The ideal retirement usually involves cruises along the Nile, membership of a nice golf club, or pottering around a well-manicured garden. In general, it should be a debt-free existence in a house where the mortgage has long been paid off, and the kids are well-equipped to look after themselves.

That's the ideal scenario and the one most of us convince ourselves we will enjoy. The reality for many of us, though, is unfortunately not quite so appealing.

For every retired person lowering their handicap on a golf course in Portugal, there is someone trying to scrape by on little or no income outside of the basic state pension. Those retirement years are not quite so joyful when you are forced to buy the least appealing food from the supermarket, or ration the hours in the winter in which you can turn the heating on full.

And these people aren't necessary just those who have always been low earners. Some of us go about in a "spend, spend, spend" mentality in young and middle years, without a thought as to how we'll support ourselves with no income in old age.

The problem is that few of us really know what money we are likely to have in our retirement.

Jump on board the Pensions Time Machine

Take a look at this pension calculator, and you might be in for a shock. A comfortably wealthy retired life is one of the best things to look forward while you're out working hard every day. But if you don't prepare for it, a miserable future awaits.

Will it be a retirement spent sipping cocktails on the Algarve, or one sat waiting for God in a cold flat with a blanket over your knees?

AOL Money takes four individuals on a ride in our Pensions Time Machine to show them what life will be like when they finally retire. Time to take a magical look ahead at:

- Mike's financial future
- Ben's financial future
- Ian's financial future
- Lynsey's financial future

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