What does the base rate have to do with it now you don't have to buy an annuity.

And saving tax now at 40-50% and only paying standard rate later is a no brainer and if you can do it via salary sacrifice and get some or all of the NI added to the pensions

If the base rate was higher then property would be a lesser investment.

It's entirely crazy. I just asked for more cash and chucked the money on the commodities market. My portfolio is worth 178% what it was 12 months ago. Sod tax. Sod pensions.

That cash goes into house. That house I live in. Better interest rate. Sell when the kids have moved out. Live off cash, dumping bits of it in various other investments to avoid inheritance tax in the future.

You do know that in the UK you get a massive boost via tax relief to your contributions for pension contributions

Yes. I work in the finance sector and deal directly with the providers that sell this shit ironically.

The tax relief was nullified instantly by the discussion with my employers that sort of went "give me another £10k or I go work somewhere else".

Meh.

I don't actually have a problem paying tax. I've learned to consider my income after tax, not before. Maximising the difference is easier through getting the initial captial larger than it is reducing the difference and doing the associated paperwork (and periodically getting buggered by HMRC). I can still move up another £30k if I want to but the current place is convenient.