Frank you should remember that most of us on GN are women and over 60. When we started work it was not considered essential or necessary for women to be included in pension schemes as it was expected that we would marry and be covered thereafter by our husband's savings and pensions. For example - I left school and worked for one of the big high street banks for 3 years as a probationery clerkess.
[I had actually applied for an advertised post as a Bank Apprentice, been interviewed as such and passed the bank's entrance exam, easily beating several male applicants, only to discover 6 months later when I enquired about day release to college for my banking exams that I was actually only a 'probationery clerkess', simply because I was female.]
Then I had a medical and was admitted to the non-contributary pension scheme for just over a year until I married and was immediately classed as temporary (non pensionable) staff. I was also not entitled to a staff mortgage at 4% and we had to find one elswhere at 11and7/8%. Nor did I get bonus payments nor share issues to staff. I continued to work there for another 4 years and indeed earned two 'above salary' increments for increasing responsibilities. When I left to have DD1 I asked about my one year's pension fund and was told it was not worth anything as you had to have at least 3 years continuous employment to qualify - I had worked there for over 8 years!
8 years later, I returned to part-time work, not at the bank who did not employ women with children, but at the local university, where I did not qualify for the pension scheme because I was a part-timer. Later I worked part, then full time in the voluntary sector - no pension schemes there. I was 50 before I started a private pension and only did so because I discovered that self-employed DH's modest private pensions which were intended to keep us both in retirement, would die with him if he failed to live to 65 for one, 70 for the other.
I'm sorry I have written so much but know it is difficult for younger people to grasp the inequalities that existed for women back then (the 60's). That is just part of my own story - suffice to say both of us worked two jobs to put our DD's through Uni and to save a sufficiency for an independent retirement. Our parents lived in Council houses, so no big inheritance for either of us. We thankfully did not have to cope with divorce, disablement, longterm illness, just one redundancy. You have been thrifty and responsible Frank but you have also been VERY lucky, I hope you realise that most others are not so fortunate.
