Saving for a pension has never been better value what with funds getting ever less expensive and still generous tax breaks for pensions. Just save something, even if only a few £’00 a month and it soon adds up.
Based on some rough calculations, with me contributing £500 per month and my employer contributing the same (with higher rate tax relief), my workplace pension will give me a whopping £1,485 per year (with a 25% lump sum) 😕
That’s retiring at 65, so 33 years from now.
Putting £1,000 past (and employer matching) would leave a pension fund of approx £1.1m, which gives £2,795 a month. I’m extremely uneasy about sticking £1m into a private pension and expecting to be able to rely on it.
Tempted to take up wing suit flying so that I don’t need to worry about retirement 🙂
Current strategy is to maintain existing level of pension contributions and use “rainy day” fund every few years to stick into a buy-to-let. A family member does the same and by buying smartly is actually generating a decent profit from the rental income, which he’s then investing elsewhere. Easier said than done though I suppose.