Pension on a £60,000 salary — where HICBC starts to bite.
What pension can a £60,000 salary build? See higher rate tax relief, the High Income Child Benefit Charge, and salary sacrifice strategy.
£60,000 is the salary where the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) starts taking back any child benefit your household receives. From £60k to £80k of adjusted net income, you lose 1% of child benefit for every £200 of income above the threshold. By £80k it's gone entirely. For families with children, pension contributions become an extraordinarily powerful tool: every £1 you sacrifice into your pension reduces your adjusted net income by £1, which directly preserves child benefit. The combined effective relief on a £60k+ pension contribution can exceed 60% for a higher-rate taxpayer with two children, when you add up the income tax saving, NI saving (with sacrifice), and HICBC reduction. This is the salary band where talking to an accountant or running our calculator is most likely to find a few thousand pounds you didn't know you were missing.