Increased NHS contributions or private pension

https://www.nhsemployers.org/news/2017/06/new-resource-to-help-communicate-nhs-pension-scheme-additional-voluntary-contribution-options?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NHS%20Workforce%20Bulletin%20issue%20560&utm_content=Pensions:%20the%20benefits%20of%20additional%20voluntary%20contributions

may be worth a look.

This is a good article. I am similar age and just had a letter stating my TPS pension contributions were going to increase significantly. I was furious to be fair until a IFA looked at it and said it is still a good deal. I pay approx 18% (faster accrual + 3 year buy out) in order to bank £1k per year in pension to take at age 65.

This cost equates to £8k of salary before tax. Even though it sounds a lot, it is actually only costing me around 6.5k due to tax relief. Then that £1k is increasing in value and if it increased in value by only a menial 2% per year until age 65 it would have doubled in value. So paying 6.5k for 2k in 25-30 years seems ok when its put that way.

I also am NHS worker. I have had a similar conversation with younger colleagues. I suggest you do several things-

1) Work out some personal goals- do you have/ want house/ marriage/ children?

2) Have you got an emergency fund? If not get a few months expenditure banked, 6 months full pay if off sick so it is not as crucial to have a full 6 months outgoings banked but is a nice cushion.

3) What age do you want to retire? Options are needed here in case life changes. If you want to retire before SP look at how you will fund it. A rough guide is work out your outgoings, add a bit and you have your number. Then multiply that by the number of years you want to retire earlier from work. Now you have your target pot size.

4) What is the best savings vehicle? Look to get free money so- LISA definitely worth considering, SIPP or PP worth a look. How much can you afford a month?

The best advice is do a little of everything if you can-

overpay mortgage to get a better LTV rate at next remortgage/ reduce the time taken to pay the mortgage back- it doesn't have to be big money every little helps, round up to the nearest £50, so for us we've rounded up 593 pm to 600, a colleague has rounded from 337 to 350.

start a LISA- it is available to you at 60, a bit away each month will give a nice sum at 60, if you go the whole hog and do 4k pa thats a nice 84k but even 16 k saving at 1k pa is better than a kick in the teeth.

PP or SIPP- worth a look you could view this as a savings to provide the whole annual income needed, so if you want to retire at 58 and you need 24k pa you need a 240k pot. (10x 24k) You could use a mix of pots a bit of SIPP and a bit of LISA and a bit of savings.