

Agree. It seems to be unique to Mumsnet that nobody should ever post about financial matters unless they are on the breadline. It is quite pathetic that a site aimed mainly at women, who often have less financial stability and freedom than men should tolerate this. Petty jealousy from people who think just because they dont have something nobody else should be allowed to talk about it.

No it’s not. Minimum wage is close to £24k a year.

Based on 8% growth and my current contribution, I would have 1.88 million by the time I reach 67. However, as I said above, the figure that I quoted (as calculated by my current pension provider) includes my state pension at today’s rates. They based it on a lower rate than 8%. My average growth rate on my SIPP is 12%.

Absolutely!
Can I just dare to suggest that anyone posting a short sentence containing the words “tiny violin,” “read the room,” or “check your privilege” on a thread where someone’s genuinely seeking advice should get an instant ban? 😳

Ah I missed the state pension - but still impressive. Where is your sipp invested for this returns?? (If you don’t mind saying)

OP - as well as putting lots in its as important for it to be invested in high growth funds this far out

I have a SIPP with Fidelity invested in four different funds. I earned £48k aged 40. At 49 I earn almost three times that. As my salary has gone up, I have increased my contributions. What you’ve never had, you can’t miss has been my motto!

Most Global equity funds are up 80 or 90% over the last 5 years. Way more than inflation.

Absolutely agree. The amount of petty, immature comments that appear whenever money is being discussed is tedious. Maybe if the site wasn't clogged up with these idiots people would be more likely to post for advice on financial matters. We should be educating women on financial independence not trying to shut down the conversation.