Have you got enough money saved for your retirement?

I think your decision not to make any provision for your later years when you might have to give up work is irresponsible, Faye, and I think there is a risk that you might live to regret it. I don’t know what you think you are going to live on.

Most occupational pension schemes include substantial employer contributions so the money in the pot is not entirely the employee’s to use as a legacy. Pensions schemes are like insurance policies and are mutual; they spread the risks and the benefits across a large number of people so that the pension scheme is basically affordable and the eventual pension useful. If the contributor dies while in employment then a death benefit is usually payable so the whole pension pot is not retained by the employer. Many schemes have provision for ongoing survivors’ benefits and many have a lump sum element that can be released immediately to pay for a funeral.

There is the potential for pension scheme closure in the event of company collapse but changes in the legal position have reduced the risk and there is the Pension Protection Fund that provides certain benefits if a company’s defined-benefit pension scheme has to be closed as a result of insolvency. Private pension schemes and life assurance policies are also available. Before dismissing the idea of making some form of pension provision it would probably benefit you to consult an independent adviser.

It’s up to you whether or not to set aside a portion of your income for the future, but if you don’t nobody else will.

Hi Anthony, have you got any thoughts about the sort of information you’d like to see on the dashboard?

Now thats a very good point Louise , “singular living ” is increasing in this country rapidly in the last decades . No longer are many women reliant on men to look after them but due to the lack of well paid jobs or even any job in many areas many males are unemployed . Couple that up with British divorce rates heading towards US figures which are at least 50% divorce after a few years and the fact that 70 %/73 % of divorces are brought to court by females it leaves this pension question with an even greater problem . Bring in the fact women live longer than men and it just exacerbates it . But what it doesn’t do is change the basic answer if you want a pension you must save money to get it using that money in a pension scheme . Many jobs nowadays are for females not males and if single females dont want to contribute to a pension scheme they cant blame males or “the system ” . In my day women were allowed to pay little into a pension scheme , if they wished and took a short term view , now that has been stopped by HMG pensions are now an equal sex subject . The government is encouraging single females with children to get a job , even part time but you have to take child-care costs into this , there are a lot more points on this subject but they get pretty personal and in the end its you who decides just how you want to live your life.