How I Manage My Money: NHS nurse, on £85,000 a year, saving £750 a month to pension

In our How I Manage My Money series, we aim to find out how people in the UK are spending, saving and investing money to meet their costs and achieve their goals. This week we speak to Gordon Ferguson, 48, who lives in Kent. Gordon is a senior NHS nurse and earns £85,000 a year. He adds £750 a month to his NHS pension and wants to retire by the age of 60, but a divorce in 2024 may mean he has to work for a few extra years. Monthly budget My monthly income: The monthly take-home pay from my job as a senior nurse in the NHS is £4,700. My monthly outgoings: Mortgage: £1,015; flat service charge, £200; council tax, £191; groceries, around £400; gas and electric, £60; water, £40; broadband, £30; mobile phone, £10; public transport into central London, £350; socialising and eating out, £400, so £100 a week; money into savings and investments, £250 to £500; clothes, around £100 or less; car payment, £230; car insurance, £30; my work pension contribution, £750. After growing up in Scotland I moved to London when I started work. I’ve been in the NHS since 2000. At the start of my career in the NHS I was earning £18,000 a year. Progression in my career is important to me, as is my salary. After years of working in the NHS I am now a senior nurse responsible for hundreds of staff. I earn £85,000 a year but don’t feel wealthy. I am committed to my work and it takes up a lot of my time. Shorts I think pay across the NHS is mixed when it comes to fairness. The pay system could do with being overhauled. Nurse pay is potentially not always fair due to the pay grading system. There are inequalities in pay across the NHS, though we are fortunate when it comes to benefits such as the pension and sick pay. With my pay I am fortunate and have stability. For more junior colleagues it can be difficult. If I was offered a job outside of the NHS I would have to think seriously about whether or not I really wanted to compromise my NHS pension, particularly given my age. A job outside the NHS offering me £5,000 or £10,000 a year extra would not be worth it for me. The pay would need to be considerably higher given the sum I’d lose out on no longer adding money to the NHS pension. I add £750 a month to my work pension. My employer adds a contribution of around 20 per cent. I will have a generous pension in later life. There is sometimes a misconception that the pension is gold-plated and we get something for nothing. That is not the case and a significant proportion of my earnings go into my pension every month. I could not live solely on the state pension when I’m older. I do question whether it should be means-tested in the future, even if it meant someone like me wouldn’t get it. When I was in my twenties I was irresponsible with money and would spend every penny I had. I’d spend money on credit cards and borrow money. I’d eat in Michelin star restaurants and fly business class when I couldn’t really afford to. I had £20,000 worth of debt which I repaid over a number of years. When I reached my thirties I got married, purchased a house and had to become more responsible with money. Now, I don’t do something unless I have the money to do it. I was married for 11 years and got divorced in 2024. The divorce had a big impact on me financially. I’ll now be paying my mortgage until retirement. I did keep my pension though. From a lifestyle perspective, my former wife and I would have probably retired at the age of 50. I’m now likely to have to work into my early sixties. Ideally I’d like to retire at 60. I’ve moved from a house in a small private development to living in a flat. I changed my expensive car to a cheaper one. Life is also simply more expensive as a single person. If I was on £30,000 a year life would be a struggle. I purchased the two-bedroom bedroom new-build flat I live in back in 2024 for £320,000. My mortgage is £1,015 a month. My mortgage went up recently but not by much. The interest rate is 5.15 per cent and I have 18 years left on the mortgage. I plan to start overpaying my mortgage, otherwise it will still be running by the time I am 66. I don’t want to be paying a mortgage at the age of 66 and am hoping interest rates come down again. Most of my money is in an investment Isa, which I add money to every month. I also have about £10,000 in Premium Bonds and £4,000 in a cash savings account. For me, money gives me security. It is not something I want to have to worry about. I am motivated to earn more money in my career and would like to be earning £100,000 a year. Want to take part in How I Manage My Money? Email money@theipaper.com