How old are you and how much do you have saved in your pension?

[availableforlunch]

I'm dreaming thinking about retirement and using the MAS calculator. Apparently I need to put a huge sum into my pension each month (over £700!).

I'm 31 and have about 20k saved. Started aged 20 thanks to my sensible boss at the time advising me that I should. She was only 7 years older than me so I took her advice on board.

£20k still seems paltry for 11 years of saving!?

How old are you and how much is in your pension pot?

I am 50. I will qualify for the full state pension when I am 67. If it still exists. It pays around 8800 per year at the moment.

I have an old Civil Service pension which should pay around 5K per year when I am 60.

I am now self employed and have properties, savings and investments worth 500K which make up my pension pot. Most of this is jointly owned with DH. He is also now self employed and has old company pensions which will pay around 7K per year when he is 65. He will also qualify for the full state pension at 67.

Using todays figures two state pensions and company pensions will give us around 30K per year between us. Hopefully by the time we retire our other savings and investments will give us around 20K for a total income of 50k per year.

Well thats the plan.

How can anyone "not believe" in pensions?

It's scary the number of people that hold that view. I know one personally who I encouraged recently to explain his rationale to me. He waffled on about pension funds getting plundered by employers and/or the government, dying before you can reap all the benefits and how annuities were a rip-off. He had no idea that annuities ceased to be compulsory years ago or that you can access your pension from 55 if you choose to. So, basically, mind-numbing ignorance is your answer.

I’m 36 - my pension pot is valued around £350k though it’s defined benefit not defined contribution, so exact valuation is dependent on my final salary amongst other things.

That is the first time I've heard someone not believe in pensions....

My mum retired about a year ago and is soooo glad of her teachers pension. She's fit and healthy at the moment and although she's paid her mortgage, she has bills to pay, a car to maintain, a social life to be had and she likes to travel to visit my overseas siblings. It's a good job she wasn't relying on my dad as they ended up divorcing and it's just her. Her pension is very important to her and I she would be very tight for money now if she didn't have it

Nearly 51 and its approx £347k...

^£80 of what you save is topped up by the Gov by a further £20 - as a pp said, free money"

I don't get how this works. You put £80 into your pension and the gov put £20 in? Is this through salary sacrifice or something?

I don't know what my pot is but I have 4 x defined benefit schemes and I think projected annual income atm is around 8k. I'm 40yo. Hope to double that by the time I retire.

Excuse me, I'm not ignorant at all, pensions just aren't right for me and my dh.
Our children have them as they have employers and started paying straight away.
They are not right for us, that doesn't make us ignorant, you cheeky bugger.

June - no, it doesn’t have to be salary sacrifice. It will be topped up anyway. It’s actually a tax rebate, but you get the top up on a certain amount even if you don’t earn enough to pay tax.

A financial advisor told dh not to bother with pension contributions and focus on property instead. He must have been mid 40s I think, or maybe early 40s and didn't have a pension but lots of savings. Advisor said no point at that stage starting a pension.

We did similar AC , I'm a sahm and dh self employed.
Always paid a stamp through Director and secretary of our company.
I've checked I've paid enough and continue to pay enough. Then we'll use other investments.
You don't need a pension, you need provision for retirement.

Not enough... though I'm now contributing the maximum in my early 40s and plan to fo so for as long as possible. Also have a bit saved elsewhere.

I worry about family members who can't even do that.

In addition, I think when one's youngest child turns 12 it's no longer possible to claim NI credits under the category of 'home responsibilities' - necessary to claim state pension. Worth knowing... 12 seems young though... Please someone correct me if I have got that wrong?

I don’t have a pension but I have savings instead. Currently have £49k aged 35 and have just started looking into pension options as well as I’m self employed and can now afford to pay in a chunk a month.

AC & Romany i am surprised that any FInancial Adviser would discount pensions due to the generous tax benefits they afford. You can buy commercial property and use them to pass wealth on to your DCs. Please seek a range of advice/advisers that can explain the benefits even if you are a SAHM

Excuse me, I'm not ignorant at all, pensions just aren't right for me and my dh.

So why didn't you say "they are not appropriate given my personal circumstances" instead of "I don't believe in them"? Perhaps you should work on your rudimentary communication skills and then, perhaps, you can claim not to be ignorant. That aside, if you or your DH pay tax, it is highly unlikely that a pension is not appropriate for at least part of your retirement provision.

I'm 26 so not much. I pay 6% because that is what my employer matches so it would be silly not to take the free money.

Anything else I would be putting in a Lifetime ISA but nursery fees are stopping that for now.

As a basic rate tax payer, you are only really delaying the tax with a pension whereas you are not taxed on the way out with a LISA.

I'm hoping to earn more in the future so there is no point wasting lifetime allowance for 20% relief.

I am shock at some of these. I don't earn badly but I'd need to be putting in my entire salary to get anywhere close to these numbers. Gahhhh.

Don't forget that you are currently managing to live on a lot less than people with those numbers too. If they are putting that amount in, they are earning a lot more to start with. You are used to managing with less - they are not.

Bear in mind that pension investment - yes it is tax efficient, yes it pays out for life - doesn't give you a huge amount from what you think is a huge pot anyhow - people are living longer, so amounts per month are dropping too.

£157k- gives me around £650 a month if not retiring early, the average pot at £35k would only give around £100 a month.

In addition, I think when one's youngest child turns 12 it's no longer possible to claim NI credits under the category of 'home responsibilities' - necessary to claim state pension. Worth knowing... 12 seems young though... Please someone correct me if I have got that wrong

12 is correct - you are expected to contribute to society through tax and national insurance when your youngest child is at secondary school in order to reap the benefits at an older age.

Does not seem that unreasonable to me.

I can't find all my bloody pensions! I have £10k in my current pot (private), can't find my pensions from my 20s (public sector so should be an ok amount). Trying to track them down atm. I'm 31 and just started in civil service where over £800 will be put in a month (it's 27% but not sure if that includes my contribution).

Thanks for this thread OP. I have dug out my folder with my pensions and checked my NI contributions, I feel more in control now and a bit relieved. I do not have lots as I don't earn that much but it will all add up and I have many more years ahead of me to contribute 😱😱😱😱
So many years! 30 they said 😱😱😱😱

49 and 150k, husband has 400k, 2 years left to qualify for full state pension, house worth 600k with 50k mortgage left to pay, so we will down size when we are about 60 and both work part time until 67, that’s the plan anyway.

Not that I will probably qualify but I remember reading that if you only put £100,000 into your pension you might as well not bother as income support covers the equivalent of the income from a £100k pension.

I have never earned enough to be able to put money in a pension.

36 and 320k

2k a month Happyspud? What planet are you!

I'm 51, c£200k in pot, £50k in savings, no mortgage, I pay in £3,400pm now and am aiming to get to £400k by age 55 - it's a stretch though.
But I think £400k is a sensible amount, though more is clearly better.

I work on a 4% income prediction. So £400k is £16k pa (plus state pension of £8k). That's ignoring capital drawdown.