What even is a retirement pot?

[LancashireButterPie]

I keep seeing people talk about retirement pots! How do you start to work out what is in a retirement pot?
I've paid into work based schemes for 39 years. I know how much I will have over month but I don't know how to calculate a pot?
Is it the amount per year for say 20 years?
Can anyone advise please.

Your annual pension statements should let you know how much you have 'in your pot's and an estimate of what your 'pot' will be worth when you retire. Some people also have property etc they intend to sell when they retire to act as part of their 'pot'.

Who have you worked for and what kind of pension is it? I work for a government ministry so mine is defined benefit and there is no pot

Yeah as above there are different types of pension. I have a teaching pension and that doesn’t have a pot, just a defined amount each month I’ll get based on what I’ve paid in. I also have a private sector pension which is a pot, a set amount of money which should grow over the next 30-40 years.

Following with interest as looking to pay more into my pension and would like to understand the tax benefit of doing this as a higher rate tax payer. OP your annual statements should give you details of your pot. Another thing to consider is thinking about your risk appetite and switching from the default option.

@LancashireButterPie is this ONE pension, and is it a DB (defined benefit) one? I know what you mean in terms of the statement, they usually indicate monthly income at retirement and not the total value (my DC pensions do give this, though).
There are A LOT of variables, but if you want a back of the envelope calculation, an Internet search says £1000 pm at retirement is about £300k. Your total pot is the sum of all the other pensions including this one.
Be mindful that if you have accumulated pensions from different employers, they may have different rules when you can take them.
The best place for advice isn't here but start with https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en.

As others have said, it sounds like you have a defined benefit pension (no pot), not a defined contribution one (has a pot). There is a rule of thumb calculation of a DB scheme, which is the annual pension you will get at retirement X 20. The assumption therefore being that you’ll live 20 years. Not much point to it, but interesting if you want to know what you’re worth.

If you have a defined benefit pension, the ‘pot’ value is irrelevant - what is relevant is how much income you get each month.

if you have a defined contribution scheme, it is a pot of money you can take in various ways - you can draw down variable amounts each year, or you could use it to buy an annuity (a guaranteed income each month)

AHH right! I'm NHS so I imagine mine is defined benefit too.

Thank you for your advice, that's been really helpful. I only have NHS pensions but in 3 different schemes. As there were a few enforced changes to the NHS pension over the years.

It's very unlikely you're in all 3 schemes unless you had an employment break of more than 5 years.

You really need to understand the details of how it works, especially if you're in the 1995 and are approaching 60. Your trust should run pension education sessions, usually by external advisers. Go on one.

I’m in all three NHS schemes and it is very confusing

If you're in the 95 scheme make sure you take it on your 60th birthday even if you keep working and paying into the 2015 scheme. If you done take it until you retire you lose your monthly amount x however many months you don't take it for. Some people take it and reduce their hours.
The "pot" people talk about in these schemes is a virtual calculated pot so that they can tax you if you pay in too much which seeing as you don't have any control over how much you pay in it is rather unfair