1 in 8 plan to retire in 2018 with no pension

I didn't either. And for a while I opted out of LA pension scheme as we were so poor. I opted back in eventually but earned little pension from it.

We downsized and invested the balance, then ditto when parents died. We get by.

started our pension when we were in our mid twenties .It promised a decent income and a good lump sum.....ha ha ha .The reality is we took out what there was as soon as we could and bought properties to give us an income when we retire .The government messing with the pension made it less than worthwhile

I never saved in a pension, only ever worked part time after starting the family. It was not something that was ever talked about when I was younger and I never earned enough to put funds away until much later. So it will be the state one and my savings plus what I will inherit from sale of property at some point.
My son (in 20's) saves in a pension started when the government introduced the works pension scheme about 4/5 years ago.

I cannot persuade one of my nephews to start saving for his pension- he thinks of today and not the distant tomorrow.

I had no choice and I was so glad when I was 60 that I could retire with my work pension followed 6 months later with my state pension.

I know for certain that I could not run a house and a car having a state pension only.

I actually didn't start a company pension until my 40s, mainly due to moving around temporary jobs with my RAF husband. I'm really glad I did as it means two equal payments a month with my State pension, and my partner never paid into any pension scheme at all so he only has the State pension. (He does seem determined to work till he drops though!) However despite me having all the relevant NI years paid, he still gets nearly twice as much State Pension as me!

I read the article and it states that these 1 in 8 are actually retiring to take their State pension or living off savings. I understand that the State pension is not enough to do everything we want to do but it is still an income, so the headline to this is incorrect. It should read 1 in 8 plan to retire in 2018 with no private or company pension.

Its bad enough, in my view, that the State Pension is now reclassified as a benefit, without it being downgraded to being no pension at all.

As a young nurse I didn't want to pay into the pension but there was no option. At the time I could have doe with the money as the wages were very low and in my case all went in childcare. I am so glad I did pay now though. It was the same for DH in local government. Although people may think we had a cosy deal it was a huge chunk out of very low pay for both of us but we are enjoying the benefits now.