What percentage of your salary are you paying to your pension

[Kerry987]

I am getting a bit concerned that DH and I don’t have much pensions contributions and want to increase it so would like to have an idea of what percentage people contribute. I know it will vary depending of people’s circumstances but want to have a rough idea.

Thank you

Unfortunately a lot of people, me included, only realise how much you need to put into a defined contribution pension later in life when retirement seems within touching distance.

I don't want or even think I could work full time until 67/68 so in order to retire early 50s I need to throw more at it. Fortunately both DH and I have worked full time and had pensions even if we didn't contribute much at the beginning.

I do have a small defined benefit and it will give me a steady income from 55 which will at least pay the essential house bills. For those with full DBs I am so jealous

10% of mine, which won't be enough but I have a rental property and other savings.
Dp is putting in 25% since last year for the next two years until he retires. He also has a rental and savings. We're also mortgage free.

Just checked, my employer pays 15.6 % so that's 21.6% plus additional 10% AVCs.

5% salary sacrifice. Company matches it. Am aiming to increase this to 20% next September when DS starts school.

Just found out DH only pays in 1% so we might have to have words. I'm not subsiding him in old age!!

Thank you for your responses. It would be nice to have an employer that matches your contributions. Mine only does the 3% statutory. I only started contributing when it became compulsory and with what the statutory percentage is so really need to start topping it up.

Always paid in the max from aged 24 which in those days was the joining age where I worked and always had an employer contribution. Transferred all my pots to my present employer in 2013. All pension rights up to 2014 based on a final salary scheme. I had 8 years out with the children, am 60 now and hope to retire in about 3 or 4 years on about 3/4 of a full occupational pension.

Presently I pay about 9% gross and my employer puts in about 13% but that's a figure I always have to double check.

Got hit by the annual allowance last year due to a promotion. I am well pensioned but need to work until 65 for full state pension due to a contracted out period but the shortfall isn't much.

10% + 10.6% employer contribution.

Glad some posters are aware of the allowance. I wonder if the PP mentioning investing high (70% ?!) are aware of this.

£1.5m I think it is.

@LizzieMacQueen

Glad some posters are aware of the allowance. I wonder if the PP mentioning investing high (70% ?!) are aware of this.

£1.5m I think it is.

By which I mean tax relief is available. I'm sure you can invest more but that'd be without tax relief.

So many gaps in mine over the years due to shit jobs etc. I will be working well into my 60s at least. Current job I pay 5% and employer pays 13%. I also pay £200 a month in AVCs in an attempt to catch up

My employer’s scheme is non-contributory and defined benefit (pension contributions work about about 1/3 of my overall compensation package though). Plus I save around another 2.5% into a personal pension pot, and the same again into my children’s pension pots.

Is it terrible that I have no idea??

I’m 37 and have been paying into a civil service pension since I was 23. The first 9 years are final salary which I could take at 60, but then they switched it to career average which you can take at state pension age. I think that makes it a defined benefits scheme?

All I know is that they put me on the ‘best’ scheme when I joined the civil service and I’ve paid in since day one.

I should really get my head around it but I think I’ve always just felt like I have the safety net of one of the ‘best’ pensions available so didn’t need to worry too much

@DrMadelineMaxwell I have a similar view to you. I hope to be doing okay at pension age if I live that long but I'm wary of locking away too much just in case, and especially don't want to scrimp and save now.

Spurred on by this thread I’ve just logged into my pension portal and added death beneficiary. Been meaning to do it for YEARS!

I think some posters are referring to the lifetime allowance which is currently only just over £1m, though they are supposed to increase it every year by a percentage based on RPI, or something like that. Once you go beyond that, they tax you on the ‘excess’ savings when you withdraw them based on your tax rate at that time.

www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/lifetime-allowance

It’s very unfair as they are effectively penalising investment returns as well rather than just limiting the tax relief when investing in a pension.

Thanks for the link @TheFlyingAspidistra

So a lot less than the £1.5m that I was quoting. Thanks for clarifying.

I pay 8%, employer paid 12%. During Covid they have reduced their payments to 4%, really hoping they go back up at somepoint.

So that’s making me concerned as really can’t see them being keen to go back to 12% and I really can’t afford another 8% myself.

15% from me plus 7% from my employer. I’m 33.

10% it’s the most I’m allowed to.

It was prob 5% in my twenties, maybe 8% in 30’s and now 12%.
Do what you can as much as you can afford and do prioritise it over non essentials if you can. 30’s was my toughest decade financially, due to childcare, constantly lived in overdraft

Civil Service defined benefit (but not old style final salary of which I'm very jealous). Pay in 7.35% of salary which is a standard %age for my grade.

I'm 43 and currently paying 7% with employer paying 10%. I've only been paying decent amounts for the past 3 years though. Before that I worked part time in a low wage job and only put in 5% which was really nothing.

I think we will be working until our 60s nearly 70. Should have started planning earlier. I am 45 but my pension pot is a bit depressing.

@Kerry987

Thank you for your responses. It would be nice to have an employer that matches your contributions. Mine only does the 3% statutory. I only started contributing when it became compulsory and with what the statutory percentage is so really need to start topping it up.

It's interesting that you mention employers statutory amounts. I changed jobs last year and was put of an offer by one company when I realised how low their pension contribution was. Not something I would have previously given any thought to, but once you have better benefits in a job you realise how important they are. And as you get older.

I put in 23% but only started this year when I turned 40. Before that paid in around 10-12% each since I started work age 22 but the total is not very big and the annuity projections were scarily low so I'm now paying in a lot more to try and boost it for the next 15 years.