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I was fortunate to have a teacher's pension, but, even so, as a mother I spent 7 years at home when my children were young, and also worked part-time for several years, so didn't manage to build up a full pension. Also, being born in 1952, I missed out on some of my state pension too, having to wait until I was about 63, I think. So yes, I do think women have the 'short straw' when it comes to pensions. It is so important to start saving as early as possible if you want to have a comfortable retirement. My husband had to take early retirement at 50 because of a serious illness, and this is something we hadn't reckoned on. I think many young people today just seem to live for the moment, and don't consider saving for the future. A big mistake.

Still working at 63. Never dreamed I would be working when started work at 15. Have little pension and some savings . Worked abroad for 24 years and most of that part time only paying into state pension. Came home to care for father till he died and didn’t work . Remained in uk and have worked since. Divorced . No pension from him.... I supported him through my marriage and he didn’t get a proper job till I left and came home to uk. I pay rent a flat so have no house or flat to call my own. One son who is married with kids and doesn’t live in the uk . I absolutely dread retiring as I certainly will not have enough of a pension .

I think saving for retirement is very important. Retirement is an exciting new chapter in your life and having enough money to enjoy it is something we should think about early on. It’s never too late to save for a retirement fund.

I joined a pension scheme at 21 and when I have changed my job have made sure that I have either transferred it over or started another so now I receive four payments a month some not so big but every penny helps, when I worked overtime or had a bonus I put 10% of it away in savings like premium bonds which if lucky would increase. I do think that learning to handle money at an early age helps for later life I was encouraged to save from my pocket money and I have done the same with my daughter who has been able to save enough for a deposit on her own home and join the works pension plan even on a very low wage.

We started saving 15 years ago, little amounts into Isa's when the interest rate was 4%, my husband does a lot of overtime and pays extra into his pension

I retired 2 yrs ago but the real panic sets in when your partner retires , suddenly every penny counts and its very hard to get realistic estimates of what you might get. So we decided to augment our pension by putting 1k a month into premium bonds and going without for 2 years , and we now have a nest egg of £32k . I wouldnt suggest everyone does that but if you regularly save early enough and dont touch it retirement will be easier , I have Power of Attorney for an 80 yr old and I have to monitor the account nearly every day to keep everything paid andin the black

I have my pension and pension credit very much at heart and fear that Brexit will shorten it or get rid of it totally. Truly live in fear.

I’ve always paid into a works pension thankfully

I have worked at the same place since I was 18 and have had a pension since I started. I am so looking forward to retiring now although I could in fact have 20 years yet. I really don't know what the pension will be worth but I doubt it will be enough to live on.

I will only get my state pension at 67 so putting a little money away now is very important !

My brother died Monday without a will and as we were not a close family I have no idea as to what pensions or savings or anything he had and it's made both myself and my partner realise that we really need to organise our future as you never know what going to happen, my brother was only 66... I just turned 50 this year, I have a civil service pension to come out but I'm not sure when and I have no idea if I had a pension from my first job on leaving school, I think these kinds of life planning should be taught in schools so they can start to understand why a pension is necessary and how to get the best out of one...

I am sceptical about the phrase "empower women to take control of their pension". Rather than control, it seems what happens is that all market risks are now our problem, rather than the employer's or pension provider's. With interest rates so low and equity markets not delivering long term capital appreciation, our pension pots are likely to fail to grow sufficiently to compensate for the loss of defined benefits. What was touted as "liberalisation" is in fact a massive con that has enriched no-one except the pension fund management.

had a private pension at work, but having took early retirement, not been contributing, so not going to be as good as I hoped, but we intend to downsize and hopefully live off the rest.

My savings and sale of my house will pay for my care home fees. If I peg it before then, quite a few charities will benefit but I will be able to pay my own way at least until the money runs out and probably by then I will not be caring who is paying my fees as I will be gaga.

My 35 year old nephew thought that he had years to think about saving for a pension but I have talked him into seriously saving, getting rid of all debt and thinking about pensions. He will not want to work until he is 90.

I am surviving on a state pension and pension credit and regret so much not saving for my future but my circumstances for many years didnt allow me to.

I have nothing to rely on but the state pension and whatever savings I have left. I am currently living on them because no one told me when I was first ill that if I didn't apply for Statuary Sick Pay straight away I'd never be able to, and at the time my then husband said we were well off enough for him to support me and we shouldn't put strain on the benefits system if we could manage without. I have been unable to work for years (Fibromyalgia) and although I contracted out of SERPS when I was working, (as advised by the government at the time) this has not resulted in my having any monies which I can locate. My husband has divorced me (not good with illness) and I have no claim on his pension.

Annaram1 Dear Child Dear Husband

There is already a list of acronyms on the site Annaramm1

I know I am stupid but just what is a DC or DH? Can't people just spell out the whole word so that idiots like me know what they are talking about?
Perhaps Gransnet could provide a list of these acronyms, please!

Monica I am not talking about having money to pass on to DC or, God Forbid, a cat's home. I am referring to the position of a widow, or widower, where their joint savings and incomes have been used up to pay for care leaving the survivor with just enough to survive.

The other injustice that rankles is that if my DH had a physical illness, eg Cancer, rather than a mental illness i.e Dementia, then all his care/tratment costs would be covered by the NHS.

The point I was trying to make (albeit badly) is that very commonly in our age group, the fat pension, the ISAs (sometimes even their house) etc. etc. are held in the man's name, or jointly. This leaves the wife financially vulnerable if her DH requires long term care or she is widowed. I would urge women/couples in this situation to re-examine their finances and ensure that there is provision for her if this situation arises.

I definitely began to prepare too late. I think there should be a public information film, or maybe pension information event in schools, explaining that we get qualifications for our future jobs, we look after our health for our future fitness, but we don't necessarily look after our finances for our future financial health. Simple information for school children. It's common sense.

Information, well communicated, is important. We were not well off or poor. We had to budget carefully and live modestly until our children were post uni stage. I am grateful to my union for providing clear guidance at a time when it would have been easy to make different choices which would have made my retirement income much less .

Granny23 if you have any savings or a large pension, they will be taken to pay your care costs. and why not?

We should expect to support ourselves until we die, including if we need care. If you genuinely can't then the state will step in. But why should anyone with money expect tax payers, many probably on low incomes, to pay for someone's care so that their children or the local cat's home should get a windfall, however small.

Im in my mid 40s and started saving about 5 years ago. I put a set amount into a saving account each month and this is for my retirement when the time comes. I feel we are organised for our retirements and have done the best we can with the money we have

Retired from teaching at 60 but still did supply work for over 10 more years. Because of gaps my pension was small and anyway I still enjoyed the work. My lump sum, also modest, paid off my mortgage and I cut up all my store cards with the intention of never again owing money. Gradually I changed where I shopped for groceries and discovered all kinds of ways to spend less. I found I needed far fewer clothes and that charity shops were well worth exploring for all kinds of things. I've never driven so am mostly happy with public transport although the occasional private hire car is a luxury. I'm fortunate to own my small house but that is really the result of my DF being able to afford a 3 bedroom newbuild when my parents married in the 1930s. They never had enough income to save and foreign holidays and a car were beyond their reach.