@seans.money: Pension or ISA — where should your money go? Here's my dilemma 👇 I'm 30 years old with £67,000 in my @Trading 212 Stocks & Shares ISA. Sounds good right? The problem is I want to retire at 45 and I think I'll need £1,000,000 in my ISA to do that. At my current contribution rate I'm nowhere near on track — so something needs to change. I currently pay 12% of my salary into my pension with my employer adding 5% on top — 17% total. My pension is already worth £85,000. So here's what I'm considering — reducing my pension contribution from 12% down to 5%. I'll still get my full employer match so that's 10% still going in every month. Yes I'll pay more income tax, NI and student loan repayments. But my take home pay increases — meaning I can invest significantly more into my ISA every month. The key thing people miss about early retirement is that you can't access your pension until your mid to late 50s. So if I want to retire at 45 I need my ISA to carry me until then. That's why I need to prioritise it now. Less tax efficient? Yes. Better chance of retiring at 45? I think so. What do you think of my strategy? And how much are you paying into your pension and ISA every month? 👇 #financetok #PersonalFinance #pension #isainvesting #retireat45

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Thursday 02 July 2026 16:55:12 GMT

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Scribbz :

what is your projected pension if you stick with 10% total contribution for the next 15 years (30-45) and then just let it grow for the following 15 years (45-60)?

2026-07-08 17:46:25

daveb0064🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 :

I think I suggested this to you a few weeks ago, perhaps I just thought it. You want to retire super early and can only do that with your ISA. I only ever made sure I got max from employer. I’m now retired(for about 6 weeks). My pension fund was £530k but taking forever into an annuity (these companies are so slow) but ISAs over a million now. So I’ve always concentrated on ISAs rather than pension after the employer max. I’ve always favoured the ISA comparative freedom.

2026-07-03 21:27:46

lukehebb99 :

Isn’t this absolutely insanity? Isn’t the money that goes into your pension PRE tax? While the money that goes into your ISA POST tax? At least in Ireland, your plan would make zero sense, not sure about UK.

2026-07-02 17:07:07

Clare :

Well done you!

2026-07-02 17:04:10

Keither The Floater :

Get a job at a company that does 12% empolyee pension contribution and contribute an additional 12% yourself. Totalling 24%. From that point you can stop caring about investments and go on more holidays. FCA, Lloyds to name a few who private this

2026-07-02 18:32:28

4Kof :

Hmm torn on this one. Part of me thinks to be as tax efficient as possible and get it to a point where compounding alone is enough to make £1 mill. But, I want my S&Ss ISA to be better to bridge the gap

2026-07-02 17:16:44

cmsim90 :

What will your % split be between your ISA funds if you do this?

2026-07-03 16:32:06

Alexander :

the bitcoin bottom is due better 18th August and 5th October. easy 500% return. does about 800% return ever 4 years

2026-07-02 20:49:10

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