Hi all.
I only started a pension fund 2 years ago through work. I'm 32. I feel a bit stupid
It's come to light that I'm no where near what I want when I retire. Currently company pays in 3% estimated and I pay in £35 . iv sent a request to up this by another £15, in two months I'll up it again by £15.
So it's around £112-119 going in each month currently
This is the hit that I'm worried about, how much are people aiming to get back per year when they retire ? Projected pension each year worries me a little, if that's a projection. I should be putting more money in ?
Assuming contributions continue to be paid to the plan
Assumed investment return each year: Low. Mid* High
Projected pension fund value: £31,515 £67,190 £144,668
Tax Free Cash: £7,879 £16,798 £36,167
Projected pension each year: £850 £2,399 £6,569
Someone said I'd need to aim to get the projected pension fund value at around £400,000 or more ?
Why feel stupid? You've realised you needed to do something about it and have done something about it.
As Scorza said, it really is worth speaking to a financial adviser because they'll be much better positioned to tell you what is best for your situation.
However its true that you've missed out on a lot of years of contributions, and more importantly, compound interest. Any AVCs you can make would be of large benefit to you to try and bolster that pension.
As a very rough guide, you want to take your desired income in retirement and multiply by 20 to workout what your pension pot needs to be, eg if you want £30,000/year, you'll need a pension pot of £600,000. This can of course be slightly changed in your favour if you manage to get a decent annuity, which is roughly £6,000 per £100,00 saved, and to get that income of £30,000 you'd only need a pension pot of £500,000. If you calculate your figures based on lets say a 30 year plan (seems a decent average to take) then you'd need to be saving roughly £600/month to get that kind of pension pot.
Here's the bad news

. If you want a generous income yes you'll need a reasonable pension pot (obviously). However, bear in mind that the average retirment income is just under £16,000, and to get this, you will need a pension pot of nearer
£550k. To hit that - based on assumptions I've made about you (these are - no existing pension fund, retiring at current state age of 68) - you will need to invest about
£425/month. And that is just to hit the average retirement income. If you want more, obviously you'll need to contribute more. I am not a financial advisor so take this in good faith as it is intended.
You've made a start however, and thats the most important part.