At 52, I am surrounded by sensible, successful friends who have been paying steadily into pensions since we all left university thirty years ago. Now, thanks to decades of hard work, some of them are discussing taking early retirement, going part time or – in one or two cases – have already retired. I have recently become painfully aware that I am at the opposite end of the spectrum. A report published yesterday by the Department of Work and Pensions revealed that four in ten Brits are not saving enough into a pension. I am one of them. It’s no comfort that some people are even worse prepared for old age than me. According to the report, almost half of working age adults are not putting any money at all into a private pension. Today, the retirement age is 66 but that is going up in 2027 to 67, with another rise to 68 scheduled for 2046. But the government is so worried there won’t be enough state pension to go round that there is talk of bringing that second rise forward.

Workplace pensions not compulsory in the 90s

Automatic enrolment into workplace pensions rolled out in 2006, meaning that 88 per cent of eligible employees are now saving into pensions, up from 55 percent in 2012. Good for them, I say, albeit through gritted teeth. Workplace pensions weren’t compulsory back in 1995 when I joined the workplace as a fresh graduate, but I sensibly signed up to the company pensions in the first two organisations I worked for, paying in as much as I could afford – about 10 per cent of my salary, which was automatically deducted each month. I assumed that I’d always have a steady job and maintain the same level of contributions and would face a secure future. I never envisaged self-employment. Had I continued with PAYE, my pension contributions would have risen steadily, my pension pot would be a decent size, and I would be feeling much more comfortable about the future than I am now. (Photo: CalypsoArt/Getty/iStockphoto)

Freelance authorship

But when I had my first child in 2003 I left salaried employment to become a freelance author and journalist, so my pension payments stopped along with my monthly income. Focused on combining new motherhood with writing a book, I didn’t think much about my pension, despite my parents urging me to. I should have put a chunk of those book earnings into a pension. But I didn’t. Buying a house and childcare were more pressing problems. In 2005, my husband – also a self-employed author and journalist – and I set up a small monthly payment from our freelance incomes into Scottish Widows. Thankfully, I kept up my National Insurance contributions so I will also get a state pension. We figured that between the two of us, we’d manage on that one private pension plus state pensions. (Photo: Kristina Strasunske/Getty)

Divorce

I didn’t foresee that journalism fees would not just stagnate but decline over the next two decades. Nor did I foresee that I would get divorced in 2025. To my disappointment, after twenty years of paying in to Scottish Widows, we will get approximately £6,550 a year – £3,275 each. We won’t be paying any more into that pension as we stopped it when we decided to divorce. Meanwhile my workplace pensions, which I only paid into for three years each, will – after being split with my ex – pay us each £2,000 a year. Had I continued with either of those, I wouldn’t exactly be heading for an old age of cruises and caviar, but nor would I be worrying about how I will make ends meet when I have stopped working. (Photo: Getty/iStockphoto)

Poor pension provision hits women the hardest

According to the DWP report, poor pension provision is particularly pronounced among women – many of whom have taken time out for motherhood or other caring duties – and the self-employed. That’s me. Do I regret not paying more into my private pension over the last two decades? You bet. I had always intended to start putting more into a pension, or starting up one in my own name, but somehow it never happened. We always needed the money for something more pressing – or pleasing. Self-employed people pay tax twice a year, and I always struggled to put enough aside for HMRC’s demands, let alone plump up my pension cushion. School fees, which soared each year, and then university costs, hoovered up most of our income after the mortgage. (Photo: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty)

Wish I'd swapped Waitrose for Lidl

If I’m honest, we could have lived more frugally, fewer holidays, swapped wine and Waitrose for Lidl and beer – and now have a larger pot to divide between us.  In hindsight, I would have cut back on our lifestyle but I do not regret the investment in the children’s future and I would not forgo the holidays as they were golden family times and I cherish the memories. After failing to make proper pension provision, my second biggest financial regret is not buying a London flat when I was a single twenty-something at a time when a decent two-bedroom flat in an OK area could be had for £120,000. I gave it some thought but it was too scary a commitment, and so I just lumped my savings in with my husband’s when we married and we bought a house in Wiltshire.  Had I bought that flat, I could now be getting a rental income from it or be able to sell it off at a decent profit (after tax) which I could then use to bulk up my pension. Although I would, of course, have had to share the proceeds in the divorce. (Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA)

Hoping to start an ISA

Now that I am on my own, I have had to think more carefully about how I will survive post-retirement – although I am hoping to put that off for as long as possible by continuing to write books. Thankfully, authors do not face compulsory retirement, indeed, many go on producing books into their eighties. Having spoken to friends who work in finance I plan to start a new, solo pension once the divorce is finalised in a few months’ time. I have downsized from my current property which I will split with my ex, reducing the mortgage payments and hopefully having lower bills such as council tax. I will pay into my new pension as much as I can possibly afford. And I also hope to start an ISA, even if I only manage to pay in a few pounds a month, and perhaps make some investments that will pay dividends.  Better late than never. I do not worry daily about my future, but I am doing what I can do to make amends for my previous Peter Pan pension attitude by working hard and cutting costs. (Photo: Getty)

Advising my children not to make my mistakes

And I bang on endlessly to my kids, aged 20 and 22 – who both seem to be heading down the self-employment route – about putting aside money every month for tax, and saving into a pension, aware that I am a being a total hypocrite. I know what it’s like when you are young. Retirement feels like a universe away. Unless pension contributions are being automatically deducted, it’s a struggle to convince twenty-somethings to prioritise setting up and paying into a private pension; particularly when even paying rent, let alone buying a property, feels all but impossible right now, and with many graduates and school leavers struggling to get jobs. But once you have your foot on that elusive first rung of the employment ladder, I urge you to get their pension pot on the boil. Do not make the same mistakes as me.