Fidelity UK’s guidelines have no figure for 45: they give 2x salary at 40 and 4x salary at 50, counting savings inside and outside pensions. This page uses a midway marker of 3x as a rough yardstick, shows what ONS data says about people in their late 40s and early 50s, and works through what a pot can grow to.
A Midway Marker at 45
Fidelity UK’s guidelines are 1x salary at 30, 2x at 40, 4x at 50 and 6x at 60. There is no published guideline for 45, so the table below takes the point halfway between 2x and 4x, which is 3x. That is our own interpolation, not a Fidelity target, and like Fidelity’s figures it counts savings outside pensions too.
| Your salary | Midway marker at 45 (3x) |
|---|---|
| £30,000 | £90,000 |
| £40,000 | £120,000 |
| £50,000 | £150,000 |
| £60,000 | £180,000 |
| £75,000 | £225,000 |
What ONS Says About People in Their 40s and 50s
ONS publishes private pension wealth by age band, not for single ages. The figures below are for Great Britain, April 2018 to March 2020, using ONS’s updated method for valuing defined benefit pensions, and cover only people with some private pension wealth. Pots will have changed since.
| Age group | Median private pension wealth | Mean private pension wealth |
|---|---|---|
| 35 to 44 | £31,400 | £69,900 |
| 45 to 54 | £72,900 | £141,100 |
| 55 to 64 | £133,800 | £224,900 |
The mean sits well above the median because a small number of very large pots pull it up. The midway marker counts money outside pensions and the ONS figures are for pensions only, so the two are not like for like. For the wider picture, see the average pension pot UK by age guide.
What Your Current Pot Becomes by 68
A person aged 45 today was born around 1981, and the State Pension age timetable gives 68 for anyone born on or after 6 April 1978. That leaves about 23 years. The table is our own arithmetic: 5% a year growth, no charges and no inflation, with monthly contributions added at the end of each month.
| Pension at 45 | Growth only (23 years, 5%) | Plus £500 a month | Plus £1,000 a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| £50,000 | £154,000 | £408,000 | £662,000 |
| £100,000 | £307,000 | £561,000 | £816,000 |
| £150,000 | £461,000 | £715,000 | £969,000 |
| £200,000 | £614,000 | £869,000 | £1,123,000 |
Real returns will differ, and the figures are in future money rather than today’s prices.
Monthly Contributions Needed to Reach a Target
The same assumptions, solved for the monthly contribution that reaches a target pot at 68:
| Current pot | Target pot at 68 | Monthly contribution needed |
|---|---|---|
| £0 | £300,000 | £590 |
| £0 | £500,000 | £983 |
| £50,000 | £500,000 | £681 |
| £100,000 | £400,000 | £183 |
| £100,000 | £500,000 | £379 |
| £150,000 | £600,000 | £274 |
Waiting longer raises these figures quickly, because there is less time for growth. A person who starts from nothing and needs £500,000 would pay about £983 a month now, against about £1,448 a month if they wait until 50 (18 years).
Ways to Close a Gap at 45
- Contribution rate. The auto-enrolment minimum is 8% of qualifying earnings in most schemes (5% from you, 3% from your employer), on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270. Anything above the minimum is your choice.
- Salary sacrifice. If your employer offers it, contributions come out of your pay before tax and National Insurance are worked out. Our salary sacrifice vs direct pension guide shows the arithmetic.
- Carry forward. If you have not used all of your £60,000 annual allowance, GOV.UK says you might be able to carry over any annual allowance you did not use from the previous 3 tax years.
- Employer contributions. Some employers pay in more than the 3% minimum if you pay in more. Your scheme documents or HR team can tell you whether yours does.
- Old workplace pensions. If you have changed jobs, you may have pots with earlier employers. See finding a lost pension and pension consolidation, and check what you would give up before transferring, such as guaranteed benefits.
What a Pot Could Provide
The full new State Pension is £12,548 per year in 2026/27 (£241.30 per week). The table adds a 4% withdrawal rate, a common planning assumption and not a guarantee, to the State Pension. The result is before tax.
| Pot at 68 | 4% a year | Plus State Pension | Total a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| £300,000 | £12,000 | £12,548 | £24,548 |
| £500,000 | £20,000 | £12,548 | £32,548 |
| £750,000 | £30,000 | £12,548 | £42,548 |
For benchmarks on what different lifestyles cost, see the Retirement Living Standards in our average pension pot guide. Check your State Pension forecast to see what you are projected to receive.
Checklist at 45
- Find and total all pension pots, including old workplace schemes
- Check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK
- Look at whether your contribution rate can go above the auto-enrolment minimum
- Check whether your employer offers salary sacrifice and a higher match
- Check how much carry forward allowance you may have
- Use the pension calculator to model your income
See how much pension at 40 for the previous benchmark and how much pension at 50 for the next. The pension planning hub covers the full picture.