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.

Everything about retirement concerns me. I have a long term health condition which means I can only work part time and therefore my income is very low. I will get a very small pension from my employer but other than that I may well be facing many years of hardship. Unfortunately, I do not have any disposable income at the end of the month to try to boost my pension pot. I truly believe that there will be so many people in future years facing many years of financial struggling.

Not having enough money to live comfortably.
My husband has a private pension (I do not) he is self employed. It is a big concern, I hope that we will have some kind of windfall.
Luckily we have done well with property and have a lot of equity in the house, so we could downsize.
This equally saddens me though as I would want my children to inherit our house for their future.

I'm 53 and, following my divorce 10 years ago, I've ended up with a mortgage that won't get paid off until I'm 65
I have a few small pension pots from various jobs but, due to financial pressures (inc. my ex-husband not paying child support), I haven't paid anything into a pension since I was made redundant 5 years ago

I'm really worried that I either won't have enough of a pension to live on, or conversely that I'll have to carry on working for so long that I won't actually ever be able to retire and I'll just exhaust myself.
I'm wondering whether I'd be better off taking some of the money as lump sums out of the pension pots and using that to pay off part of my mortgage, rather than waiting for the few hundred pounds a year that the pension will pay out.....

I like to think I'm relatively intelligent but pensions really confuse me....

I have paid into a public sector pension since the age of 23. It won't be a huge amount as I haven't always worked full time and am now in a job that is not particularly well paid. However, I think that it will be enough to live on if I am careful as I will own my home with no mortgage by then and am used to living on much money. I think my main concern will be affording to maintain my property and replace expensive household items.

I trusted the financial advisor who told me to contract out in 1987, and the one who told me to stick with the same scheme when I contracted back in some years ago. I've just turned sixty and discovered that the amount I will lose from the new "flat-rate" pension payable in six years time will be far in excess of what my private pension will pay me. In effect, I have contributed thousands of pounds of my own money in addition to the Government's NI contribution to end up worse off than if I had not bothered with a pension scheme at all. And what makes it worse is that I am now being told to pay yet another financial advisor to determine the best use of my pension cash. The whole pension mess at the moment is another financial scandal in the making, with the scheme providers and advisors the only beneficiaries.

How long my money will last.

I am single - again!!! And worry about my financial future - how do I pay a mortgage and bills on my own whilst also trying to save money for my retirement??? I am resigned to living my life now and hoping that things improve prior to me reaching retirement age. At least I will have a paid roof over my head that belongs to me by the time I retire :-)

I work part time, pay a tiny amount into a pension, and rent my house. No spare money. Terrified of retirement!

Sexual frustration!

I have a teachers pension which is constantly changing and I don't really know where I stand with it. Dp has nothing in place, we own no property. We are 31 with two children and I'm beginning to get quite terrified!

Whether my pension, which I've paid into since I started work at 22, will be enough to live on.

we are just concerned with the forever rising household bills and then there is the care element which is a scary thought as there is still no ceiling on costs and we really want to be able to help our kids out but not sure if we will be able to afford it

I am furious that despite doing as suggested and paying 10% NET income into a pension and going without a lot to do this over the years I am basically going to get back what I put in despite my pensions consistently performing 5% above inflation over 20 years.

How much of a life could I have had? And my children?

So sod it now I am paying my mortgage off early and buying a motorhome! Nothing gained by playing by the rules and heeding advice from the "authorities"
Yes Scottish widows my pension was with you!

i doubt i will live long enough or be healthy enough to enjoy retirement, regardless of income

I worry about whether the money going into my group personal pension would be better spent paying off my mortgage more quickly as I have concerns about how much my pension put will be worth in real terms by the time I retire.

As a stay at home mum nudging 40 I am entirely dependent on my husband's pension. Never actually thought I'd end up here.

Trying to estimate how much money you need. As a result I worry about not having enough money to cover my retirement

Getting old and aches and pains are a concern for me when I think of retirement.Habing enough money left and not scrimp and save every day.Will i be one of those retired couples with hobbies and going on cruises,my husband says sadly not!!

I feel sick when I think about retirement. I have a small BTL rental income as my pension, and that is it. I would love a non judgemental professional to take the problem out of my hands and tell me what to do. Unfortunately, I think that would put a big dent in our monthly family income.

I'm paying into a nhs pension, but have only recently become full time - so it really won't be very much. We are relying on the fact that we can downsize once we have paid off mortgage - hopefully a bit early. Dhs pension is more rubbish than mine, as he hasn't paid anything into it for 15 years. He says he's never going to stop working or retire at all. Seeing as he's had no work for the last 2 months, not sure how that one will work out!

Being fit enough to enjoy it! I am healthy at the moment but there's a lot of years to go yet and I'd hate to think I'd not get to enjoy my retirement. I'll continue to eat healthily and exercise and cross my fingers.

I am under 30 and I am so worried I won't save enough for when I'm retired, as well as being able to support my dd if she needs help when she is older.

The biggest concern has to be pensions and whether the costof living will outstrip any benefits of having paid in all these years or if we'll just scrape by. Would hate to not be able to treat grandchildren or have a holiday.

I don't have a pension but my DH has had a private pension since 17 which we are still paying in to plus he has a company pension. When we retire I fear that the then government will say we have enough of an income so will not be then entitled to a State Pension.

I will be due a small company pension but my state pension will not start paying out til I am 66. My worry is the that the years when I have only the company pension will be very lean.