Thinking about retirement...

k6chris

OP, well done for realising at 33 what many people don't think about until it's too late.  Plenty of good advice already, so nothing for me to add except good luck.  Oh, and don't fret about your kid's quality of childhood, it is seldom correlated to money!

barnstar2077

You must be bringing in over 50k between you, that isn't bad where I live.  Are you in a major city?  Do you have a monthly budget?

I agree with those that have mentioned that buying a house should be a priority.  If you own your own home in retirement, then two state pensions and a couple of small private ones would be more than enough for you to never have to worry. 

PropertyGuru_Wannabe

I actually don't agree with the majority that you should focus on saving for a new home.  You have money coming in and your wife will hopefully soon earn more the same money you earn if not more in the NHS.  You will probably have £66k+ household coming in that doesn't include child benefit and housing benefit.  You don't mention if you are in council housing because if you are, then the more reason not to look for a new home first.  I would be perfectly happy living a nomadic life although your children's education is a consideration.

If I were you, I would focus on firstly increasing that income by thinking outside the box on how you could do this.  There are so many ways, it just depends whether you are willing to put in the hard work for it.  Secondly, I would look to educate on financial savings.  How to build up your finances in the quickest way possible.  This isn't hard but will require knowledge and patience.  Compound interest does most of the heavy lifting for you.  Reading some books on what is an asset and a liability would help you on this.  A property that you live in and pay the mortgage is a liability.

A Pension is a good way to save along with the tax relief from it.  The only downside is you can't touch it until 57+ which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you budget this properly.  Focusing on your poverty line and sorrows will not help you.  You must take action to get out of this and be optimistic in all the things you do.  You have around 60 years ahead of you, which is a lifetime really.  My last words are take action now and stop kicking the can down the road.

squirrelpie

"A property that you live in and pay the mortgage is a liability."

So is a property you live in and pay rent for! The equity in a house you [part] own is an asset.

pterri

Construction regs and energy performance? That’s a good place to be! Get on to as much training as possible and keep your eyes open. My job touches on carbon savings, get into that gig if I were you. LinkedIn is full of terrible idiots bit it is good for job leads, if you’ve not got a profile then I’d get one. 

Peterrr

Your posts remind me of my wife and I's position at a similar age, though you are ahead of us in terms of doing anything about your retirement planning. Happily, both our earnings grew through our 40s and 50s such that we have reached a point of relative financial security above and ahead of what we expected. So keep plugging away and be intentional with your planning and spending.
I echo Albermarle's recommendation to focus on a home at this stage rather than retirement.