Action taken sooner rather than later is the answer, procrastination can make all the difference to your future financial security. What can you do now?

Only save what you can afford, no matter how small the amount. You will get used to regular salary deductions if you are contributing towards a pension - what you don’t have you don’t miss!

Pension Planning - Pension contributions are an extremely tax efficient means of providing an income when you eventually retire. If your company doesn’t have a scheme or you are not eligible you can contribute to a personal pension. If you are self employed there are various options available depending upon the structure of your company. Regular savings into an ISA will provide the potential for tax free growth with flexibility. Too good to be true? Ask for our ISA fact sheet. There are many other types of savings plans based on the period over which you would like to contribute, your tax position and attitude towards risk. Just ask!

Pensions and Divorce - Pensions are often a very important asset in divorce proceedings. Next to the former matrimonial home the pension provision of one or both spouses may be the largest capital asset of the marriage. How pensions are treated in divorce is a question which has assumed greater and greater importance especially since the Pensions Act 1995 and the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 and revised law in December 2000.

Very often the husband might have a substantial pension provision whilst the wife may have none or a very limited pension provision because, for example, she has given up her job in order to look after the children. Such a wife is very likely to wish to be "compensated" for her lack of pension entitlement.

Of course, it may be that both spouses have similar pensions or the wife may have a larger pension than her husband but typically the problem arises where the wife has very little pension provision and such pension entitlement as there is belongs to the husband. Company pensions are valued at their transfer value and personal pensions at 'fund value'.

If, then, say the former matrimonial home has an equity of £100,000 and the husband's pension fund has a transfer value of £50,000. Instead of saying that the former matrimonial home should be sold and the proceeds divided equally between husband and wife and that the pension should also be divided equally a court would be much more likely to say that the wife should have the house and the husband should retain the pension. This would provide accommodation for the wife and possibly children while allowing the husband to retain a substantial asset. It was very often a more practical solution than dividing both house and pension.