Pension - How much to out in? When to retire?

FatherAbraham

mither wrote: »

It also asks me which age I'd like to retire (55 - 75?). Clearly I'd like to retire at 55 so not sure what i should entre here as it seems unlikely that i'll be in any position to retire that early.

The age you put will be the one used to calculate projected benefits on your annual statements. For those annual statements to be most useful (in terms of telling you whether you're on track or not), it's best to put down what you (currently) think would be a good age to retire. You can always change it later.

If you can't think of anything better, then use your current state pension age. If you don't know what that is, then put "67".

Warmest regards,
FA

mither_2

many thanks for everyone's advice.

kidmugsy

mither wrote: »

If I could get enough of my income paid into my pension potentially I could work it so that my taxable income was below the £34,371 threshold for higher rate tax and so I only paid basic rate tax on my earnings. Is my understanding correct?

Not quite; you add the width of the 20% tax band, currently £31,865, to the tax-free personal allowance, currently £10k p.a., and discover that higher rate tax starts at £41,865.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm