Pension on a £45,000 salary — the £45k inflection point.

£45,000 is the salary where pension planning starts to feel pressing. You pay around £6,486 in income tax and £2,594 in NI annually, leaving roughly £35,920 take-home. You're £5,270 below the higher rate threshold — close enough that small bonuses can push you over. The tactical insight at this band: maximise pension contributions to keep yourself out of the higher rate band if you're hovering near it. Every pound you sacrifice into your pension reduces taxable income by £1, so a £5,000 contribution from £45k brings you down to £40k effective taxable salary. Salary sacrifice is particularly powerful here because it also saves you the 8% employee NI on the sacrificed amount. Modelling suggests that someone on £45k contributing 12% via salary sacrifice ends up with around £40,000 more in their pension over 30 years than the same person on relief at source, purely because of NI savings.