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 wish i'd saved more, but unexpected things happen in life you can't help!

Luckily dh and I have final salary pension schemes when we reach 65. However we have a large mortgage which won't be paid off until then either. We may or may not get quite a large inheritance so this could supplement our income but is more likely to go on getting ds onto the property ladder/paying down our mortgage.

I feel lucky that we travelled all over the world from 20 onwards so don't have a deep yearning to travel more. I'll be content to kick back in my small house pottering around my garden, London and the countryside with a month or so in a warm country when it's cold here.

I don't think enough attention is given to this in schools are children are ill prepared for planning ahead for their future

I think saving for retirement is so important but we don’t talk enough about pensions or how much you really need to be putting aside to afford a good retirement, particularly early in peoples careers. I also think the default level of contributions at many employers is too low and leads people into a false sense of security that they’re doing enough, when actually they should be putting away much more then the minimum.

I'm paying a little to two pensions but my real hope is that the lottery win will happen!

I feel that if you make the choice to be a SAHP you’ve killed off any chance of a decent retirement income.

I recieve a pension from the NHS, this is my main income and will be now for the rest of my life.

I have a small amount in a SIPP that I will probably take as cash. I funded it from various work place pensions.

I also chased up and AVC I had which was missold and got just under £2000 to put into the SIPP.

I'm currently waiting for a small sum (£300) from Scottish Widdows to be transferred into my sipp.

I feel a bit uneasy, I've got my pension in a company pension scheme but a few friends have taken theirs out to invest in property and seen the house price skyrocket.

Saving as much as I can, but am still aware that things will be tight in retirement. Years of single motherhood and high private rents after becoming a widow very young made saving impossible for too long, despite working full time. Maternity leave, taking lower paid roles for work life balance to bring up children, and the horrific cost of childcare have all negatively impacted my ability to save into a pension.

I am paying of debts first then thinking about this

I have very little knowledge about how pensions work. I feel it’s really confusing and people are trying to live in the present and not in the future.

Well, I still have time to find a rich husband.
Joking, of course.
Kind of...

My other half is self employed so hasn't been able to afford to contribute to a pension as it's been a struggle just to keep a roof over our heads for the past few years, I have money going into a pension from my part time job but I do fear for the future

At 25 I cant imagine a point where I will be financially stable enough to save for retirement. I cant at the moment because Im trying to get my life in order first, as life is expensive and I would like to at some point be able to afford a house. There seems to never be enough money for saving for the future and it quite scary.

If you can afford it then do it. I know that in the early days of family life there are alot of money pressures. But it is worth putting money by for more than a rainy day and it is just a matter of getting into the habit. I am aware of the difficulties people find themselves in when it comes to retirement and the income goes right down if a life timesworth of pension doesn't add up to enough.

we both pay into a works pension schemes , when we get nearer to retirement age will reassess whether or not to contribute more to these. It is hard for some of our DCs age group to get started paying into a pension or get on property ladder

We both pay into company pension schemes but there is currently no extra cash to pay anymore in. Hoping things will change as we get older but with five children I very much doubt it!

I save as much as I can afford for my retirement.

DH has a workplace pension, so is saving. However, I am a SAHM and don't have the extra funds to save so that is a worry and something I need to look into.

I find it confusing, and don't have spare cash to invest even if I did understand it

I have nothing saved for my pension. Trying to buy a house and can't save for both! I will start saving again once I have bought a house. My husband does have a pension pot with his work but as a sahm I just don't have that option and all our money goes into saving for a hoise

DH is four years off retiring, we will be mortgage free in February.

We have however taken out a second small mortgage (as opposed to a loan as the rate was cheaper) which will run for another two years with us overpaying by £700 a month.

When that stops we will be able to save about £1,500 a month for two years so that will be a nice little buffer.
The house has been a nice little earner and we shouldn't need to downsize, but if we did, we could.

Assuming my mother dies without needing to go into a home then my share of the house will be good for £200k.

On top of that, we should have.

£35 k final salary for DH ( £22k survivors pension for me.)
State pension for DH, so a total of about £43K.

Which we can more than live on, we like a few beers at the rugby club at the weekend and two drinks at lunchtime on a Sunday and that is the height of our profligacy, all I ask is a month or so on a balcony in Spain in the winter.

We also have a pot through DH's work of about £200k, but this will obviously be a lot less when we are taxed on it.

Presuming there is a state pension when I (now 54) retire we should be fine.

We went without a lot down the years to get here.

I'm not prepared at all and in fact I kind of dread it and the thought makes me panic. I have started saving already and put a certain amount aside but even then I wouldn't call it proper preparation.

My earnings have always been low (though improved recently) so it's been difficult to save.
I have to say it seems pointless 'planning for retirement' when the goal posts keep moving - how can you plan. It's also off putting to be forever reading stories about care costs draining off peoples life savings before being paid for by the state. Seems pointless bothering.
Looks like I'm set for a state pension (If there is one by then)

Saving for retirement is all about discipline and not about spending everything you earn. For me, it was about setting aside enough to be able to retire early and have plenty of good fit years to enjoy.