Pensions
Starting a pension at thirty-eight rather than twenty-two
The lost years cannot be recovered directly. What can be changed is the contribution rate, the horizon and the date you stop.
Pensions
Contributions, employer matching and the decades-long consequences of ignoring it.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Pensions
Employer pension matching is the most ignored free money there is
Declining a match is a voluntary pay cut. It is also extremely common.
More in Pensions
Pensions
The pensions you left behind at old jobs
Several employers over fifteen years leaves several small pots. People routinely lose track of some of them entirely.
Pensions
Consolidating old pensions, and when not to
Bringing everything into one place is simpler and occasionally destroys something valuable that cannot be recreated.
Pensions
Why the projection on your pension statement is not a promise
It is an illustration built on assumptions, several of which will be wrong. Knowing which ones tells you how to read it.
Pensions
The default fund and how long you have left
Most people never change it, which is usually fine. The one thing worth checking is whether its risk level matches your remaining…
Pensions
Career breaks, credits and state pension entitlement
In many countries state entitlement depends on contribution years, and time spent caring may or may not count automatically.
Pensions
A household has one retirement, not two
Couples routinely plan two separate pensions and then retire into a single shared budget. The gap between those two facts causes…
Pensions
Self-employed, and the pension nobody sets up for you
Without an employer there is no automatic enrolment, no default contribution and no match. The whole structure has to be built…
Pensions
Salary sacrifice and what else it touches
Redirecting salary into a pension can be efficient. It also lowers the figure other things are calculated from.
Pensions
Catching up on contributions when you are behind
There is no mechanism that recovers lost years directly. There are four levers, and most people only ever pull one.
Pensions
Stopping work before you can draw a pension
Retiring at fifty-five and being able to access money at fifty-five are separate questions. The gap between them has to be funded…