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

[EmmaMumsnet]

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We all know that it’s important to be organised when it comes to saving for our retirement. Some of us are pension savvy and have been making regular payment since starting work. Others find it all a bit confusing and scary so bury our heads in the sand. Scottish Widows are interested in finding out how you feel when it comes to saving for your retirement and whether you think women face more challenges when it comes to saving for their retirement?

Here’s what Scottish Widows has to say: “For many, sorting out their pension is at the bottom of the to do list with lots of other day to day priorities to consider. We understand life is different for everyone and a lot depends on what age and stage you’re at in life. Each stage comes with its own set of financial challenges to think about – job hunting, paying rent and student loans, mortgages, marriage, and careers. So when does retirement make the list?

Our latest research shows that many women aren’t planning their pension early enough with women in their 20s far less likely than men of the same age to be saving enough, or anything, for their future. This is worrying given that women statistically live longer than men and earn less.

We want to empower women to take control of their pension whatever their age. We’d love to hear your thoughts as we examine these issues in more depth, so that we can continue to ensure more women take ownership of their financial futures and look forward to retirement.”

So how do you feel when it comes to saving for retirement? Do you feel organised or unprepared? If you’re already retired do you have any tips to share about your experience? What challenges, if any, do you think women face in particular when it comes to saving for retirement? Do you think that parental leave has a big effect on stalling pension payments for women?

Whatever your thoughts are when it comes to saving for retirement please share them below to be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Terms and conditions apply

I've been paying into my work pension since I started working full time after I graduated university. I don't feel I will be able to rely on a state pension.

In addition my husband and I try and save for the longer term future but are probably still 25-30 years from retirement.

I feel we are doing what we can but doesn't necessarily mean I feel prepared or comfortable at the thought of retirement.

I think it's really important to start thinking about if and preparing as much as you can early in life.

I don't think parental leave will have a significant impact on my retirement.

Hi so me and my ex split up in January. We have 50/50 childcare. She has meet a guy online who lives in Scotland and she lives in Milton Keynes. He has come to stay and it’s the first time they have ever met. The boys are staying with me but 5 day after meeting him she want my boys to meet him. Would you be happy? I’ve said no it’s to early as she doesn’t even know him after 5 days. Interested I’m peoples thoughts??!

Hahaha i would love to take control of my pension - called Scottish Widows who I have a policy with to try and merge into it another policy I have and it's so complicated!!! Was told it was because my policy was "old" - which yes it is, because I - when I was a bright young thing - actually started a pension pot 20+ years ago...!
I honestly think the whole system needs a massive revamp so it's more like a flexible mortgage on reverse, so you can pay in a fixed amount plus any extra and it stays with you regardless of who you work for.
This experience has made sorting my pension at the top of my list of things to sort but I also manage to skilfully find things to sort instead of it as it's too blinking complicated! . Rant over!

Id love to save properly for retirement but I fear we never will as we barely get by day to day. We don't even own our own home as we cant afford a deposit.

I think by the time we get to retirement age there wil be no pensions left. We will literally be working til we drop.

I feel quite organised about my level of pension provision and I think the key was starting young and never missing the money. It would have been far harder to start if I’d seen it as a bill but when I first started my first proper job, I was so excited to actually have some money that I never missed the pension coming out. I have seen first hand how money in retirement can buy choices and that poverty in retirement is pretty miserable. I imagine I won’t have the sort of pension and retirement the babyboomers have experienced but I want to have some choice over when I retire and hopefully enough for a comfortable life.

I've been out of the workforce as a SAH parent/carer for 15 years. I've tried to research the best way to save for when I'm pension age but found the information lacking. There seems to be a dearth of clear, impartial advice for people without workplace schemes.

My husband and I both have works pensions but we plan to downsize our house and use equity from that as well. I guess we’ll retire later as well

I'm 41 and have been paying in to the Local Government Pension Scheme for many years. I'll probably have to work til I'm ancient though.

I’m 34 and have only really just thinking about saving but I know I wouldn’t be able to afford much bring up four children.
I have called a few firms but they always ask if my husband can talk to them or if my husband has a pension.

My dad saved a moderate amount but now retired at 67 he has virtually nothing as the companies he signed up to don’t give much and the other is bust. He also had an army pension but they are refusing to pay out.

It does frighten me but who knows the future? Companies changes their rules so often I feel we would end up in my dads situation.
I& companies had an iron-clad agreement then maybe I’d put more in.

I'm mainly hoping that our mortgage will get paid off and then we can downsize. It isn't something I've given much thought to because at the moment we need every penny for day to day stuff.

I consider myself fortunate as my husband has a final salary pension, & if he dies I continue to receive half of it for the rest of my life. For myself I have always paid into my pension so feel retiring should not be a problem. I feel sorry for the young now with the abolition of final salary pensions, & many only managing to pay their way without trying to prepare for their retirement which must seem along way off. Gordon Brown's pension stealth tax has reduced the value of funds by at least £100 billion, & George Osborne has given the green light to plunder pensions with no thought to how retirees who do so will survive. My tip is to speak to an independent financial adviser as soon as possible to discuss the best plan to suit your income, & contact your H.R. Department who will be able to point you in the right direction if unsure.

I knew nothing about pensions until o moved into my current job which involved learning a little about financial services, as part of my training I asked for a chat with a financial advise and ended up setting up a pension for myself, I think I was already about 27 at this time,

For my suggested pension income I had to save quiet a bit and actually could not afford that so had to set it up on half the suggested amount, was a big eye opener having the meeting but I still don't understand it all, now I'm part time and on workplace pension my predicted nest (work) annual pension income is only £500 😢 my private ones not high but without that it would be a huge worry.

Pensions & finances need to be taught at School, it's too late after.

We were lucky that my husband had a pension he didn't even know about and they tracked him down, again it's only small but it's something and we have started paying in a small amount each month.

I'm always very surprised that some people don't save for old age, if they can afford to.
I have a NHS pension and save money every month to put towards my retirement.

I'm a single mum on a low salary - I changed career after dc, & after separation, now in a low paid local part time job which suits me and the dc practically but doesn't pay much.

I don't own a home or have any savings and my rent is £1550 a month so I can't afford to save anything.

My ex owns his own flat AND has £90,000-£100,000 in a pension pot which he reckons is 'not that much' - he worked 16 years in a place with a good pension uninterrupted while I was having time off for dc. Grr.

I worked in a place that didn't offer pensions (before it was compulsory to auto enrol) - they said they preferred to pay people a bit more and let people decide how to invest/save - now I feel quite angry about it all.

As things stand I have zero property, zero savings, and £900 in a pension.

I have never really been too bothered about retirement and saving for my pension. However I have been in the same role at work for 6 years now and have been paying into my pension since I started. I am shocked every month when I see my pay slip and how much am paying in to it... and even more shocked when I get my pension forecast and it says I'm going to end up with peanuts. It's very worrying.

I haven't started saving for my retirement, we don't have enough money t do that. However, when we do, we won't be investing in pensions, we will invest in property and live off the income from that. DH doesn't believe in pensions, and I'm happy to go along with him and save for our retirement in other ways.

I am now retired with half a state pension because I paid national insurance at married women rate and a very small teachers pension because I worked around the children on temporary and part time contracts. I would be struggling now if I wasn't still married. What annoys me most is the way the pension rules change over time making it impossible to plan long term

If your job has a good works pension - take it if you can afford it. If the money goes out directly before pay you are less likely to notice the difference - it will be worth it (that's what I tell myself!)

These days I think that there's plenty of information around in areas of finance/savings/retirement if you simply look - freely available online. I wouldn't say that I, personally, am in any way organised unfortunately. Like many, it's too easy to bury head in sand - although I'm also left disillusioned by a private pension i took out many years ago which was eaten by fees in totality. Parental leave issue has probably changed now from when I took mine - at that time it had little effect on pension scenario.

I am never going to have enough for a comfortable retirement even though I started putting money into a private pension at 22.

I have never been able to afford to put much in but I've done it little and often - if I get extra for overtime then I will add it to to pot but I can't see it ever amounting to much.

I find it incredibly hard to save into a pension. The most I can do at the moment is take advantage of my work’s pension and get the maximum out of them to pad out my savings.

I was enrolled automatically onto my workplace pension from 22. I completely ignored it and had absolutely no idea what it was worth, but it got me into accepting that some of your salary gets taken off for retirement. I’m so glad I got into that habit as 30 years later my pension is looking pretty healthy.

The first time I took any notice of my pension was in my 40s when I got my first pension estimate. I was really shocked to see the impact of me taking a few years out to look after our children. My DHs pension had continued to build, but mine had stalled and was significantly smaller. We simply hadn’t thought about that when we worked out the cost of me being a SAHM. I’ve been saving hard since then to try and make up some of the shortfall.

Advice to others: start young, even though at that stage retirement seems completely unthinkable. Save lots when you can. That will buffer you against any periods when you can’t work or just can’t afford anything more than the minimum.

I'm utterly unprepared. I only started having a pension lat year when the mandatory government one came in - and thank god it did. I wish it had been enforced 20 years ago.

As it stands, I have about £400 in my pension currently. It's horrendous and I am very concerned about WTF I'm going to do. Rely on inheritance / house sell probably

I'm not as organised as I should be. I find it confusing and would love to know a source of information that's neutral and not going to be trying to sell me a product.

I agree with the points about single mothers struggling on this. I wish I could cut back my hours to spend more time with my kid but I am desperately afraid of not working FT because I need the salary now and pension in the future--no financial security otherwise.

Haven’t done anything about retirement yet, no pension, nothing. It is really starting to give me the fear, but no point thinking much about it as am pregnant with 3rd dc. Once I am back at work I will start to take it seriously!