Whats your magic number?

Doshwaster

kev2009 wrote: »

hi, wow interesting read, makes my pension look insignificant/not enough... I'm 41, single, paing into a works pension and there online portal predicts I would have approx £450k pension pot at 68 and then goes on to prodict what I would get as 25% tax free and as a income.

I'm wondering how people get to 750k etc... is it simply you have very well paid jobs, high tax bracket and can afford to put more in to prevent you paying higher rate tax? but then surely not everyone is higher rate tax payers? or perhaps these figures are combination of husband and wife's total pension pot?

Kev

Don't forget that your pension pot isn't the only source of money to fund retirement. For example there will also be savings and any equity built up in property. If you take a combination of these then a figure of £750,000 is more realistic.

I'm 45 and was my pot is currently only about £125,000 (I didn't start doing pensions properly until my early 30s) so the predictions I see in my annual statement are very depressing but I also have about £150,000 in property equity and £50,000 in cash/shares. That's total assets of £325,000 which makes £750,000 within the next 20-odd years achievable.

Mnd

Our target is a lot less.. £150000 we only need 2k a month
However I do have an occupational pension of 7200(I have stopped working I'm 64)
My State pension forecast is £188 a week
My wife is 58 and will probably work till 62 and a half which will give her full state pension

Therefore, we need to bridge to 68 as we would like to defer her pension for 2 years

So we will cut into our 150 for 5 and a half years..leaving approx 100k as spare money to be used over the next 25? years.

I also do not have to consider inheritance in any of my plans, so I would not rule out equity release in the future either

OldMusicGuy

I hadn't considered my "magic number" until a couple of years ago. Up to that point, I just assumed I would keep working until about 63/64, a couple of years before SP age, and then call it quits. I didn't give much thought to what I needed, I just kept saving.

However, a couple of things changed my attitude completely. The first, and most important, was work. It got increasingly stressful and I realised that at 58, I could not last until 63/64, as it was starting to damage my health. The second was the change in the tax regime that meant as someone affected by tapering, I could only save £10K per year into a pension.

These reasons combined made me look at what I had in the DC pot (and other savings) and if retirement before 63/64 was practical. I decided it was, based on what I had 2 years ago, and where it would be in 2 years time (ie now). I retired 6 months ago and so far all is going well, despite several unexpected expenditures.

blisteringblue

I am hoping for 850K at aged 55 (currently 50) but 750K is fine (3-4% growth will see me there). I will take max TFLS and then probably stick to 4.5% safe drawdown. I have a small DB at 65 (4K) and full state at 67.

I got lucky with crazy CETV last year (one was 56x), so I know I am in a fortunate position. However as I have said in the Early Retirement Wanabee thread, my goal has always been to retire at 55 so I wasn't one of those who had to keep hold of their DB at all cost. I swapped around 12K PA for close to 450K. I could not retire at 55 without doing this.

I am a HR Tax payer and still contribute 20% (me 12% and company 8%) which I will tweak up over the last few years too.

[Deleted User]

I have a final salary scheme which from age 58 gives me 28k per year and is index linked. I also currently receive circa 1500 a month from rental property so together I think that will be fine for me.


If there is still a state pension when I retire I have full contributions towards that but I have never considered that in my retirement planning and anything I get there is a bonus.


I don't have dependants and a couple of friends say I should cash in the final salary as I may not get the whole value if I should die early ( Cheerful though lol ) but as I don't need the spousal / beneficiary bit it may be worth considering. The index linked bit and general security of it I like though, there is comfort in a definite income.

fraserkerr

I would like to reach a fund of approximately £750k. I'm 34 and only have an existing DC value of £110k so still a long way to go. Not sure if £750k is an unrealistic expectation though.

atush

Read The Number thread in t he link above- not sure we need more than one?

JimmyTheWig

BBH123 wrote: »

I don't have dependants and a couple of friends say I should cash in the final salary as I may not get the whole value if I should die early

With no dependents, will these friends inherit the cash if you die before them??

NoMore

westv wrote: »

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2146737/pensions-planning-the-number&highlight=number

atush wrote: »

Read The Number thread in t he link above- not sure we need more than one?

These are the correct answers, already a long running thread, absolutely no need to create another one.

OldMusicGuy

This one is slightly different, and now the other one is getting a bit confused. The "Number" thread was about annual income needed to live "comfortably" in retirement, whereas this one asked what is the total level of wealth people feel comfortable with before they can retire.