Back in the day when you were young, you started work, handed over half of your wages to your mother and spent the rest on bus fares, a new dress or pair of shoes and a trip to the pictures once a week with your friends. You didn't pay into a pension fund. Later on you did but when you changed jobs they simply gave you your pension money back. Nobody saved for a pension, the state promised to give you a pension in old age in return for the national insurance contributions you paid in. Then you marry the unskilled man you love who never earned a fortune, and had children, you return to work struggle part-time on zero hours and no sick pay or time off for sick children, then they grow up and go to university, then you work some more and help them with money to pay for books and transport and food and resources they need. Finding money to put aside for savings? Well you do until the only car you own, well can afford to own, starts playing up and you are having to find money to keep it on the road to get to the part-time jobs that you do because transport is so poor. Then your children can't find work using their degrees, and come back home then leave again to work in supermarkets or card shops. Finally you find yourself in yet more part-time work not earning enough to be auto-enrolled in a pension fund. Next you find yourself facing redundancy but not being there long enough to receive any redundancy compensation, and face retirement soon with no pension pot anywhere and not able to receive a full state pension despite working for 38 years, most of which is part-time, seasonal or zero hours and living in one of the most deprived towns with expensive food and too expensive to go out for a night out treat, and discover that you are not regarded as poor enough to receive any benefits because you mistakenly thought buying your small terraced house years ago would be a good thing to do (but lack the funds to do it up fully), so you just to soldier on again. We haven't had a holiday for over 16 years and have been abroad in the past camping a few times with the children. I have drummed it into my children to start saving now or they will be as impoverished as I will soon be! I am glad at least that I have never followed fashion trends and still have a sense of humour and a big smile otherwise .......... So what was the question again? Ah saving for retirement.....!