Pension outlook
A median earner your age, paying just the auto-enrolment minimum, is on track for around £235k by 67 — mostly from investment growth, not a big salary. Here’s how the common pot targets look from age 24. Figures use ONS national medians (sources below).
The real planner engine, running in your browser. Change your pot, monthly saving, growth and target and watch the pot you’d have by 67 — and the age you’d hit your target — update instantly.
You'd reach £250k around age 63 and have about £310k by 67. Around 72% of that is investment growth.
The default salary, contribution and existing-pot figures are UK national medians, not a prediction about you — your own pay, employer scheme, other pensions and returns will differ. Change any of them in the live tester above. Growth of 5% a year above inflation is illustrative, and all amounts are in today’s money. This is a planning tool, not financial advice.
On the median £31k salary for your age, paying just the auto-enrolment minimum of about £160 a month, you'd build roughly £235k by 67. To reach £250k you'd step up to about £170 a month (£10 more than the minimum) — or get there through pay rises, more generous employer schemes, or starting a little sooner. Even then, most of the pot is compounding, not saving harder. The figures use national medians (not a promise about you): the ONS median full-time salary for ages 20–29 (£31k), the auto-enrolment minimum of about £160 a month (you + employer, 8% of qualifying earnings), the ONS median pot for someone your age who already saves (£4k), and 5% investment growth a year above inflation to age 67.
No. On the median £31k full-time salary for ages 20–29 (ONS), paying only the legal minimum, you'd build around £235k by 67. The reason is compounding: about 63% of the pot is investment growth rather than money you pay in. Starting earlier matters far more than earning more, because your early contributions have the longest to grow.
To reach £250k by 67 from age 24, you'd aim for about £170 a month in total contributions, versus the £160 auto-enrolment minimum on a median salary. A more generous employer scheme, salary sacrifice and pay rises help close that gap.
It depends on your spending and other income. A £250k pot plus the State Pension (about £12,548 a year from 67) might support a modest-to-comfortable retirement using the 4% guide. Use the free planner to test how long £250k would actually last at your target spending.
No. This is an illustrative worked example from a free planning tool using fixed assumptions (average pay, 5% real growth, pension access from 55). Your own pensions, employer, returns and career will change the result. Open the planner to run it with your real figures.
