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Wish I had the chance to be able to pay into a pension.

Took lump sum & early retirement from final salary scheme at 55 as no death benefit as such to leave my children. My younger sister passed away age 53 so got no benefit from hers at all

save as much as you can

It is so important to prepare for retirement and although I wasn’t in a well paid job the pension was good. Right from 21 the money came straight out of my salary and therefore I never missed it. Having just retired I am really grateful that this happened.

Like many I started planning far too late.
This has been the main issue for me

start early and save continuously

We were careful early on in life & we also bought our own house, this was paid of early 10 years ago. We both worked hard before retiring & managed to save a sum we felt we could mange to retire on. With our State Pension & 3 small pensions we manage fine, taking Holidays as and when we want. Next year an Endowment we took out when buying our house matures so that will go into the savings pot to keep us going also.

I could never afford to save so only have very small work pension (worked part time in a shoe shop so nothing special) and state pension. We are lucky to live in the north where it's cheaper, not have a mortgage anymore and not really need much but I do wish I'd been able to save and encourage my children who have better jobs (though more expensive lives) to do so

Always pay into a pension when working. I am still incensed woman have to wait years for their state pension now when we have worked all our lives. I will be 66.

Before redundancy I paid into a works pension and an additional voluntary contribution scheme. Now I can barely pay the bills so try not to worry about what I can't change. I think retirement may well be pretty grim...but I'll certainly be used to living on next to nothing!

Although it's important to save for one's retirement, retirement itself doesn't have to happen in one foul swoop. For me the option to go part-time at the age of 60 in a totally different field enables me to just about earn enough on which to live, gives me plenty of free time to do the things I want and also keeps me relatively active. As and when I do opt to give up work altogether, my spending needs will have decreased, and pensions [although small] plus savings and the state pension will see me live out my life comfortably enough.

Thankfully I had a really good company pension when I had to retire at 44 due to ill health & disability. I received my maximum pension that I would have received at retirement age but if anybody doesn't have a great company scheme I would urge them to take out a good private pension

When we were young and just married with not much money ,although we both had jobs , my husband encouraged me to pay the full national insurance contribution. I left my teaching job for 10 years when the children came along. When I returned I paid my pension contribution for the lost working years. Consequently when I retired early I had the full state and teachers pensions! ( which was handy because my husband,who was self employed, had put money aside into a private pension scheme which now pays next to nothing!)
I used the lump sum from my pension to pay off the mortgage and invest in double glazing and replacement of all the outside woodwork with u.p.v.c. so as to avoid any repainting.
Now we are elderly and my husband is unwell we have enough to live on comfortably as we can no longer travel or spend on meals out or buy expensive clothes. The older you get it seems the less you spend !

It's all very well the MPs with their fat pensions advising people to make provision for their retirement but in reality you may not have enough to set anything aside after food and bills.

Private pension is a must, a nice saving nest egg if at all possible. I only buy things that we really need... Downsize home if need be / if possible. I will not fall fail of the having to sell my home for care, I will do what's needed rather than fall into this trap as I do not want to live in that situation until i die. All that I have worked for will be passed on to make my families life easier!

I work and I get a pension stopped out of my wages it works out just under £4 a month which isn't a lot, So I know I will have to rely on the state pension which does worry me but I should retire in about 15 years time (when I'm the good age of 67).

Now retired, my husband and I are part of the 'baby boomer' generation. My husband has always worked and saved into a company pension, although this stopped when made redundant. His new job didn't offer a pension and we decided for him to start a personal pension.

We have two children, and to fit in with home responsibilities, I did a series of part-time jobs, often not being able to work long enough hours to contribute to the national insurance scheme. I only continued my career when our children were old enough for me to do so.
Although neither of us earned high salaries, we have always saved for the future, initially using Tessa's, Pep's, then ISA's, building up a considerable tax-free nest egg. I also received an inheritance from my parents, which helped considerably and also enabled us to 'splash out' a bit.

You have to think about the future, but there are many challenges especially for women. Lower paid than men, being responsible for most aspects of childcare, and taking time off from the workplace with maternity leave and the cost of childcare these days. All these challenges result in women being unable to place enough money into a pension.

It can also be discouraging when when checking your pension pot, to see that although you have been paying into it a considerable time, due to changes in the stock exchange the balance isn't always as high as you expected! Even though your employer, plus tax relief has been added.

However, everyone should take responsibility for themselves as far as possible to make sure that retirement is that bit more comfortable.

Best to save what is affordable to save, starting from as young as possible. You can't have enough behind you and the state pension age keeps increasing

im hoping to go out before retirement and getting my TO DO LIST done sooner and when the time comes, im off to stand before my LORD

I would urge any young girls to start early putting into a pension. I was a stay at home mum in the 7o's married young and lived on monthly wages I did urge hubby to pay into a pension and glad I did. I stared a pension late only five years ago but aim to keep it going till I retire which as I'm only 58 will be another 8 years. Definately the working class with low wages like mine will struggle I worry about that.

Bought eight added years from age 35. Sadly had to finish early at 56 due to serious illness but these added years made a real difference as I await my state retirement age.

When you are young it seems so far away and you are sure that it will all work itself out somehow in the end. I thought that way, but fortunately came to my senses and have been fortunate enough to be able to save (paltry amounts at times) to build a buffer to my state pension and small private pension. I won't be living it up but I'll be ok. I'm very, very lucky.

Goodness, reading many of the comments makes me sad to realise how unfortunate the position of some ladies are. When we are young retirement seems such along way ahead it is easy to fail to make any provision even if we can afford to. Saving into a pension is one of the best returns because for every £1 put in the government put 20p, or 40p if you are a higher tax payer, but many do not know this. Starting early to pay in as much as can be afforded is the answer to having some sort (or any) of comfort in retirement. Thank heaven my husband has a (rare) final salary pension, which I get half if he dies, & I have always worked & paid into my pension so know how fortunate my situation is.

The returns on pensions is so bad we've concentrated on paying our mortgage off!

It's hard, low wages means not much to put to one side.
I like the scheme with the money being taken out and being matched, but will it be enough?