My pension is worth NOTHING

[RosieBright]

I had a job for 13 years in Government and kept thinking it was a great pension as folk kept telling me. I looked at my pension paperwork when the annual statement came through and I have £9000.
I thought that was A YEAR!!! But no, it's worth about £30 a month 😱
How can I boost this? I need anoth £100K to even have half a decent pension

Help!!!

How old are you and at what age are you looking to retire?

How old are you and how long ago did you leave that employment? Are you working elsewhere now?

How old are you, were you full time in HMG, do you have any other private pensions? Public sector pensions are indeed ‘good’ but usually require 40 years of full time contributions to reach their full amount.

Do you have any other pensions from other employment?
Depending on current age and salary, can you afford to put a lot more into a pension from now?

That sounds incredibly low for 13 years service. Are you sure there isn't some kind of mistake here? Obviously not trying to get you to share personal info on the internet, but what type of job was it? Were you over 18 when you started? How long ago was it you worked there?

Even a NEST pension for 13 years would probably have more in than that, and I thought most government jobs had a DB pension?

As ever, so much information is missing.

How old are you, are you still working, do you have any other pensions, when do you intend giving up work etc etc.......?

I'm just 61

Are you sure that it is correct? If so that would be unusual as civil service, local government etc is Defined benefit not defined contribution. Can you posta photo of your statement taking out any identifying details?

Oh yeah I’m in a similar situation. Teachers pension.

fortunately I won’t be relying on it.

That figure definately sounds wrong. Can you go back and re-check somehow.

Government pensions are defined benefit. What is the £9000? There is no pot with DB pensions (unless you pay AVCs) so I'm a bit confused.

Sorry am in shock
I started at 43 and worked in government for 13 years
Not there now but returning in 3 months
I'm 61 now

What exactly does the pension statement say.? Which pension is it?

Only £9000 is mentioned anywhere

Did you not think to pay more into your pension over the years? Its not a new topic of discussion

Did you opt for a defined contribution scheme rather than they standard pension which would have been a defined benefit?

That number might make sense if so but still feels very low, we're you full time? Any career breaks?

How many hours per week did you work for the full 13 years? It sounds like you were very part time for most of it as the figures you’ve mentioned don’t sound right.

That's an insanely low amount OP. Are you sure it's right?

As for how you can boost it, well by upping your monthly payments, for a start. Why have you only been paying in £30 per month and why has it taken you so long to notice this? Most people are putting away the maximum they can afford, particularly once they get within 10 years of retirement. TBH though, if you're already 61, what's your retirement age and are you planning to retire then or work longer?

I was dumped when kids were tiny and it took me 10 years to get a decent job after being a mature student

That doesn’t sound right. LGPS is a good one. £9k per year sounds more the ballpark for 13 years service.

Surely it all depends on what OP did and the hours they worked. If they were lollipop lady/man working 10 hours a week then it would sound about right.
More info needed, OP.

Can you show us? It's easy to redact any identifying information.

Work was putting in 23%. I didn't put £30 in, I worked it out going on the HMRC WEBSITE

Can you post a picture of the statement without your name etc? as I suspect £9000 is the annual pension.

When I get home from work