If you’re in your 40s, how much are you focused on and planning for retirement/ pensions etc?

[Peterrabbitismybrother]

Firstly I appreciate many are living hand to mouth and are not able to save, and being able to save for retirement is a privileged position.

If you are in your 40s, and are in a position to save for your future, how much are you focused on this, what’s your strategy (eg ISAs, pensions), and planned retirement age etc?

I’m mid 40s and would like to have the option to “step down” my work a notch in my 50s, with full retirement not later than 60. Although I might carry on if I am enjoying work when that time comes. (I currently find work stressful but I have primary age DC and juggle a lot so guess that’s the norm!)

Some of my friends always seem to have the latest and greatest (eg tech, cars, holidays) and I do wonder how much they are focusing on the future, although I would never ask them.

Having not been in a position to prioritise pensions and long term savings we have in the last year really stepped up as started getting quite worried.

We are now choosing to go without day to day, and instead maximising salary sacrifice schemes, plus adding any pay rises and interest on savings to a S&S ISA. We will have a mortgage for at least another 10 years bar an inheritance enabling us to clear that.

I plan to work till 65 and same for DP, but his industry doesn't favour older employees so we will have to see. It's scary and I have huge regrets about our decisions in our youth. Already educating DC on things like compound interest etc and the huge difference saving even a little when young can make over a period of say 40 years.

Paying into my pension since I was 22. Started AVCs at 26.
I’m six years away. I’ll retire at 55 years. I absolutely love my job.
but I remember as a young g child the recession in the 80s and learnt from it…

You love your job but you are retiring at 55 because you remember the 1980s?

can you explain this a bit more please? I can understand having a comfortable financial cushion incase of redundancy but why retire so young if you live your job?

I'm 49.

Because life is for living. I'll have done 5 days a week for 33 years. Time to see the world...

I’m 39. I had an inheritance that I put part into a pension and part into a GIA which feeds my ISA. I also have an NHS pension. Arguably that’s all I need to do in order to live a modestly comfortable retirement, and i have that flexibility to have instant access to money then the private pension at the legal age and then the NHS pension later on.

My kids are very young and so I’m more focused at the moment on the fact I’ll still be part funding their lives for another 20 years 🤣 I’d like to go either part time or self employed consultancy at about 50/55 though which is pretty common in my line of work. Once I’m no longer paying a bomb on nursery fees I’m hoping to get a good few years of over paying the mortgage in before costs of uni fees etc hits!!

Ah - that’s a good reason. From your post I thought it had something to do with worrying about a recession and it don’t really make sense😊