For many people, their 40s and 50s mark a period of reflection and renewed focus. Whether you hope to retire within the next decade or plan to work for longer, this stage can be a powerful time to grow your pension.
This isn’t about pressure or perfection. It’s about knowing how much you have, understanding what you might need, and spotting any gaps you can close.
Making the most of midlife pension saving
Savings that stay invested for longer have more opportunity to benefit from compounding. This happens when your investment returns generate further returns. The longer your money stays invested, the harder it works for you. And even small, regular amounts can build gradually over time.
Here are four ways to boost your pension in midlife.
1. Start by understanding where you are
It’s often helpful to pause and get a clear sense of your pension today. You’re not alone if you’re unsure how much you’ve saved or what that might mean for the future.
You might find it helpful to:
check all your pensions, especially if you’ve changed jobs as you may have left a few pots behind that you could consider consolidating;
look at how much you’re contributing, including both your personal payments and your employer’s; and
estimate what you’ll need in retirement, based on the lifestyle you’d like.
2. Building momentum step-by-step
Once you understand your position, here are some practical ways to strengthen it.
Increase your contributions gradually - even adding 1% a year can make a noticeable difference over time. PensionBee’s Calculator can show how small steps today could shape your future income.
Consolidate your old pensions - combining multiple pots could make managing your savings easier and may help to reduce fees. It also makes managing your progress easier so you can see if your investments still match your goals.
Review your investment plan - make sure your plan suits your time horizon and comfort with risk. In your 40s, you may have 20-25 years to benefit from potential investment growth. In your 50s, you might want to balance growth with stability.
3. Making the most of tax relief
When you pay into a pension, the government usually adds tax relief to help boost your savings. This means some of the money that would’ve gone to tax goes into your pension instead. Here’s how it works:
basic rate taxpayers get a 25% tax top up, so for every £100 you contribute, HMRC adds £25; and
higher and additional rate taxpayers can usually claim extra relief through their tax return.
Regular pension contributions don’t reduce your taxable income, but thanks to tax relief, they cost you less than you’d think. Our Pension Tax Relief Calculator shows you how much gets added to your pot.
4. Finding space in your budget
Saving more can feel challenging when you’re balancing different priorities. Reviewing your spending from time-to-time may help you see where there’s room to support your pension contributions. You could consider:
redirecting money from childcare or loan repayments once they end;
using part of a pay rise or bonus to increase contributions before adjusting your spending;
reviewing subscriptions and regular expenses for small monthly savings; or
if you’re self-employed, treating your pension as a regular business cost to prioritise.
See what this could mean for you
Imagine you’re 45, earning £50,000 a year, and contributing 8% into your pension - including what your employer adds. That’s around £4,000 going in each year.
If contributions increased to 12% - about £2,000 more each year - and that continued for 10 years before returning to 8%, the overall difference by age 68 could be significant.
That extra £20,000 contributed over the 10-year period doesn’t just add £20,000 to your pot* - it may have the potential to grow further over time because of compounding. Earlier contributions have more time to benefit from long-term market growth.
Tools like PensionBee’s Pension Calculator can help show:
how contributions affect your long-term savings;
how increasing or pausing payments changes the picture;
how factors such as tax relief, inflation and the State Pension influence results; and
how pensions could perform under different market conditions.
Use PensionBee’s Pension Calculator to model different scenarios - increase contributions, adjust timeframes, and see how your pension could grow under different market conditions.
Actual results will vary, and the value of your pension can go down as well as up.
*These calculations assume 5% investment growth per year, 2.5% inflation, an annual management fee of 0.7%, retirement age of 68, and include the 25% tax relief automatically added by HMRC on personal contributions. They don’t account for taking 25% of your pot as tax-free cash.
Your advantage in midlife
It’s never too late to strengthen your pension - your 40s and 50s can be a great time to build towards a more comfortable future.
You may feel more financially settled than you did in your 20s, with a clearer sense of your priorities - and still plenty of time for compound growth to make a difference.
Taking practical steps now - reviewing contributions, consolidating old pots, checking your investment plan - can help you build a pension that gives you more freedom and flexibility when you need it.
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.
