Good pension for my age?

chelseablue

Just had my yearly workplace pension statement, as Im getting older Im starting to take more of an interest in these things.

Im 36 and female

My pension pot currently is £86,000

I put in £160 a month and my employer puts in £220 a month

Is a pot of £86k considered good for 36? If Im way behind where I should be then I can increase my contributions

Anonymous101

This thread might be useful: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2146737/pensions-planning-the-number


Its quite long but there's lots of good detail in about what your eventual pension pot number might be.


Its difficult to say from your current balance because lots of factors can come into play. The basic drivers are your annual spend (in retirement) and at what age you want to retire.

Albermarle

s a pot of £86k considered good for 36?

My initial reaction ( without knowing all details) is that you seem to be on the right track . Most people your age will have a lot less/zero .

worried_jim

chelseablue wrote: »

Just had my yearly workplace pension statement, as Im getting older Im starting to take more of an interest in these things.

Im 36 and female

My pension pot currently is £86,000

I put in £160 a month and my employer puts in £220 a month

Is a pot of £86k considered good for 36? If Im way behind where I should be then I can increase my contributions

I was about the same at 36 as you. I'm 45 now and I'm on good track. I review mine now every year, a good habit to get into.

Brynsam

Rather depends what your salary is. If you and your employer (combined) are only paying the minimum required by auto-enrolment legislation, you are likely to have quite a drop in your standard of living in later life. If on the other hand the £4560 a year is (say) 20% of pay, things are looking very good indeed.

My guess is you are somewhere in the middle of those extremes and are building a solid foundation for later life. Good for you!

chelseablue

Thank you all

What age I want to retire would be this Friday :rotfl:

But realistically its 68, so another 32 years to go

My salary is £37,000

Anonymous101

chelseablue wrote: »

Thank you all

What age I want to retire would be this Friday :rotfl:

But realistically its 68, so another 32 years to go

My salary is £37,000

I'd say considering your age and salary you're doing well. Your contributions of around 12% are there or there about. Certainly better than most people our age (I'm 37) and on track to be ok by 68.
However if you're serious about retiring early, I am, then I'd suggest you need to get your savings rate ramped up.

JoeCrystal

For someone in their thirties, I would say it is very good. According to ONS, the median DC pension pot for 35 to 44 female is £4,500 in 2016.

MallyGirl

That means your combined contributions are around 10% of your salary. If you can afford to increase then you should try to. Are you getting the max contribution from your employer?

chelseablue

Yes my employer is paying the max they should for my pay grade

I've still got 29 years to go on my mortgage (if we don't overpay) so not sure how early I'd be able to retire even if I wanted to

Although we are considering moving to a cheaper area next year which should bring the mortgage down to having about 10 years to go

Anonymous101

Regarding early retirement.... I've posted this several times before and I'm sure people on here are probably getting sick of it althought a good few are following this too, but I think its really really really important. I really wish I'd found this sooner but thats by the by now.

Anyway, I'd recommend you read and listen to everything you can on Financial independence Retire Early (FIRE). All of it may not be applicable to you but since you're looking in on here at a relatively young age you seem like the type that would be open to it. You can be as radical or as laid back about the approach as you like, its not all or nothing, but I feel like the principles would benefit anyone and everyone.

If you start by reading the two links below. Particularly the Mr Money Mustache article. If you've never heard of him he's an American chap that managed to retire by 30.

The choose fi links below is a good place to start with a good overview. They also do a podcast which I've put a link to the introductory one below. Most of their podcasts are interviews with people that are working on their own terms after adopting the principles of FIRE in one way or another.

https://www.choosefi.com/the-why-of-fi/

https://www.choosefi.com/financial-independence-beginners-guide/

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/

Hopefully you'll find them interesting and useful.