52M aiming for retirement by 60 — £275k SIPP, mostly in cash… how would you invest it?
Hi all,
52M, working in the UK Civil Service (last 8 years), earning a modest salary of £34k. Partner is in her 40s so likely working at least another 10-15 years.
I have around £275k in private pensions across a few platforms:
• £180k in cash (within SIPPs earning 3% interest)
• £50k in equity funds (NEST / Aviva)
• £35k in a Legal & General multi-asset fund
Only really started paying attention to this recently and looking into FIRE. Thinking I might want to slow down or possibly retire around 57 and no later than 60.
Mortgage is just over £50k and should be cleared by 57. House worth £200k+ (so £150k equity).
If I stop at 57, my Civil Service DB pension would be ~£9k/year from 67 (not planning to take it early). With State Pension that should be ~£21k/year from 67 in today’s money.
So the SIPPs would need to cover at least £18k/year from 57–67, then just top up after that.
I’m hoping to grow the SIPP to £400k+ over the next 5–8 years through contributions + investment growth.
Feels like I’m massively overweight cash at the moment, but not sure what the right move is given I’m 5-8 years from potentially stepping back.
If this was your setup, what would you do with the cash?