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My husband and I have always had to be very independent financially as we had to be as we realising there would be no financial assistance available from any source especially the family, due to their own modest circumstances. Thinking of our future security as best we could my husband choose to stay in the Forces for most of his working life as it meant security in later life with a good pension. This meant we often had to up sticks and move home at short notice here and abroad, but we came to love the life for itself although our children aren't quite sure where they came from with all the upheaval. Luckily they are all settled now.

my husband and i stareted saving for our retirement back in our thirties, we spoke to an advisor at the Nationwide who said we were projected to be able to retire at 50, with the financial crash in the 80s we had to hold out til 55 but weve been retired for 4 years now and its great. We dont have much spare money after paying bills etc but that was our choice, if wed both carried on working there would have been money but no time to enjoy it. My dad died at 65 one year after retiring and i didnt want that for us. we are still young and i consider myself so lucky to be able to spend so much time with my granddaughters while im fit and well

i worry about retirement and the financial repercussions. i only have a pension when i wasnt married and now i am divorced i have been starved of my spouses pension and now at 50 i worry i have left it late to finance my retirement

I always worry about retirement. Am I paying into a pension? Yes. Am I saving a little every month? Yes. But still I worry it isn't anywhere near enough. Like everybody on this thread, it's hard. My husband always says we will be fine, and he is paying into his company pension too, but I still lay awake at night!

Mixed feelings really. A not insignificant amount is paid in each month and in retirement it hardly equates to anything and that is on the assumption you make it to retirement to see the benefit.

I know I should save but find it near impossible. I am terrified of how we are going to survive at pension age. Not far off now. I think I can be accused of putting my head in the sand.

I have a civil service pension that I worry won't be enough on it's own. I've paid into a pension since I was 24, but it's still not going to be enough I fear. I worry I will be forced to work longer than is good for me, and will most likely need to work part time when I retire as my husbands pension will be tiny as he is in a job that has made no provisions until the recent government legislation came in. I feel the phrase enjoying ones retirement won't be around much longer.

When I have been employed, I have always contributed to a company pension scheme, but I suppose I am burying my head in the sand because I have no idea how much income these will pay out when I retire.

I am one of the unfortunate women caught in the pension trap. When I first started work my retirement age was 60. It was then moved to 65 and moved again to 66.
I was lucky that my husband has a great pension and I retired early with a small company pension. I have paid enough into the state pension to be able to claim but still have to wait another 3 years. I can't even claim a bus pass until then !
When I was working I paid additional contributions but just went with what the company suggested. Opted in .. opted out.. I think we did both but nothing was ever explained very well.

I have been saving since I started work. Hope I see the benefits in the future

we've not really saved for retirement but invested in properties. So selling the family home and downsizing will be an option for us x

I thought I was retiring with a state pension at 60 ..then it was 65 and in a blink of an eye it was then changed to 66! Time flies and you should start saving as soon as you start earning. In fact you should have at least two pots of savings one that is not touched until you retire..and another for things you want to buy.
But no matter how we try to forewarn our offspring ..they always think time's on their side!

Salaries are not rising but living costs are. Women who leave the workplace to raise children are losing out when it comes to pensions, but I cannot see any reasonable solution

Good Luck to all x

I am lucky to have worked in Local Government for 30 years and have a decent pension, however my most recent statement left me thinking - do I need to have another form of income, as the forecast was reasonable but would mean I would be counting the pennies all of my retirement. I have taken a second pension, and have equity in my home, so when the time comes, will seriously consider downsizing to a smaller home (I'd never use an equity release).

Start pension planning early in life!
So I think this discussion would have more benefit if shared on a 'younger' website.

I have a personal pension and work pension but really need to up what I pay in at some point in the future.

If I had my time over again I'd invest in property - buy and renovate houses and rent them out. Better than savings when the interest rates are so low and less risky than the stock market!

I was fortunate to work in the public sector with a generous pension. I didn't really appreciate what a huge perk of the job this was, but I do now I see others relying on the state pension or small private pensions.

if you still have working age kids at home use their contribution to pay off mortgage (best asset you can have)
then you will be able to leave them something that they have also contributed to.

We never ever had enough money to save up, but because we both worked in the public sector we have reasonably generous pensions. I also had a very very small Scottish Widows pension which gave me a lump sum of £5000, an annual amount of £130 paid in January and £45 per month!! I bought a car with the lump sum and I spend the January money on perfume for the year! My husband is a musician and still earns a bit but we are 69 and 72 and still paying a mortgage!! Mainly our own fault, we have a big old comfortable house and just don't want to downsize! Like a lot of people we had an interest only mortgage for years and an endowment policy which didn't pay out very much at all. My mother lived with us for a few years before she died and her generosity allowed us to pay off a large chunk of our mortgage. It's amazing how you adapt to retirement, you don't need the clothes, the shoes, the cosmetics, the body maintenance, the hairdressers etcetc. I paint, I garden, 1 read, I walk with friends, we eat with friends, we live near the sea, we visit free art exhibitions, galleries and events. Life is still very good.

I have been adding to a personal pension since my early twenties and I have recently joined a company one but because I am not paying enough to either of these I don't stand to have a great deal to retire on.

Unfortunately I'm not in a position to save at all for my retirement; I am single in my late 50s, work hard full-time and do have a company pension, however it takes every penny I earn just to keep my home going and all the bills etc associated with it.

I am honestly terrified to retire as I don't think i've saved enough to keep me in the lifestyle I am grown use to

I wish I had the money to save