How much do you put in your pension?

[psychocandy]

Pensions etc

Admitedly, my pension pot is a bit low to say the least. Late 40s and only about £150K in.

Was surprised to see that you pretty much get 5% per annum return on an annuity. So, £500K needed to get an income of £25K at retirement. A sobering thought....

Of course, theres always drawdown of 25%, and doing something with that.

Think I had better put a bit more into my pension to be honest. How is everyone else fixed?

[MrMarkyMark]

So, what is your question here

[northernladuk]

So, what is your question here

There isn't one. It's just another brain fart life blog of PCs failings.

Either that or just yet another excuse to mention benefits again. He's baiting so we fire in and then he moans about it being boring. Tedious chunt.

[psychocandy]

OK since it upsets you all so much I wont mention benefits ever again!!!!

General discussion looking for opinions. If you're not interested of course I'm sure theres other stuff to do....

[northernladuk]

OK since it upsets you all so much I wont mention benefits ever again!!!!

Finally he get's the message. After all you are the one that complains it's getting boring.

General discussion looking for opinions. If you're not interested of course I'm sure theres other stuff to do....

Sounds about right to me. Can someone make it so please?

[MrMarkyMark]

General discussion looking for opinions

Doesn't belong in the professional forums, then

[psychocandy]

Doesn't belong in the professional forums, then

Serious question though. If general were used as a general section rather than a "school playground" section then I'd agree.

[northernladuk]

How is everyone else fixed?

I'm fine. Thanks for asking.

HTH

[GillsMan]

Serious question though. If general were used as a general section rather than a "school playground" section then I'd agree.

He's got a point there.

*shudder* I need to take a long hard look at myself now! Only kidding PC!

I don't pay into a pension. As an employer we've had to start paying pensions for employees - but we're doing the bare minimum and via NEST so it's not a problem. I have a nagging feeling I was supposed to auto-enrol myself and then opt out, but that seemed like a faff so I didn't do it. I probably should have spent a bit more time looking at the rules, but I find it hard to be interested or excited by pensions so I couldn't be arsed.

I'm gambling my future retirement on my company. Basically, I hope my company is successful enough to provide a pension via dividends, etc. 34 years old and never paid into a pension yet. Some will say it's not the smartest move - I will admit I am ignorant about pensions, but I do at least have control over my destiny. Even if it all goes tits up.

[IR35 Avoider]

I think 5% is for a level annuity at state pension age. Which means no inflation increases. A 3% escalation (3% a year increase) might be better, in which case you get 3.5%.

4% is a rough rule of thumb for withdrawal in retirement, whether you buy an annuity or not. So decide how much you want to live on, subtract the state pension, and aim to save 25 times the remainder. (Then add in some extra so you can retire before state pension age.)

For example, 20K per year might be enough if you have a paid for house. State pension is 8K. So aim for 12K x 25 = 300K. If you want to retire at 55 and your state pension age is 67, simplistic calculation is add 12 x 20K = 240K to that, for a total target of 540K.

I think most contractors should aim much higher than 300K. It should only take 10 years to put 400K into a pension. I put 419K in, most of it relatively recently, after 2006 when the contribution limits went up. Current balance is just under double that. (I have stopped contributing from the current tax year so I can keep the 1.25 million lifetime allowance, avoiding the cut to 1 million.)