'Pensions, aren't they for old people'
The word Pension means a regular payment made during a person's retirement. So, in a sense pensions are for old people.
BUT...
The sooner a person starts contributing towards their pension the more money they will receive when they retire. Private pensions are something you really need to consider as soon as you start earning money
All through your working life, a proportion of your income is paid to the government as tax. We have already seen that the taxes collected are used to pay for things like schools, hospitals and the police force, and a proportion of the tax is paid out to retired people as old age pension.
The age at which you can claim your old age pension is currently 65 for men, and 60 for women, but this is changing. If your were born after 1968, then the chances are you wont get your old age pension until you are 68 (for both men and women).
One of the reasons for this, is that people are living longer. This means that where they only used to live for 18-20 years after retiring, most now live for 28-30, which means the money the government pays out has to last longer and longer. There are also fewer people in work, and therefore fewer people paying tax into the pot for the government to use.
The standard amount of money you get when you retire is also getting less and less, and this is one of the reasons that it is never too early to start thinking about saving for retirement with a private pension. Just imagine having to work until 68, and then not even getting enough pension money to live on.
It makes sense to think about long term savings as soon as you can, as most people look at retirement as the time to relax and enjoy the fact they don't have to go to work anymore, not worrying if they have enough money to buy the basic things in life.
