Pension on a £25,000 salary — the median UK starter wage.

£25,000 is roughly the median full-time UK wage for workers under 30. At this salary you pay around £2,486 in income tax and £994 in employee NI annually. The auto-enrolment minimum (8% of band earnings between £6,240 and £25,000) puts approximately £1,500/year into your pension. Contributing 8% in total feels adequate, but the FCA's own consumer research shows it produces a retirement income that replaces only around 15-20% of pre-retirement earnings — well below what most people need. The practical recommendation: aim for 12-15% total contribution rate as soon as you can. On £25k, going from 8% to 12% costs around £1,000/year personally but more than doubles what's actually being contributed and produces a noticeably bigger pot at 65. Salary sacrifice arrangements at this band also save NI, making the effective cost of contributing even lower.