Page 3 | What age did you start regularly investing into a private pension?

TheLurpackYears · 24/04/2025 19:19

36 unfortunately. A bottle less wine a week and a pension contribution in my 20s would have put me in a much better position.

DemonsandMosquitoes · 24/04/2025 19:20

Started in NHS pension aged 18. Returned after mat leave at four and five months. No other breaks.
Am now 53 and looking forward to retiring at 55. The pension is the only thing that has kept me (and many others) there tbh.

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 24/04/2025 19:22

21

Lemonandappletree · 24/04/2025 19:22

taxguru · 24/04/2025 18:51

People have been able (and encouraged) to take out their own private pension schemes since the mid 80s, particularly with contracting out of SERPS and S2P throughout the 80s and 90s. Very simple to do and huge numbers of people did it. Back then not many smaller employers had occupational pension schemes so it was a matter of sorting yourself out.

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Thanks. DH and I missed on this information; perhaps because we are not British and came to the UK later. Can’t believe how uneducated and neglectful we were. Only started thinking of it seriously reaching 50. We did the minimum until then and missed on all the compounding interest

slapmyarseandcallmemary · 24/04/2025 19:23

Ten years ago.

Tafal · 24/04/2025 19:26

19, my first proper job.

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 24/04/2025 19:30

Only at around 29 thanks to starting out with a small firm and then moving to the charity sector. I upped my game as much as I could to improve my situation but would have been so much easier if I'd started earlier.

DorothyStorm · 24/04/2025 19:31

Paid into a public sector pension from 22.

sgtmajormum · 24/04/2025 19:34

Started at 22, paid in about 10% but then 10 years later had kids and that's when it went wrong. Mix of Part Time working, not working, part time working again and really hard financial hardship over the next 10 years, then divorce, more PT working. I just couldn't afford to pay into a pension until I was more financially solvent at around age 45.
I'm now chucking as much as I can into a pension (10% me, 5% employer) and with my state pension should give me a just comfortable retirement. I won't be going on fancy holidays abroad but I'll be ok.
I'm not expecting to retire til I'm late 60s (67/68) but should have mortgage paid off by 60 so will be able to go PT if working post 60 becomes a struggle

It is what it is, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I'm trying to make up for it now

NautilusLionfish · 24/04/2025 19:35

taxguru · 24/04/2025 18:49

After a year or so in my first job in the mid 80s, aged around 19. Employer didn't have a pension scheme, so I started investing a small amount, something like a tenner per month, with an independent financial adviser who had his own small office near our workplace. Set it up to increase annually by 5%, but as I progressed through different jobs up my career ladder, I increased the contributions myself every pay rise, to probably around 10% of gross wages.

About 20 years ago, I used the fund value (about £150k or so back then) to buy my own office out of which I run my business, where my business pays in the market rent of the office. Total pension fund (investments and property) now stands just shy of a million. Never had a job where the employer made employer contributions and I've not really made much of my own contributions for the past 20 years either whilst I've been running my own business - just the rent going in for the property and investment gains (managed funds portfolio) and the increase in value of the office premises.

You really have to start early, however small the amount, and let compound interest and investment growth increase the fund values over time,

You were very sensible. And lucky

NautilusLionfish · 24/04/2025 19:39

Apart from how old you were when you started your private pensions, how much is in your pension pot now?

Mikart · 24/04/2025 19:43

NautilusLionfish · 24/04/2025 19:39

Apart from how old you were when you started your private pensions, how much is in your pension pot now?

700k.

AnneElliott · 24/04/2025 19:44

Age 21 when I started in the civil service. It was a no brainier as it was non contributory back then and remained so for the first 6 years I was there.

jellyfawn · 24/04/2025 20:22

I didn't start early as I was a sahm in my 20s/early 30s. I started a pension aged 35, paid in the majority of my salary into my employer pension and a SIPP, and took a high risk approach to the investments (including individual stocks). I am 45 and I have £350k now.

Lemonandappletree · 24/04/2025 22:51

NautilusLionfish · 24/04/2025 19:39

Apart from how old you were when you started your private pensions, how much is in your pension pot now?

Not much/enough for my age😐

AmIHumanOrAmIAYeti · 24/04/2025 23:05

But I had 15 years of public sector pension by that point.

AmIHumanOrAmIAYeti · 24/04/2025 23:08

I’m mid 40s and I’ve built up current annual pension value of £20k, plus £80k in a SIPP and a £50k LISA.

Backofthenet20 · 25/04/2025 07:40

Started saving from age 19 into final salary scheme. Had a second final salary scheme for 9 years. Moved these into SIP after 65x cash out value about 3 years ago. Are currently worth 2x defined benefit annual payment and I have another 15-20 years of compounding depending on when I retire. Have other pension savings of 440k over the last 14 years, the S&P500 has been good. Will continue to save 10-15% annual salary towards retirement & the same for travel now whilst we can enjoy it.

butternutsquashed · 25/04/2025 07:49

I was 20 DH was 26 but it was because he spent 18 months travelling and did a PhD as well. He has a better pension than me, he did a lot of AVC in the last few years before working and earned far more than I did.

@AmIHumanOrAmIAYeti your previous 15 years of public sector pension are still a private pension scheme though public sector. If we looked at it like that then I would never have a private pension, I have 35 years contributions. When people write this they mean anything in addition to the state pension.

linelgreen · 25/04/2025 08:20

A soon as I started work at 16 but was very fortunate in that my employers scheme was a final salary scheme that was non contributary so although I was in it no payment was required. Reflecting back on this now if at 16 someone would have asked me to contribute the decision may have differed!

Divebar2021 · 25/04/2025 08:28

I was 29 when I joined the police and am now 54. I honestly don’t think a pension even entered my head before that moment.

AmIHumanOrAmIAYeti · 25/04/2025 08:31

butternutsquashed · 25/04/2025 07:49

I was 20 DH was 26 but it was because he spent 18 months travelling and did a PhD as well. He has a better pension than me, he did a lot of AVC in the last few years before working and earned far more than I did.

@AmIHumanOrAmIAYeti your previous 15 years of public sector pension are still a private pension scheme though public sector. If we looked at it like that then I would never have a private pension, I have 35 years contributions. When people write this they mean anything in addition to the state pension.

It’s an employers’ pension, surely.

a private pension would be one I open myself and am the only one making contributions to.

ArtemisiaTheArtist · 25/04/2025 08:33

Company pension: 23 years old. I'm pretty much going to be heavily relying on it when I retire! I'm in my late 40s now.

Online384 · 25/04/2025 08:45

nightmarepickle2025 · 24/04/2025 16:49

You pay via your employer payroll pre tax, or if you’re paying into a private pension you reclaim the tax, either the pension scheme does it for you or you reclaim on tax return. Or just write to HMRC with details of your contributions to reclaim the tax