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I am surprised by the number of people responding to this thread who do not realise that paying into an occupational pension, is saving for your retirement. That is why the government enables people, with very small company pensions to get the savings element of Pension Credit on incomes above the minimum level.

If you can save a lump sum as well, that is a nice extra, but you can always trade some of your company pension in for a lump sum when you retire.

Feel like these days the government takes all your money from you if you've saved up anyway so people don't see the point in saving so hard anymore.

I am more worried for my children and grandchildren's future retirements, as it seems to be becoming increasing difficult to save for the future

I agree with Comperbee, MOnica and others here, but even if we DID save in the past, there are pitfalls now.

I have two such pots, from 40 and 30 years ago, both now held by the same large pension firm, but in different departments which don't talk to each other. Some - company and independent - advisors put obstacles in the way of us getting cash which might just help with training or work-access costs which we Waspis find increasingly hard to obtain.

The two issues here are finding your money and taking control of it. Or at least knowing where it is, what it's worth now and what's being done with it by whom.

Go back to every employment you had and check whether you paid into a retirement scheme. What happened to that money? If it was transferred, have you any proof (it took me decades of being told no to find they - pension company - had it all along)? Even if you are told by one of the big firms it does not exist, see if you can find any paperwork from the past (I know it's not easy but mine turned up in a bundle of old letters). Once you establish there is a so-called pot, be very careful about advisors and paperwork. Have a witness to every meeting, even if it is with a rep or independent you really like, and clarify everything you can. Don't let them bamboozle you with percentages and meaningless financial gobbledegook and NEVER sign anything you don't understand, even if you have been with the pension provider for decades.

Be prepared to be asked horrible mandatory questions to which there is no answer , and to have to deal with someone young and smart who tries to interpret on paper our Waspi-impoverished, very complicated and private lives and lifestyles so they can "assess" us on things we should not have to share in order to access what is - after all - our own money, however long ago we saved it.

You can probably tell, I've made a lot of mistakes.

As usual, we are the victims of unintended consequences. The Government decided to let us have early access to pension money, but put in safeguards to stop us spending it all now instead of keeping some for later years. That was fair enough.

Unfortunately, the system is used, instead, as a blunt and very expensive (to us) tool to discourage access, even when it would make a huge difference to those of us who did save, but did not know or have time to plan for these extra years when the country is saving £48,000 per Waspi head in state pension payouts while expecting us to find work in a market geared to zero hours contracts, robust health, IT competence and mobility.

I'm quite sceptical about what's going to happen to my pension after Brexit, I've kept mine in a company pension but I know many of friends who took theirs out and invested in houses and they have skyrocketed in value.

...and could sky rocket down as well, There are expenses in renting out, maintaining the houses, dead periods with no tenants. You will have at least one nightmare tenant.

I owned a buy to let for about 6 years, by accident rather than design. I sold because of all the hassle. I started with the same tenant for two years, who were perfect tenants and it rather went down hill after that. A year of two new graduate first jobbers. Two lovely Irish boys who lived at home during their university years and had been waited on hand and foot since birth. The amount of damage they did to the flat, quite inadvertently, in a year was phenomenal. I even had to have the Consumer Unit for the electricity supply replaced (£500).

Then the very good managing agents I used, centralised their property management operations and the managment quality went off the top of a cliff. At which point, I decided I had had enough and sold it. The gross return was good, the net return, no better than investing in equities.

pension what pension? i have worked and paid my stamps and sent money off when asked by pension people. hopefully i will get state pension when i get to 66 thats if they dont put the age requirement up again . for the last 15 years have been unable to work due to disabilty/health reasons. i'm lucky if i got £5 over each month. dratted bedroom tax is reallyb a drain but this is my home of 31 years andyes the spare bedroom is used for the gc. but i still have to pay it, plus other bills etc oh yes and food musn't forget that. . heating is a no. but i have a convector heater and the water is on for 2 hours every sunday and before anyone says they can live on £2 a day. you cant ,i have have a very bad stomach that causes a lot of upset stomachs. and i need special food/ to even go out, i dont go out till afternoons due to this ,and upset stomach tablets when i have a morning hosp appointment.i wish there was a day that i fely 100 percent well and a nice tummy that didnt misbehave.

I wish I had been able to put money away in previous years for my retirement but my priorities were working full time whilst trying to bring up two children on my own with no financial support from my ex-husband so as money was tight, trying to survive was far more important!

Im not there yet I will have a teacher pension I do try and save since my husband died its not so easy. I dont think there is enough support or help with advice.

If you can afford it then do it. Get into the habit of saving for a rainy day and then it becomes natural to save for retirement. I have become aware of people who have found it difficult because their final pensions do not match their expectations.

my DH and I both pay into a works pension scheme, as we get nearer retirement we will reassess what we are paying in. Encourage our DCs to pay into a pension but with pay cuts, pay freezes and trying to get together house deposits it is very hard.

Like many here, I am living at the margins. I raised my children alone and have never been able to save much. I wish now I had put even a few pounds away each month. Retirement creeps up on you then, boom, it's there !

I have little in the way of savings, but have invested heavily in bringing up my children. The threat prospect of having me to live with them will, I hope, prompt them to divvy up a few quid each month to keep me living at home if I can't afford to fund my retirement any other way.

I am finding it a challenge whether it makes more financial sense to contribute more to my pension or more to my mortgage. Which will provide the greater return. I also several smaller pension pots as a result of job moves and also unsure whether to consolidate them. To be honest it’s a minefield.

Sheppady, there is a need for someone fair-minded to help us out if we have several small pots from long ago job moves. I've been told variously that they definitely can't be consolidated AND that they definitely can. In both cases, access will cost me a fair whack and can only be done by a specialist advisor at a price.

I'd like to repeat the plea to all who had jobs (even a few years) in the dim and distant past to check whether you have a pension pot(s) because pension firms are not proactive in seeking us out, while sitting on amounts which might not be huge by today's standards, but could certainly ease the Waspi trap somewhat.

During the time our children were young I worked part-time and never built up a full government pension. Consequently, as a couple our total pension is minimal. However, we live simply and manage quite well - worth it for the time 'invested' in the children.

I've always been a live now, pay later kind of person, and I'm now in the pay period of my life. I've been lucky though, bought a flat and joined the work pension scheme when I was 40. Best thing I ever did. Had to sell the flat - debts - but kept the pension going; it was extremely generous as my employers paid in twice what the employee did. I bought an annuity when I reached 60 and went down to part time work as I was unable to retire (thanks, Gov!).
Badgered all my colleagues to join the pension scheme, even if it was the minimum 1% as the employer was still offering double. None of them did.
I've now retired, moved somewhere cheaper and am lucky enough to have a council bungalow. My private pension really comes in handy - I'd struggle without it!

what retirement?!?!

I've either been working part time, studying at college or bringing children up, including now bringing up grandchildren. So very little in the pension pot for me when I reach retirement. My husband had a very small pension which he had been paying into for over 30 years and would have been worth an estimated £6 a week! Unfortunately as our roof was leaking and we had 2 young children to bring up we had to cash this small pension in a few years ago so will now be reliant on the state pension. Luckily the youngest grandchild will be almost 18 when my husband reaches retirement so the lack of money won't affect them.

I have a teacher's pension.

I am afraid I have followed in my mother's footsteps and did not think about a pension until my last job and she worked until the age of 70 and unfortunately passed away at the age of 72. I am kind of worried about the future as I know it will be tight as I am still working and intend to work beyond retirement, if I have my health of course.

Oh how I always envied those women who could stay at home looking after their children. The most time I had off work was 3 years and even then managed to fit in some part time work. The reason being a husband who enjoyed going out, drinking and running up debts. Me working, however, only meant putting more money into his pocket instead of making life easier at home. Sometimes there wasn't even enough food in our cupboards (we had three children). I was a pretty stupid girl way back then. But then who could have foreseen 26 years later when he left me for another woman. The fight on my hands was great and my solicitor advised me to get rid of him asap while he was perhaps feeling some sense of guilt for the affair ( he had remortgaged our home twice in a year and cashed in an endowment policy to obtain his runaway fund). My teacher's pension and lump sum were at stake plus an avc and of course my home. My ex settled for a 20000 pay off. I was left with a huge mortgage to clear which I worked hard to do before retirement at 58. My lump sum helped to finally finish it in the end. I look back on the fool I was all those years ago to put up with such a greedy, selfish man, but I am so grateful I worked. My life is comfortable and content in a way it never was with him. My state pension has another 3 years to kick in and even without that I can still save and buy treats for my DC and GC. If my ex had stayed I am sure I would have been financially ruined.

Save as much as possible as the state pension is rubbish

I have managed to save at various periods throughout my life but in ISAs rather than pension funds. I cannot afford to retire before I reach state pension age & I wouldn't have been able to wherever I had put my savings! I can however afford to work part time for the next six years to bring me to the shifted goal posts of state retirement....health permitting!

I started my pension far too late so i just plod on with it really, but there is no security for me there in the future, It is a worry but have to have faith !