Share your thoughts on saving for retirement with Scottish Widows - chance to win £300 voucher!

I have a pension but not much in it so its something I worry about.

My advice to women (and indeed men!) would be never to rest on your laurels and imagine the future will look after itself.

Things happen. Like many women, having children meant I had a career break and then children who were sick so I could not return to work for a while - until they were school age. My income and pension were well and truly messed up too. I was lucky enough to have a local government role so the pension scheme was good, but it did involve quite a lot of my earnings going in to it.

Life throws us many curve balls. I didn't expect parenthood to be so difficult, to be unable to return to work when I planned, nor did I expect my marriage to end when the children were young. That wasn't part of my life plan - but I'd say to everyone working - please, save for a nest egg and a pension if you possibly can. Life gets in the way of all the plans we set out when we are young, imagining ourselves walking into a glorious sunset with a decent pension at the end of our working days.

I hobbled into the sunset at a youngish age, as a single parent to teenagers, not willingly but because ill health struck me. Out of the blue.

The pension lump-sum vanished as the years went by, just paying the mortgage and keeping a roof over our heads. The children eventually grew up and moved on, leaving behind a single, working mother not in the best of health and living on a pittance.

Mine may be a worst case scenario but I hope it might be a lesson for younger women. A life without luxuries and having to constantly budget isn't how I'd imagined it to be. Now of course, women have to work longer for their pension. Born in the 1950s, I have the double whammy of not get getting my state pension at 60. I get by on my occupational pension, just, but having worked for most of my adult life, I didn't imagine I'd have nothing to fall back on at this age.

If you can, do save, long term and don't be tempted to blow savings on material things, which age and lose their value - unless you can afford gold, or original Old Masters of course!

When you finish work, you want life to be easier. The money worries should end, but for many women they don't. Any amount you can put by for old age is a good investment. I have learnt that the hard way.

I feel unprepared. Cost of living has risen so much in recent years that retirement saving has been low priority. As I age I start to worry more and more about it.

Start as young as you can.

definitely worth checking your national insurance record

When I worked full time I always paid into the workplace pension schemes. Even though I would rather have had a bit of extra disposable income each month, I always reasoned that I couldn't afford NOT to pay into my pension.
Skip forward to now, I'm working a part time, temporary position on scarcely more than minimum wage, not eligible for workplace pension and my employment may be terminated at any time with one weeks notice. It's just impossible to prioritise saving for a far-flung retirement when I may be unemployed next week.

Honestly I don't have enough to pay the bills now so can't afford more expense but I suspect retirement if they haven't upped the age to 100 will be pretty miserable, so same old same old...

I'm a WASPI - I expected my meagre pension to be added to my state pension at 60, but I won't get that til I'm 66. I doubt my savings will last that long

I have't even thought about it so will be relying on the state pension and earnings from letting my flat.

I am saving with a pension through my work, but found out belatedly that once I reach pensionable age, the value of the state pension will be deducted from my private pension. My advice is to save as much as you can as early as you can and look after number one without relying on anyone else.

I’m not saving anything at the moment, but I do want this to change. I’m not working so there is nothing to save from!

I used to think that retirement was so far off that it would never come around. Luckily I was in a job with a great pension scheme and I am taking early retirement next month. I'm very happy that I had no choice but to pay in to my pension scheme otherwise I might not have bothered, needing the money for raising a family. I now know how important it is to have a good pension and will be reaping the benefits soon.

I was in the civil service for 19 years then left to care for my son who had additional needs. I had to work so became self employed which enabled me to be at home with the kids, but during this time my marriage broke up. Being a one income family left nothing to save for my retirement. I've just turned 50 and have taken out a private pension, planning on saving and working for another 10 years. It wont be much, but with my CS pension and possibly downsizing my home when the kids leave I will hopefully cope.