Is my pot looking ok?

burner01

I’m 41 this year and have £250k also, putting in £2k per month. You look fine to me.

frugal90

do you own a house or have family?

don't forget to have fun and some adventure while you can as well.

P911TRS

Thanks for all your replies guy, really helpful. Yeah I have a mortgage on my house that will be paid off when I’m 60. Have a wife at university at the moment who will hopefully qualify as a teacher in 4 years time and will be paying into a teachers pension as soon as she can. We have roughly 5 months salary as a backup Incase anything went wrong so I’m happy with that and we generally do what we want in regards to holidays/days out. Has been a little bit tighter since my wife went back to uni but the long term goal will mean she’s earning about 3 times what’s she earned prior to starting university. I see some huge pension pot figures on here that made me think I needed to save a bit more but looks like I’m good so far. I worry about my company 16% when this covid is over, I feel the company will come back and lower their percentage input, can only wait and see.

Albermarle

I see some huge pension pot figures on here that made me think I needed to save a bit more but looks like

Often the big numbers you see are people who have been lucky enough to be in a final salary scheme and the scheme is trying to buy them out with a very large offer. Although some have amassed a large pot via the DC route as well . Usually though they are older than you , and no doubt you will be joining them at this rate !

hyperhypo

I believe you are doing very well. I didn't start contributing to any pension until i was nearly 40...then i had a further 12 years contributing into a DB (final salary scheme) until that ended when work was outsourced. Heck  I didn't even know what a DB pension was when i first go the job.  Since that date i've had a further 8 years contributing a company DC scheme , at roughly same level as you, with employer contribution at a matched 10% plus a 5% contribution towards the employee amount...i paid a bit more in latterly too, so overall about 27-30%.

Contributions were made via salary sacrifice so lowering exposure to higher tax rate, and the pot of money i i have accumulated , plus some redundancy money and combining an old ex SERPS scheme has allowed me to effectively retire now at 61, ie it has provided a buffer until my DB scheme starts in a couple of years. I don't believe i've missed out in doing so , although i would certainly echo others comments about spending to enjoy and travel etc, whenever we're allowed back into Europe.

One point others had made..about how your  scheme is invested, is it in a  Company default lifestyle fund for example.

With hindsight i wish i had simplified my last years of saving into the DC scheme and not chopped and changed around fund allocations as much as i did. I took some paid advice and promptly ignored it , not disastrously but if were doing it again, starting of with a simple, coherent globally diversified plan that could have been adjusted to risk as a got a bit older, might have been a better way to start. Keeping it simple and understandable.  The learning and lessons don't stop...next job for me is to work out how to remodel the pot for drawdown, and indeed where to invest last chunk of pension cash !

Anonymous101

I’m not much older than you at 38 so can offer some perspective on this. I’d say you’re doing very well. You’re in a fortunate position that you’re employer contributions are a lot higher than average so you’ll hopefully continue to build on your good start to date.

I know it could be a while off but it is worth thinking about life time allowances. I’ve run several scenarios depending on contribution levels and retirement dates against the backdrop of manipulating contributions to maximise tax relief. Certainly worth understanding the bigger picture when it comes to tax and pensions.

ratechaser

As previously mentioned, a lot of the big figures on here are DB buyouts. For your age your current number is very decent - I'm 12 years older than you and if I think back to When I was 35, I suspect my pot was a quite a bit smaller, even considering inflation. 

It's a lot bigger now, but that's the benefit of being able to put more in as your career/earnings grow, plus (hopefully) some decent compounding investment growth.

Thrugelmir

Cammywatson033 said:

 I worry about my company 16% when this covid is over, I feel the company will come back and lower their percentage input, can only wait and see.

All you can focus on is how much you have built up now in relation to your long term objectives. Just when life seems to be going well. A spanner can get thrown in the works. Best laid plans need to be rethought. 

mcooke999

Cammywatson033, you are doing extremely well for your age (you'd be doing well even with a pot half that size tbh!)... According to my own spreadsheet, if you carry on as you are you'll easily be able to retire at 50 without any trouble (see attached).

Out of interest, how have you managed to accumulate such a large pot at such a relatively young age? I assume you must have started working early in life and you've been contributing since you started working or something? Most people’s salaries in their late teens / early 20's are usually relatively low though so must be some other secret! I want to know because I’m 31 but only have a pot worth about 10% of yours. I started 'too late' though, 28y/o, no employer contributions (self-employed). Before that I concentrated on overpaying my mortgage which has obviously benefitted me now but I wished someone had taught me the wonders of the stock market /  compounding when I started work at 18y/o!

cfw1994

mcooke999 said:

Cammywatson033, you are doing extremely well for your age (you'd be doing well even with a pot half that size tbh!)... According to my own spreadsheet, if you carry on as you are you'll easily be able to retire at 50 without any trouble (see attached).

Out of interest, how have you managed to accumulate such a large pot at such a relatively young age? I assume you must have started working early in life and you've been contributing since you started working or something? Most people’s salaries in their late teens / early 20's are usually relatively low though so must be some other secret! I want to know because I’m 31 but only have a pot worth about 10% of yours. I started 'too late' though, 28y/o, no employer contributions (self-employed). Before that I concentrated on overpaying my mortgage which has obviously benefitted me now but I wished someone had taught me the wonders of the stock market /  compounding when I started work at 18y/o!

I would agree, the numbers for someone 35 are very good indeed.....I hadn’t reached those sort of numbers until probably late 40’s, although lucky (shrewd?!) fund choices have seen me okay, I feel!

I’d be interested in the source for that pdf, don’t recognise it as cfiresim: mind sharing it so I can have a play please?