The answer is easy. Greedy governments beginning with New Labour and Gordon Brown aided by disastrous business and financial planning have ensured the demise of our once very envied pension system. Tony Blair and co set out to raid (or is that rob) the big pension funds and instantly destroyed them. Nothing has happened since to attempt to limit the damage. Naturally MPs and big business leaders pensions are protected and are blooming as never before. Remember. Were all in this together! B**ta**s! Vote UKIP!

I am 40 this year and looking at a pension but it won't do much good; if I save under the new government scheme I can put away 4% of my £20k salary, about £800 a year which employer and gov't top up to £1,500. I do this for 30 years and have £45k saved. If invested at 5% this would return £2k a year or £40 a week, so whatever happens I am going to have to rely on a state pension or work until I die. And what happens if inflation or pension company cock-up means I lose most of my money? So I can't say this is an inspiring idea. And I am lucky to have no debt so could afford to pay in OK, I don't see how others could, too many are drowning in debt, especially younger people with student loans.

And this is a surprise why??
Look at what govt has done to undermine pension savings - e.g. by changing the tax rules, keeping interest rates low thereby killing annuity rates, and prevaricating on long term care arrangements.
None of which build any confidence in being able to see your savings plans deliver your expectations after 30 or 40 years.
Govt has to realise that unless they want the populace to decide that living off the state is the only dependable way to finance their old age, then they will have to provide guarantees to show it is worth the effort.
Paying now for future benefits has to be a contract where the govt honours its side of the bargain - not as weve seen in recent times - one where the govt moves the goal posts for short term panaceas to current economic ills.
If these were private contracts then you could sue for the promised benefits, but govt policy comes with a health warning - your expectations can be undermined as well as betrayed - end result if past behaviour predicts future behaviour then then you'll be stuffed as the govt will find a way to make you wish you hadn't bothered.

So what will happen to the MP's gilt-edged pension?

If we are all in this together, perhaps they should be the first to forgo this free-bee.

Whatever the arguements against saving for a pension are, and some mentioned by other contributers are valid, nevertheless, unless you contribute to some sort of work/private pension , you will have to rely on a state pension (assuming you put in full NI contributions for 30 years) - the new one will be from 2016 @140-00pw, rising by some 2pc pa, eroded by cost of living... If this generation retires at say 65 in @2060, how the heck does anyone think that pension alone is going to do any more than help someone just survive.... some sort of retirement that... !!! Luckily those of my generation with foresight made choices about the future and went for contributing to a company pension which the company themselves contributed to - by far the most cost effective way of saving for future retirement. The trouble is, people don't plan, and live beyond their means, and expect to get an inheritance. People in their 20/30's - YOU HAVE NO CHOICE... you will be in poverty unless you put plans in place.. NOW.... The new workplace pension is a great idea.... you make contributions and so does your employer .. With future uncertainties about stockmarket performance.. THIS IS THE BEST OPTION YOU WILL EVER HAVE.... The good and bad news is the same.... depending on what choices you make.... YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS..... Get that pension started... NOW... !!!

Sorry it is not young peoples lack of interest in saving for retierment, its being able to see how the Government will rip us off later in life.

The private pension enrollment is a con, probably a way of making us all invest in the stock markets, helping to keep the major share holders wealthy. For the average working class, all a private pension will do, is pay your rent and council tax, after paying in for 40 years. Immigration and migrants from eastern Europe were supposed to boost our economy, in fact it helped ruin our infrastructure, our benefit bill, it made many jobs only available through insecure agencies, it lowered wages thus reducing private pension pots.
The fools will say migrants from eastern Europe, pay more in tax than they take in benefits, what they don't say is, they send money out of the economy, the cost to the NHS, schools, lowering wages, cause of insecure work for the British family, who cannot just up and move, then rent a house between 4 to 6 people. Now we all have to suffe,r due to the idiotic free movement of mass labour in Europe and massive immigration from outside Europe. Over population will cause poverty as it does in other over populated countries.

Thi is why company pension schemes with a guaranteed pay-out at retirement were such a blessing. Instead of leaving youngsters to decide for themselves, at a time when people are least motivated to think 45 years ahead - we need return to reliable company pension schemes that can travel from job to job if necessary. Otherwise, we are back to the barbarity of previous centuries, where old people had to work until they dropped, or else they died and left widows destitute. If it takes government to back up these schemes to guarantee that they do not get swallowed up by huge management charges, or dodgy investment, then so be it. Knowing that these pensions have to work (and that someone will be held to account if they don't) would make all sectors involved in producing them a lot more careful about what they do with employee contributions.

no point in paying for pension - you get less out than you pay in

you get swept in with promise of growth , the fund managers are rubbish as are the sales afvisors

A few years ago there were the first PEP millonaires - due to good advice and mangement - mine just tanked


Keep your cash and do not allow others to ganble with it , while you pay them for so called expertiese

In my opinion it is the Governments of this country who are more to be feared regarding pensions.
They recently wrote to me to say that they are deducting an extra £4 a month from my small private pension. No doubt this has gone to partly subsidise the extra money that they are now giving to the rich.
What is to stop them stealing yet more money from me in this way in the future, and how will this sort of thieving from private pensions encourage young people to take out their own private pensions in the future.