40+ mums starting to worry about retirement

No it’s a very valid concern especially now in your 40s. I presume you would get full state pension? You can start something now as it compounds though it depends on what sort of income you think you would need in terms of how much you need to save iyswim

Have you been claiming child benefit? It helps protect your state pension by providing national insurance credits.

It's definitely a worry! I'm 38 but have a chunky private pension pot of my own. I was on maternity leave fo 15 months with each child but making pension contributions the whole time. My husband has a bigger pot as he's been overpaying into his so we can still qualify for things like tax free childcare 🙈 so even if we split we'd divide that up - which obviously isn't the plan.

The state pension won't cover living costs so what are your other plan? Are you married or with a partner? Marriage absolutely protects you better so if you're not against it I'd consider it.

Do you own a property? Any investments? Can you go back to work? Do you have any kind of private pension?

Have you looked at how much is in your pension at the moment?
There are loads of calculators online that you can use to work out how much you will need and based on what you currently have in your pension, how much you need to contribute.
You are limited to your earnings though, so if you work part time or are a SAHM, you may be limited on what you put in.
I have tried to pay about 20% of my income in, I used to only put the minimum in, but got a bit freaked out by how much more I needed to contribute so very time I got a pay rise I put more in until I reached 20%. Hoping I’ll have enough when I do retire.

I am increasing my pension contribution. Hubby used chatgpt to work out how much we need to pay to get the income we want based on what we have contributed already etc. We also decided that we would ignore state pension completely, that no longer feels trustworthy! All whilst still trying to enjoy life now, fun balancing!