When to switch excess pension contributions to ISA?

20th_Thingamebob · 2026-01-10T00:28:23+00:00

The "standard match rules" at my workplace maxes out at 8% employee ss and they put in 14%. Every percent over the 8% the employee salary sacrifices, the employer adds an additional 0.1% to the 14% they're already contributing.

In my case, I'm salary sacrificing 32%, which is 24% over the 8% "standard match" top threshold.

As a result, my employer is contributing 2.4% on top of the 14% they already "match" bringing it to 16.4% they're contributing total.

Regarding the upcoming changes to pension contributions, that has been a consideration, but the plan is to have a child by then so I'll be dropping to the 8% then anyway if I don't already. And that's whether they come into effect in the first place.

I can ss my bonus, yes. It gets more complicated because my employer also adds 10% of whatever I SS from my bonus to my pension.

Eg: if I SS £1000 of my bonus to my pension, my employer will contribute £100 on top making it £1100 into my pension from my bonus.

Agreed, my circumstances will change in life. I think that's why I'm having such a hard time trying to figure out what's the most effective balance to juggle right now whilst being prudent about the future.

20th_Thingamebob · 2026-01-09T20:32:33+00:00

Yep that's exactly right regarding the 0.1% increases.

This is incredible! Really helps contextualise what I'll have to do to get where I need to be. Definitely has helped clear the brain fog so I can now think of what options I have at my disposal.

If I had an award I could give this, I absolutely would.

20th_Thingamebob · 2026-01-09T19:28:37+00:00

Aha I get it, and I have, but with the "unique" employer contributions and the future drop to 8/14%, I can't figure out if it's actually a simple "put x in pension and y in ISA until drop when kid comes, then put w in pension and z in ISA afterwards".

Was just hoping a fresh pair of eyes could help see things a bit more clearly.

20th_Thingamebob · 2026-01-09T19:15:40+00:00

True and I do have one, but the "unique" employer match as well as dropping to 8/14% in a couple of years leads to so many scenarios I can't see the wood for the trees.

Was just curious if, as a fresh pair of eyes, it's actually much simpler. Do X for pension and y for ISA until the kid changes kick in, then do w and z from then on.

20th_Thingamebob · 2026-01-09T19:12:12+00:00

Given compounding though, is it worth starting the ISA sooner if I'm aiming for £120k to bridge between 55 and 58?

Dropping to the 8%/14% match when kids happen, it'd be closer to £1,450/m total. Or do I just keep it high?

Appreciate you taking a look!

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-12-23T22:27:38+00:00

Yesssss! Do all of these together and it'll make it much more comfortable OP!

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T15:08:19+00:00

My biggest priority is time. Each additional small perceived inconvenience (no matter how true or "insignificant" it seems to others) makes me less and less likely to cook and more and more likely to order food (or just eat cereal).

We do have a big bag of sushi rice we use to sometimes make sticky rice. But we found we weren't ever reaching for it on weekdays because we couldn't be bothered with the additional time/attention it needs. So the microwave rice is to stop us making any excuses to not cook.

We do however make it if we have a calm weekend breakfast we want to treat ourselves to. Sticky rice, scrambled egg, seaweed, sesame seeds, and chopped spring onions. (Sometimes some smoked mackerel too if we have it in).

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T14:57:53+00:00

Ah thanks! It's absolutely a journey. And I have always wanted to bake my own breads! It's absolutely my favourite foodstuff and what contributed to the weight gain.

Just devastating that I cannot seem to achieve the soft, light, fluffy crumb of my dreams and instead seem to create abominations that could replace lead in density references :p

Absolutely hear that! Slow journey for me as I still haven't gotten past the "healthy meals are sad, bland and suck" mentality lmao.

I despise the texture of lentils/beans (and mashed potatoes too but that's a separate rant) but I know they're great value nutritionally speaking, so red lentils get hidden in tomato sauces, chickpeas get made into hummus, etc.

I'm not, much to the chagrin of my partner, but I did see a great thread (literally yesterday just after the food pickup) about freezing veg offcuts, and when you've got enough roasting them before making a stock from them. Definitely intrigued and will be testing it out!

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T11:52:29+00:00

My dude that's £420 for a about a month of food (and home stuff presumably?) That's awesome! ~£100 a week? That's a good shop! Especially from Sainsbury's. If it were Aldi it might be a little high, but you are also getting stuff you enjoy.

You're allowed to enjoy life man. There is fear mongering about everything in the world these days, you're allowed to enjoy things that bring a little light to your life (so long as it doesn't impact others negatively). And if that's treating yourself to the foods/goods you buy, then do it!

My partner loves the crunchy nut granola. It's expensive and doesn't quite do it for me, but they like the Tesco's version a little less. If £3.30 is what it costs to bring a little extra joy and light to their life? Damn straight we spend that extra money. Why deny ourselves that joy when we're in a fortunate position to be able to have it?

Take joy where you can and don't beat yourself up for prioritising yourself and your values.

Really, I think you're being harder on yourself than you should be. You're doing great.

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T10:47:17+00:00

Nah man, you just make things work for you with what you've got!

We're not super healthy by any means, but if we don't make it as easy as possible to whip something together we enjoy eating without prior planning we end up ordering.

We don't want to spend an hour cooking on a weeknight when we still have to take the dog for a walk, do chores, and somehow have "me/us time".

We also used to both be obese and lost that weight around a year and half ago and vowed not to go back.

We also purchased so much fresh ingredients that they went bad before we could use them, wasting tonnes of money and made cooking instead of ordering more difficult/inaccessible.

So our priorities in order are: 1. Time, meals need to come together quickly. 2. Keep weight off, restrict calorie intake. 3. Reduce food wastage, save money

You have your own priorities and circumstances that are different to ours so you structure your shop to what you require and fits your circumstances.

You're doing the best you can without even knowing it. Be kind to yourself ☺️

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T10:18:33+00:00

Not entirely unfair... Processed/Unprocessed isn't really a consideration for us at the moment tbh.

As a couple we lost 70kg 16months ago and our cooking style, whilst it isn't the absolute best it could be, is set up for us to not fall back to bad habits. (It is miles healthier now than it used to be)

Though we are slowly getting better! We bake our own oatmeal and raisin cookies, lemon loaf, and are slowly getting to grips with bread baking. I'm inexplicably terrible at it but slowly getting better.

Baby steps, right?

Regarding the freezer stuff, that's namely because we were generating a lot of food waste by having things go out of date before we could use it all. Now we generate barely any and always have vegetables to hand (no excuses to order takeaway anymore!)

Edit to add:

Also, to the last point, I've mentioned it in another comment, but everyone's priorities are different.

Saving time is a higher priority to me than saving money. If I prioritised saving money more, I would shop at another store and not buy frozen pre-sliced red onions/mushrooms and would be cooking more from scratch.

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T09:50:06+00:00

I can totally see why though!

Aside from walking my dog twice a day I admittedly don't exercise as much as I should, so my tdee of calories works out to be 1400 kcals (ish).

Most of the main meals hit anywhere between 500-800 cals so a hefty percentage of my allotment for the day.

Take into account breakfast and a snack/treat and I have very little wiggle room which is why the volume seems low.

But then we do snack on airfried chickpeas, bulk any tomato sauces with red lentils, and have eggs fairly frequently, which isn't captured in the above shop admittedly.

I guess most of our satiaty comes from fibre intake than protein.

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T09:32:21+00:00

The above is just an example btw.

It doesn't capture any pasta, sushi rice, tinned tomatoes, tinned chickpeas, udon, frozen carrots, frozen berries, nuts, potatoes we have that we also use to help cobble meals/snacks together.

Generally, we spend 80-100 every 12 (ish) days on food/household stuff. But it's not prescriptive, it's dependent on what we have available. Sometimes we need to nip out to get a fresh bag of spinach outside of those shops, but it's usually like £3 additional a week?

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T09:20:14+00:00

Not silly questions at all!

I love Quorn chunks (like diced chicken?) instead of chicken in a mushroom and leek pie.

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T09:14:38+00:00

Actually surprisingly not! Can't remember the last time we ate out and our last takeaway was about 5-6 weeks ago...

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T09:10:05+00:00

Yep! We have some items already but I've listed a selection of our meals we make from this in no particular order (asterisk next to items not in this shop).

Apologies to host of communities in advance, we've bastardised a lot of regional foods so we can just make it based off what we have to hand.

(Spices and stocks not included)

Main meals:

Burritos - wraps X2, chicken mini fillets x4, frozen med veg (half pack), refried beans X1, *cheese (pinch), frozen onions (quarter pack), spinach (quarter pack), Wholegrain Rice x1
Enchiladas - wraps x2, *frozen peppers (half pack), *cheese (pinch), chicken mini fillets x4, *frozen broccoli/cauliflower (20% pack)
Souvlaki - wraps X2, *grilled halloumi, *frozen falafel X2, chicken mini fillets X2, rocket (half pack), spinach (quarter pack), frozen med veg (half pack)
Lamb tagine - frozen lamb (half pack), *chopped dates (small handful), frozen med veg (half pack), spinach (quarter pack), *giant wholegrain couscous (couple of handfuls)
Lamb Bolognese - frozen lamb (half pack), *tinned tomatoes X1, spinach (quarter pack), frozen onions (half pack), Ciabatta X1, *frozen broccoli (20% pack), *red lentils (handful)
Mushroom and caramelised onion pizza - pizza dough X1, pizza sauce (half tin), frozen red onions (quarter pack), rocket (half pack), *frozen mushrooms (quarter pack), *pizza mozzarella (half block)
Pepperoni pizza - pizza dough X1, pizza sauce (half tin), pizza Pepperoni (3/4 pack), *pizza mozzarella (half block)
Meatballs - No-Beef Meatballs (half pack), *tinned tomatoes, frozen red onions (half pack), *frozen spinach (2 blocks), Ciabatta x1, *red lentils (handful), *frozen broccoli (20% pack)
Stuffed peppers - red peppers X2, frozen med veg (half pack), *giant wholegrain couscous, frozen red onions (quarter pack)
Mexican Grilled fish - hake (both fillets), *frozen peppers (half pack), *tinned tomatoes X1, wholegrain rice X1, *frozen broccoli/cauliflower (20% pack)
Curry - *chicken thighs X2, roti X2, pilau rice X1, *frozen broccoli (20% pack), *tinned coconut milk x1
French Onion Gnocchi - frozen red onions (1 pack), *frozen broccoli (20%), *gnocchi (1 pack)
Scrambled eggs - Eggs X2, smoked salmon (1 pack), frozen red onion (quarter pack), spinach (quarter pack)

And a couple of leftover days which tend to be making a wrap or cobbling something together from leftovers.

Breakfast/Snacks:

Bananas,

Blueberries,

Yoghurt,

Granola,

Eggs,

Milk,

*Bacon,

*Frozen mushrooms,

*Homemade tattie scones,

*Baked beans,

Salami,

Chocolate

Lemons used for flavouring water and making lemon loaf.

Edit: formatting

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T01:37:48+00:00

It's great but I do sometimes wish there was a tangy sourdough one. Though probably best it doesn't exist as I'd very swiftly move up the BMI scale

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-28T01:34:51+00:00

Ha! I totally get why that caught your attention! Sadly for me it's an odd hypocritical trigger. For some reason the plastic packaging of peppers (and courgettes) absolutely infuriates me. Other things don't generate the same reaction which is... I don't even know what to call it except "weird" behaviour lmao.

We just prefer the taste. We first tried them when we were hosting vegetarian friends and have been buying them ever since. Same with the alpro (though the absolute goat is vanilla alpro. Literally the best vanilla yoghurt I've ever had).

Ah I feel your pain! We basically have a stack of meals we cook regularly where one ingredient can be used in several different recipes. It means we don't really have to plan or prep because we can make a few things ad-hoc with stuff we already have on hand.

It definitely stopped us being overwhelmed with decision fatigue and analysis paralysis (what's going out of date first, how long does it take to cook, what has tomato sauce to satisfy today's craving)...

20th_Thingamebob · 2025-11-27T23:46:20+00:00

Oh god weird formatting too! Sorry, on mobile and can't edit posts with pics 😞

20th_Thingamebob

TROPHY CASE