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.

where do I start! not having enough money to live off, not having the money for residential health care if needed, it is all very bleak, no point in saying save now for the future if you don't have the money to save.

I have started paying into my pension relatively early (been paying into it since I was 23. I'm now 25)

This is purely as I have no idea what the UK and finances will be like when I come to retire. I want to be atleast slightly prepared!!

I'm not worried about myself as I have a private pension through work which I have paid into since I was 25, but my husband doesn't have one as he is self employed. I'm hoping that he sorts something out in the near future, but we are in our early 30s so it's not a massive concern. I have been paying into pensions for my daughters since they were born to try and help them out so they won't be in such a difficult position when they are older.

My main concern is a massive change of the goalposts by the time I reach retirement age. My state pension age is 68 so I'm at the mercy of numerous future governments.

My two biggest concerns are health and money.

With Gordon Brown raiding the pension funds, not to mention 7/11 and the current low interest rates pensions will be right down.

I think investing in property is a better idea if you have any spare cash.

The main concern is pensions not keeping pace with the cost of living in the future. The old age pension alone is certainly not sufficient & with the culture of benefits, more people seem to be taking out of the systems than paying in. We have also invested in rental properties to boost our work pensions in retirement.

I do save in accordance with government guidance but I wish the guidance was clearer. Eg the "half your age" guidance, is that net or gross? And are there points at which a different amount is sensible? I wish the online help calculators allowed you to just click "average" or give you a range - I don't know the answers to these questions. Personalised advice is always relatively expensive, I wish it was a set sum rather than a % of my investments.

We both have pensions and mine started automatically in my job when I was 21. My husband has a private pension. I hope that we can be mortgage free and that we can retire in our 60s and enjoy lots of holidays (cruises would be nice!) but I worry we'll be working longer meaning we can't retire as soon as we'd like.

I do think pensions are a gamble. And if I was young again I probably wouldn't bother paying into one. They seem to work best for the very well off.

I started paying into a pension through work at age 30. I think it will end up giving me the equivalent of minimum wage or something. Which is okay I suppose as I'll have paid off the mortgage by then, but I'd like to be more comfortably off so I don't have to change my standard of living when I retire. I do wish I had started playing into a pension earlier as I'm conscious I missed ten years of potential payments.

Being smelly, not being able to go out walking which is my greatest love in life, physically or mentally suffering and not being able to do anything about it, running out of whisky, growing whiskers like my granny did although I guess they might keep me warmer when I can't afford to heat the house, or warm myself with whisky! I know for sure I won't have enough money but there isn't anything I can do about it, I have no money now either. I just have to focus on enjoying life with what I've got and try not to worry about things I can't change!

Simply, not enough money for a decent old age

My worry is that it won't be very much! But it's better to be mortgage free with a small pension, than to retire and still have a mortgage to pay.

I also worry that I will probably have dementia as I have every bloody strain of it on every side of my family, and it is so expensive for care.

I have about ten years worth of work pensions saved up so far, but since having my son and later becoming a single parent I have struggled with finding work and have been made redundant twice, my concern is definitely that I won't have enough money to live on when I retire, or that I won't be ABLE to retire.

I have no idea what my pensions all mean, I have a pension I am no longer paying into from a previous employer which I don't know what will happen to, it's all very confusing

My parents have been very careful with their cash and have lived a good retirement, I just worry that as a singleton trying to pay for a mortgage on my own I will never be in the relaxed position that they are to enjoy my retirement.

Supporting my little ones (who'll be grown up not-so-little-ones by then) - even now, in my twenties, I still get some financial support from my parents and I'm nervous about how I'll be able to do the same on my pension...

I worry that I'll have to penny pinch, that I won't have enough in my pension pot and savings to be able to live comfortably.

Not having enough money to maintain lifestyle.

I have no pension to speak of and I'm nearly 30.

I've moved jobs a few times over the years and so haven't accrued much. Plus I'm going back to being a student.

I doubt I'll ever be able to retire. (Hence why I am going to retrain so that I am not doing something I hate forever.)

Pretty simply having enough money to live and survive at a reasonable level.

Money, Health, house, food, the list goes on !

I have a long term illness and need to retire early and i think the new rules will help with that, but the worry is that they keep changing the boundaries and 55 becomes 60an 65 becomes 67 and so you have no certainty no matter what steps you personally take.

When I was 25 I spoke to a financial advisor, telling him I wanted to start a pension. I wasn't earning mush money but I wanted to start putting something away each month. He told me I was far too young to bother with anything like that, so I didn't. I'n now nearly 50 and have no pension.

I wish I hadn't listened to him, but I was young and gullible and his advice clouded my judgement.

My concerns for the future are money, health, job prospects.

I think I'll retire when they close the coffin lid.

I've been off sick during the years I should have been paying extra to boost my pension - I'm worried about how little I'll have to live on