Pension fees on a £50,000 pot — the median saver's reality check.
What do pension fees really cost on a £50,000 pot? See the difference between high-fee and low-fee providers over 10, 20, and 30 years.
A £50,000 pension pot is roughly where the median UK saver aged 45-54 lands — meaning half of all UK people in their late 40s and early 50s have less than this. At this scale fees become genuinely consequential. A 1.2% fee versus a 0.3% fee on £50,000 compounded over 25 years at 5% growth produces a final pot difference of around £18,000 — more than a third of the original capital. That difference is enough to fund nearly two years of state-pension-level retirement income. If you have multiple old pots that add up to roughly this size, consolidating into a single low-cost provider is one of the highest-leverage actions you can take in your 40s and 50s.