What % do you pay?

JustAnotherSaver

Wow. All these people with nice employers who pay in above and beyond.
Well I guess I’ll be the first guy to come in and say my employer pays in the absolute minimum that they can - so 3%. Funnily the same applies to most people that I know. I only know of a small number of people who have employers paying in above and beyond.

In to the workplace pension scheme, because my employer pays the minimum, I also pay the minimum - so 5% for a combined 8%.

I also pay in to a SIPP a set amount each month so I don’t know how this combines to give a percentage.

The 5% workplace pension works out around £80-£120 a month (from me) depending on 1) how many hours I put in 2) if it’s a 4 or 5 week month.
I pay in £200 per month to my SIPP but going to be looking at whether I can afford to double that. Certainly increase it anyway.

So whatever that works out as a percentage. I’m in my mid 30s.

JoeCrystal

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Well I guess I’ll be the first guy to come in and say my employer pays in the absolute minimum that they can - so 3%. Funnily the same applies to most people that I know. I only know of a small number of people who have employers paying in above and beyond.

I know, they are so lucky! I certainly badgered my employer's higher-ups enough as it is only to be shot down as they do not see the 'point' of paying more than a minimum as they don't pay into theirs. And even so, they only introduce the minimum above the qualifying earnings.

Hopefully, we will see the increase in the minimum level of auto-enrolment contributions one way or another in due course.

k6chris

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

In to the workplace pension scheme, because my employer pays the minimum, I also pay the minimum - so 5% for a combined 8%.

I’m in my mid 30s.

I'm not sure the logic of you paying the minimum because your employer pays the minimum stacks up! What your employer pays is not in your gift (unless you change employers). What you put in is. The advantage of pension saving is the tax relief you get as you pay money in. As a start, find out how much your employer would allow you to pay in. The good news is you are thinking about the contribution question at an earlyish age. Finger in the air, you need to be putting 15% - 18% into your pension each month, between you and your employer. Your future self will thank you. Good luck.

Happier_Me

I pay 6.8% or 8.5% into the LGPS scheme, depending on earnings. Husband is in a DC scheme, pays 20%, employer pays the minimum 3%. They have recently introduced salary sacrifice though and the NI saving meant hubby could increase his pension contributions by 3%.

We also contribute £600 a month to long term retirement savings and this will increase to around £1200 once we have finished some DIY projects.

We're heading into our mid 40s and we are aiming to retire at 55 on £35k gross a year plus a lump sum for big spends of around £100k. We have gaps in our savings but a plan to address them over the next 11 years or so. If I'm honest, if it weren't for my DB, retiring at 55 on our target income would be impossible. At 44, I have accrued around £13,500k pension pa in today's money from 60. Our pension planning is based on my accrued actuarial reduced pension, not projected LGPS pension, so our savings 'gaps' are worst case scenario.

swindiff

Employer pays 21.1% into DB scheme and I pay 9.6%, these figures are due to rise slightly though in the future. I also pay 26% into the DC scheme, its a hybrid pension scheme. So total of 56.7% of my salary.

adonis10

Me - 18% via salary sacrifice
Employer - 16%

Looking to increase mine to 20-22% in the next few months.

lexington013

Me 10% my employer 7.5%.
I also contribute £100 a month into a Sipp.
Looking to retire at 57 (4 years).

Zola.

I put in 12%, work puts in 6%

Wife and I also invest in S&S ISAs every month..

Mothman

Late 50's and I pay 7% into my NEST workplace pension and employer pays 3%. I also pay 33% into a SIPP and so 40% overall.

vacheron

I pay 5% and the company pays 8%
Additionally I pay a further 25% voluntary contribution

Both are via Salary Sacrifice and my employer gives me back all of their 13.8% NI on my 25% voluntary element.

This results in almost exactly double what I would have recieved in take home going into my pension each month.

So "Two birds in the bush" squarely trumps "One in the hand" in my personal experience!