To find this pension forecast depressing

[Hanhan5]

I thought I was doing really well with c.£180,000 in my pension at 35 and combined employer/own contributions of c.£1000 a month.

I had a forecast statement through in the post today and it suggests based on the likeliest scenario that I’ll have a pot worth c.£600,000 when I’m 65.

I thought it would have been higher and makes me wonder what sort of retirement I’ll have😪

A cushty one that's the kind you'll have

Humble brag much

What's your salary OP? They say you need 10x your final salary in your pension pot to maintain the same standard of living.

I have found it possible to increase mine, as we stopped paying for childcare then mortgage etc and as salary has increased I've put the extra in, it's now quite a big % of my salary

This has to be a joke right? 🤦🏽‍♀️

There is a very good nhs and public sector pension page on FB who will be able to advise you

lol If any of us think we’ll be getting the state pension if we’re in ojr 30s today!!

That doesn’t sound right, op. Even in real terms if you are 100% equities you’d expect a much larger pot.

I would double check a) what you’re invested in and b) what assumptions the forecast is based on. It’s possible they are using ultra cautious assumptions on growth and inflation.

You are working full time since you were 22 years old, like the rest of us, and have to work until you’re 76? Good God.

What are the stated assumptions for the forecast? Is the growth rate they’re using realistic or overly conservative?

OP I thought the same when I got my annual pension statement through this year, it was much less than I was expecting, I’m a few years older than you and have slightly less in my pot. When I read the details carefully it said that the projection was based on growth rates that had been discounted by 2.5% for inflation - so they were only projecting 3.5% on the main fund I have mine despite that consistently performing at 6-7%. If you look carefully at the detail I bet it’s that.

It’s a very good pot for your age. Mine is half the size and I’m 44. It’s suffered due to working part time and self employment due to children with additional needs.

On the other hand I would add that every one of us - however well we prepare - needs to rethink what retirement looks like. Our generation won’t be able to not work at all. Resources will be scarce. The markets will be highly affected by the changes to come with AI, climate, migration, conflict.

Keep preparing but adjust your expectations. Life in the UK is going to look very very different in three decades time.

That’s not what you’ll live off - you will have compound interest. Plus the state pension.

Omg wait until you get to your mid forties and realise you might want to retire earlier than 65….then you will feel concerned about every penny everywhere!

you are doing fine that is a good pot but also make some cash provision also as part of your retirement plan

It may be that its valued as £600k in todays values. In reality it will grow by more but there'll be am assumption around compound inflation.

£600k will buy an annuity of £24k or so. With state pension as well this is pretty good. Its all relative, you're doing much better than most people.

The exponential rate of AI and robotics progress that we’re seeing today means in 10 years never mind 30, money won’t even exist, we’ll all be living off UBI or UHI.

Honestly, don’t get hung up on pensions.

I think you’re doing great, and I think those forecasts they produce tend to be very conservative.

For someone in their 30s with a pension of this size, I’d not be counting on a state pension tbh.

i’m assuming I’ll be means tested out of it by then.

Depends on the investments and structure. My current (unrealised) pension growth rate is between 12-15%pa (with plenty of ups and downs, thanks Mr Trump!) so £750k could produce £75k at 10% ish, without eating capital.