How much do I need to save to get a decent pension?

We're afraid this has an 'it depends' answer.

It depends on how old you are, when you want to retire and what you consider to be a decent pension.

It depends on whether you have any pension already, and whether you have the option of joining a scheme that your employer will also pay into.

You can use the workSMART pensions calculator to work out what you would need to contribute to a personal pension to reach your preferred pension at your chosen retirement age.

Any figures such as these are based on a number of assumptions that may not all turn out to be true in practice, but they can give you a rough idea of how much you need to pay.

Another way of answering this question is to say that many experts agree that to retire with a pension of half your salary you need to start saving in your 20s and need to make contributions of about 15 per cent of your income, during the whole of your working life.

If you start later you need to save more.

Few can probably afford all of this, unless they can call on a substantial part of this from their employer. It's one reason why many people are talking of a pensions crisis.