Scottish Widows would love to hear your concerns about retirement: share now and you could win a £250 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[KathrynMumsnet]

Claire Stracey, Head of Marketing Communications at Scottish Widows says:

"We know thinking about retirement is probably not front of mind, especially when you have more pressing tasks to take care of as a busy mum. Whether you’re in full-time employment or you’ve taken a career break, we’d love to hear any retirement planning questions that keep you awake at night. Have you had trouble finding clear information on your pension options? Are you confident that you’re setting yourself up for the best possible retirement?

We want to make retirement planning less daunting so we’ll be sharing stories and suggestions from our pensions specialists to help you get - or stay - on track.

So what are your biggest concerns when it comes to retirement? Let us know on the thread below and look out for pensions information for mums here; on Facebook and on ScottishWidows.co.uk."

By leaving your comment below, you’ll be entered into a prize draw where one lucky Mumsnetter will win a £250 John Lewis voucher*. Standard T&Cs apply and can be viewed here.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

*Scottish Widows and The Lloyds Banking Group are not affiliated to the prize draw and accept no liability in respect of the prize draw.

For me it's the age old money worries. With a young family to support we can only afford to pay the minimum into our respective pensions. I worry that when we come to retire we won't have enough to live on.

It's always been in the back of my mind and on my to do list but I've never done anything about it. I've been a SAHM for 2 years and with a newborn I will be for at least another year. My worry now is that there aren't really any part time jobs in my profession so will probably take whatever part time job going that will fit in with family life. This will likely not be well paid, so after childcare costs there won't be much left for pension contributions. Luckily DH is getting regular promotions and pay rises at work and is starting to get a decent amount in his work pension so I may have to rely on him in old age. A rainy day fund might have to be the way forward for me.

I keep meaning to pay into a pension scheme but never seem to actually get around to it. I am 30 so retirement seems a long time away and there is always more pressing expenses due to saving for then buying a house and having DD.

I am concerned that I will not have enough to live on to maintain what I consider to be a reasonable standard of living especially as DH is a SAHD.

Hmm may look into it again...

I'm very concerned about pensions, being a SAHM, I feel like in 40 years by the time I get to retirement there will be no state provision and I need to be doing something about it now.

having enough money to live on

If I will have enough money and how long I'll need to keep working to make sure I do.

I have an nhs pension but have only been paying in for 5 years and am now 35. Don't really have any extra money currently for a private pension and am concerned that there won't be a state pension (or even more minimal than it is now) by the time I retire. I also rent and it's unlikely we'll ever be in a position to buy which adds to my worries as the idea of trying to find rent when I'm retired out of a minimal pension seems terrifying. I'm not sure what my options are really so burying my head in the sand and hoping for a lottery win

It's impossible to know how much money one is going to need for retirement, as none of us knows how long we are going to live.
Surely, a better system would be to have the state pension kick in much later than it does now, at age 80, say. The amount of state pension could then afford to be much more generous, as there would be fewer people drawing it, for fewer years than currently.
If that were the case, then we would know that our pensions and savings would have to keep us going till age 80 and after that, the state would take over. It would make planning so much easier.
So if I decided that I wanted to retire at 60, say, I would need sufficient savings to provide me with an income for 20 years. If my savings were insufficient, I would need to plan to continue working for a few more years, or part-time work for longer, to supplement my savings income.
As it is now with the current setup, I have no way of knowing the maximum number of years that I need to provide for, so have to assume that it could be as much as 40.

80sMum - Except most pensions are actually pretty small. People like myself paid into a pension with the idea it would top up the state pension. I could never build up a big enough pension pot to pay my living costs.

But the rules keep changing.

I am nearing 30 now, and I was a mature student - because of this I haven't yet started saving for my workplace pension, the thing I worry about is that my quality of life will be low.

I started mine quite late because I was a student for a long time. I honestly don't know what it is worth because the calculations keep changing, as does the retirement age. It would be great of the goal posts stopped moving every other year and if a pension company actually made it easy to work out your financial future.

My main concern is not having enough money to live on

I'm concerned about the cost of living in 40/50 yrs time, I'm 41 and don't plan to retire until 70+ but if I'm in good health I'll have years ahead of me. it's going to be massive and I'm sure I'm not putting enough away.

I've got a tiddly private pension, one left over from a few years in local government and one with my current employer. I don't want to lump them all together in case something goes wrong.

I took out a private pension a while back, but since having dcs and being a sahm or working part time i haven't been able to afford to pay into it. And I can't see that changing any time soon, so am concerned that I am not going to have enough money in retirement.

I'm a SAHM although I worked for 15 years before and have built up reasonable pensions with 2 businesses. 1 is a defined contribution average salary scheme and the other I am not sure about. I tried to join the pensions but wasn't allowed with the current scheme. I have no idea about getting the state pension and if I will be allowed one or not. I have no immediate plans to go back to work, although it's not a definite no. My husband has a pathetic pension pot and I am sure it will not be enough for us. I have always paid in a lot to my schemes where he hasn't bothered and he is 43 already.

I have several tiny pensions which will bring me around £500 per year when I retire.
I'm 50 and cannot afford to put money into a pension although I have a lump in an ISA.
Is this the best way to invest?
My fear is living in a hovel on tinned soup after I retire.

I am most concerned about the adjustment that will have to happen to ensure that fund are managed properly. Once adjusted I'm certain we will be fine, it just that transitional period that could be difficult.

I have a small pension (private) which I pay into, and my small mortgage will be paid off before I am 45.

However my main concern is that due to DS's disability, he may never be able to work, and so I will need to support him.

I've had a LGS pension for 7 years, DH pays into a contributory pension (equal match) and also has a small NHS pension from a former job. We're in our early 40s, but my worry is that we're still not managing to save enough for a decent retirement. I'm wondering whether to add little bits of money to an old miniscule private pension, or to invest in ISAs, or both. There are so many options out there and we can't afford to pay for independent advice. I wish the whole system was simpler.

I haven't paid into a pension since i gave up my career to have children. I'm really worried that this has not only left us vulnerable as a couple, but if anything were to happen and I was on my own I think I would be in severe financial difficulties.

Being able to live comfortably... current provision is negligible. :-(

i am very lucky i have been paying into a local government pension for 12 years. though i am concerned about what could happen to it. i am early 30s and at this rate wont rtire for another 35 years. thats a lot of pension payments - but what if its not enough to pay for a living wage in my later years? what if the age keeps rising, and i cant physically work any longer? what if something happens to my pension? its so hard to plan for another lifetime away.

My pension with work is laughably small and I worry that with time out raising my dcs I might not be able to afford a liveable pension to retire at an age that will allow me to both enjoy and afford nice things in life. My dad died young having only just taken retirement from a job he hated. He loved his life in retirement and I want to do the same - but he only managed to do that for a year before he died suddenly, and I dread that happening to me and dh.

Through my twenties retirement seemed a long time away, but after hitting my thirties, getting married, buying a house and having a baby, you suddenly realise how important your twenties were for saving. My DH and I are having serious conversations about how we can make up for lost time and put ourselves in the best possible financial position in order to support ourselves - and our family - in later life. It all feels like such a juggling act.

Rather than a pension pot we have acquired properties to act as our pension pot, so my biggest concern would be our ability to sell these profitably when the time comes and how aggressively we will be taxed upon doing so.