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.

I find it a bit sad reading through all the previous posts, not one person feels confident about the funding of their retirement, there seems to be an element of fear and doubt in every single one. This is such a shame, as I think the majority do our utmost to provide for our family as they grow up, often sacrificing things we would like to do or have, in order for our family to benefit. In return, we all seem to be fearing the future when it comes to money. I am another one, having lived very frugally on a low wage, never any money left over at the end of the week, so will be dependent on the state pension. It feels sad not to be able to look forward to our final days, worrying that we could well be living in poverty.

I only work part time and through ill health and having children have not worked for 7 years so I have financial concerns.

DP & I both have a property in addition to the one we live in. But no pensions. Will that be enough? What if DC want to go to University..?
We're late 30s, so it's probably too late to get a private pension

I have a good public sector pension. But with all the changes to it, I just do not understand it anymore. My employers put all correspondence in plain English allegedly, but it may as well be written in Swahili. I know I will not be able to claim it until I'm 67, and pay more into it, and it's not final salary any more, but I've really no idea what it actually means I will get in practice and therefore no real idea if I need to save more into another scheme.
DH had a private pension that he paid into for only about a year, so that's probably worthless.
I can't see how we can rely on a state pension when I'm old enough to get one, I'm sure the government will say they can't afford it.

We are in exactly the same situation as maketeanotwar. We are going to start paying into a pension for my OH but when you look at how much they advise saving it almost feels like there is no point. We have thought about property instead, but we are going to start a pension for him in the autumn.

I'm not an idiot and I worked in financial services for many years but when it comes to my pension it all seems such a headache! I have two very small pensions from when I was last employed and I started early but had children earlish too. One has less than £300 invested in it and yet they want two witnesses to my signature to move it into the other one and that one will still only pay me about £800 per year if I leave it alone.

I'm self employed and would like to take advantage of the tax benefits now I earn a bit more and actually pay tax again! But I don't know how to capitalise on the previous year's unused allowances and I don't really earn enough yet to have an accountant to advise me and the money advice service is so overly simple that it tells you nothing other than to get independent advice and I have no idea where to go for advice now most banks and building societies no longer do investments due to the excessive regulation. None of the independent financial advisors are really independent and I don't feel like I know enough to protect myself adequately.

So instead of getting a pension I focus on reducing our family debt and hope dh's will be enough for both of us. I do have the details of a couple of shit hot divorce lawyers should I ever need them I don't lie awake at night worrying about this stuff.

Like everyone else it seems, I don't really understand what sort of income I can expect my two pensions to give me ... and what sort of choices I should be making now to prepare for retirement (I'm mid-forties).

I'm in a reasonably good financial situation (being realistic I'm probably at or near the top of my earning potential) and would probably benefit from putting a bit more of my salary into my current pension scheme. But could really use some simple guidelines (and information) to help inform my decision making.

DH has a company pension but I'm a SAHP - I went from uni to getting married, having a breakdown, retraining & then having DC before I got a job. I doubt DH's pension will be enough to provide for us & his salary isn't enough that we could start a pension for me right now. His parents are fairly well off so I think our only sort-of plan is to wait until he gets inheritance from them! Not really a solid plan given that they might decide to give all their money to charity!

I'm HEing our DC so I'm putting all my energy into furthering their future prospects in the hope that they can/will take care of me when I'm destitute in my old age! Also not a very solid plan - they'll probably be sick of me by then!

I've prioritised house buying over pension provision as it feels safer and it an actual asset I can pass into DCs if I die early rather than a pension that I'll never see the benefit from unless I live a very long time.

I think with pensions you have to have a very big one for it to be worthwhile. If you have a small one all it will do is cancel out means tested benefits.

I am in one now I'm middle aged but only because it is one of the last final salary ones left. I still think it's lot to come out of my pay every month and am not 100% sure it's better than using that money to pay off my mortgage sooner. It's a gamble.

DP has no pension and is unlikely to in the near future. He is self employed so not even paying full NI so won't even get a full state pension at this rate!

I don't think there will be 'pensioners' by the time my DCs get old. I think people will just work until they are either signed off permanently sick or are wealthy enough to quit work of their own accord. The non means tested state pension definitely won't exist in 50 years.

I also think adult children are going to have to provide or pay for care of the elderly. State support will probably only be for those with no relatives.

I became disabled by illness whilst still at uni and have not been able to work since. I get by day to day, but basically have given up any idea of trying to plan for a future and whether I have any income by then; frankly in my darker moments (increased by reports of benefit cuts to disabled people), I often think that suicide will be my only option in the future

I have a private pension but I intend to take a part time at an appropriate time to top it up.....good health permitting.

The main worry is that I will not have enough money to live on, it is a real struggle sometimes now to cope financially so I don't know how it will be when I retire.

Being able to continue the same lifestyle as I currently have is my biggest concern - I no longer work (due to being a stay at home mum) - although my husband has a pension I worry that it will be enough to enjoy life later on without financial worries

My biggest concern is how I will cope with every day living, not knowing if I'll have dementia or cancer or osteoporosis to deal with. I really want to remain independent.

I worry about having too little money to live on, particularly as I'm nine years old than my partner and, therefore, likely to retire before him.

I worry that our pensions will not be enough to live on, it's impossible to work out figures. At the moment, we're trying not to worry about it too much, but I think we could both be working until we're very old!

Severely reduced income; eroding savings; being together all the time; not having anything to do. But all these are manageable by: being ruthless with unnecessary spend; having a "glide-path" for your savings and don't obsess over leaving something to others; creating me-time and me-space; spending time on volunteer activities to put something back. It can be a rewarding period of your life, if you choose!

My biggest concern is not whether we have enough money it's whether we will be healthy enough to enjoy retirement. I'd like to retire now so I can still walk and am physically able. I love to surf but am always working by the time I retire my body won't be able to do it!

I worry that I won't have enough money. I can't afford to buy my own house and rent will be very expensive.

I'm 43 and frankly, I'm terrified. My husband has worked all his life but his company pension that he's paid into all that time is worth very little; he says that's the case with most people he knows at work. Years back I remember a financial adviser telling us that we should be putting hundreds into the pension every month, but who on earth can afford to do that? I have 5 years of a teacher's pension; after that time I quit my job to start a family, and haven't been in well-paid regular work since (though not through lack of trying). I'm working on becoming a freelance, which even if I'm successful will make it hard to start a new pension. In a way it feels like if you put your family first and stay at home for any length of time to raise children, this is not valued by society and you are in fact punished for it several times over, including missing out on a pension. If this sounds emotive, it's only because at this stage in my life I can see what trouble we're in, and currently hoping that we'll be physically and mentally able to carry on working for as long as possible, because we won't be able to afford to retire, though at some point I guess we'll have no choice. I hope we won't be facing destitution, but it's not looking good.

Money is not something I worry too much about as I started life with nothing and inevitably will end it with nothing. What is more of a concern is whether I will have enough time to do all the things I planned to do in retirement

I have a civil service pension, but the scheme changes constantly and I worry that I should get a back up private pension, but then hear horror stories about them too. And what I really need to do is but a house, as renting in retirement scares me. My parents are still working (late 60s) and in-laws retired at 50 and are in a constant panic about money, so getting no sensible advice from them!

I am concerned about the cost of retaining any kind of independent living. If, eg, our health declines and we need to pay for care which is not always provided/funded by NHS & Social Services.

I have no pension and am 40yrs old, I have no savings and have gone back into education for a career change in the hope I can earn more so I can put a little away... I am worried that I will be sat cold and hungry in my old age

I've just been bumped from a final salary non-contributory pension to a career average (still non-contributory) though anything I've already accrued is safe. On this basis I've just started paying into a SIPP too.

I also have pension plans for my children (aged 5 and 3) that I've paid into from birth.

I'm naturally a saver and am actively planning for retirement as I don't want to work past 60 if at all possible.