What age is too late

[dieseluser07]

To start a workplace pension.

I have just found out my new employer only has the one contribution option available which is 10% of my salary.

Im already taking a cut to come to this role and if i take that 10% off aswell i cant afford it. However in a few years (5 at most) my wage will be higher and i will be able to afford it.

My question is, if i start a pension at 35, is that too late? I know they say its best to start early, but at my age i want to enjoy myself a bit before i do get older.

[dieseluser07]

flight147z said:

Have you taken tax and NI into consideration? If you are a 20% taxpayer, paying 12% NI, the 10% becomes 6.8% in essence as if you took the 10% as cash you would have to pay PAYE and NI on it.

I did it on a salary calculator online, i put the percentage in the 'pension contributions' box

[dieseluser07]

Either way its still a good 200 pound less a month

[dieseluser07]

flight147z said:

What does your employer put in? I maximised mine when I got to 24 - couldn't say no to the "free money". I increased mine at the same time as a promotion so I didn't miss the cash - could you do the same in the future?

15%

That was my plan eventually (5-10 years max) so i will be 35-40 years old, just right now it would mean i have to budget too much and i want to enjoy my cash a bit while im young if that makes sense.

[dieseluser07]

flight147z said:

Depends what you do with it really. I'm pretty sensible/boring - if I wasn't putting cash into a pension I would be pumping more into my house. I'd like to have an easy life of travelling when I'm old!

ETA 15% is good - I get 12% from 8%

I want to have a nice car and holidays for a few years before family etc gets in the way, 200 a month is like 2400 a year, thats a holiday and a lot of car maintenance/fuel, i just dont want to get to retirement age and have no money.

[dieseluser07]

otherman said:

So the total going into the plan would be 25% of salary. And you give that up to save 6.8% of salary in your pocket today. The 70 year old you will be well impressed.

To me i would get an extra 200 a month currently, i wouldent see this 25% for a good 40 odd years, its hard to be down that much money each month when retiring is so far away, im thinking 5-10 years time and it will be grand, i will make more and as a result i will be able to opt in to the scheme.