Now more than ever is the time to think long term when it comes to managing your money, yet it seems as a nation we're short-sighted. The saving message is gradually getting through, but almost half of us are still not saving adequately and those that do save are saving more for the short term.

Women are the best savers but it seems that all of us are only thinking a few years ahead, according to new research from Scottish Widows. Traditionally in times of economic uncertainty long term savings increase, but too many of us are under prepared both for the impact of the economic down turn and for our own retirements.

As over a third of Brits are worried about the lack of provision they have made for their retirement, now is the time to seek expert advice. Log in to our live webchat to pose your savings and retirement questions to pensions expert Ian Naismith.

For more information visit: www.scottishwidows.co.uk

H: Mark Ryes, host

I: Ian Naismith, expert

H: Hello and welcome to the Personal Finance Show, I'm Mark Rise. Now with the lack of confidence in the housing market at the moment and rapidly rising inflation, it's probably harder to think about next year let alone your retirement. Well perhaps you should start thinking about it, here's a fact for you that will scare you I think. If you're 25 years old and you wanted to retire at 60 with an annual pension income of £15,000, you need to be saving approximately £436 a month, starting today!  Well the savings message is gradually getting through, but half of us are still not saving adequately and there are those that are saving more for the short term. Well let's not despair, joining me today to talk us through the minefield that is pensions and savings is expert Ian Naismith, Ian welcome to the show
I: Thank you very much

H: Scary statistics and people do get very confused about pensions

I: Yes

H: Are we just not saving enough?

I: As a nation we're not. Probably about half of us are doing a reasonable amount to give ourselves a decent retirement, largely often because employers are doing it, and if you're working for a large company and they provide a pension scheme, and you'd be daft not to join it – but those of us that haven't got a big pension scheme through our employer are not doing nearly enough in general. A few people are but most people are not doing nearly enough, and will get a big shock when they retire

H: Barry Davidson's just sent us a question, he says "I'm keen to start saving, but at the end of each month, like everyone, I might dip in and need my savings to survive. Are there pensions which allow that kind of flexibility to do that?" Because I think a lot of people would be interested

I: You can't do that with a pension, with a formal pension, part of the contract you have with the government if you take out a pension is they give you some tax breaks for going in to the pension, and you can't get your money until you're 55 in most cases. What you should think about doing if you really want the money there in an emergency is maybe put it in an ISA, individual saving's account, where the money is easily accessible whenever you need it, the danger is a lot of people do that and then they take the money out for things they don't really need. If you're putting it in an ISA and thinking "this is for my retirement" then you only need to take it out in a desperate emergency, it's not there to subsidise your month-by-month spending, but it's perfectly possible

H: But Ian if the stance of saying in an ideal world you should be saving £400 or however much it is for your age group, but in fact you can only afford £200, is something better than nothing, rather than ignoring it?

I: Absolutely. The biggest problem is people don't save at all. Once you get into a savings habit, it's a lot easier to increase than just to start at the beginning, and we've just done a survey – Scottish Widows – and we found the older people get, if they've not started saving, the more difficult it is even to make the first steps. So if you're able when you're in your 20s or early 30s to start in a relatively modest way, to start to save, then you can gradually build it up as you get closer to retirement, and at the end of the day hopefully have a decent amount to retire on

H: Howard Mitchell sent us a question that I know a lot of people think about, saying "won't the state pension provide enough money for us when we retire? " He says "I've been working hard all my life and paying National Insurance."

I: If only. 

H: It's a perfect world scenario thing isn't it?

I: Yes well the problem is we're talking about people saving – the government doesn't save. The government pays pensions for people who are retired today out of the taxes that you and I pay

H: Right

I: So they've not got a fund of money stored up that's going to pay our pensions when we retire, and as a nation we're growing older. Lots of people born in the late '40s, the '50s, the '60s, and they're all coming up to retirement now. And people who are that bit younger, while they are working, what they're paying in taxes will be funding the pensions of people like me who will be retiring in the next 15 years or so, and there won't be the money there to pay high pensions from the government when we all retire. So we can't rely on – we'll get a basic level from the government, and the government will make sure we don't starve, if we've not got anything else the government will give us enough so that we can buy food and we can stay reasonably warm, but really we need to do it ourselves if we want a decent level of income in retirement

H: Thomas has sent us a question saying "I've recently been saving for a deposit on my first house and" - pensions and housing market are very often linked in conversations

I: Yes

H: He says "once I've done this I plan to start thinking about my retirement. I'm thinking about a buy-to-let house may be better than a pension."  What would you say to that?

I: Buy-to-let for the last few years has been the thing, people have said that is my pension, that's what's going to see me through my retirement – we're now in a position where the housing market seems to be teetering on the brink

H: Indeed

I: Housing prices have been going down, there's a danger – I don't know if it'll happen – but there's a danger they could collapse. Like any other kind of investment, buy-to-let has potential to grow in the long term, it could see you well through for your retirement, it's probably not wise to have it as your only thing. You need a mixture perhaps of property and then have a more conventional investment

H: You hear this quite a lot actually, it's a question of eggs in baskets,

I: Yes that's right

H: So don't put all your eggs in one basket, and you would recommend that?

I: Absolutely. The more variety of – as long as there's investment that will grow with the long term

H: Sure

I: So investment in stocks and shares will go up and down a lot, but over the long term should give a good return.  Similarly for something like buy-to-let, over the long term should give a decent return, but if you have more than one thing then you're reducing your risk

H: Well you just mentioned stocks and shares, and Ross Dorwood has sent us a question, thank you for that Ross, do keep them coming in – "I wish I'd invested in cigarettes and oil 10 years ago," he says "but on a serious note, is now a good time to invest in index-linked pensions as the UK stock market is pretty low?"

I: Who knows. Yes the stock market is pretty low, we thought it was pretty low two or three years ago and it's gone up and it's gone down again. I think the thing with investing in the stock market is to do it regularly and you then gain from the periods when it's low, but you're not taking risk, because stock market looks low now, it could go lower, so you're taking a risk if you just invest all your money now. If you invest a bit every month then some when the market's high, some when it's low, on average you'll do ok

H: And that's the key isn't it? It's about making sure that all of your individual investment plans, be it buy-to-let, be it pensions, be it shares, all do relatively well so you're at the end you have a decent pot to end up with

I: Yes and I think it's very important that as you say regularly put a bit aside every month. Now if you're in a company pension scheme you automatically do that, your employer will automatically take a certain amount off every month to go into a pension, that's –

H: Can you add more than your company puts in then normally?

I: Yes. In most company pension schemes, if you want to you can add extra into your company pension, if you'd rather not do it through your company and some people would prefer their employer didn't know how much they were saving

H: Sure

I: If you'd rather go that route, then there are state holder pensions, there are personal pensions, and even if you're in a company pension scheme you can still contribute to them. So there are plenty of ways to save for your retirement

H: And where do we find out about that kind of thing? Because you mentioned two or three different varieties, two or three different routes to go down, and for most people it's like – oh I don't know where to turn now

I: Yes. There's a number of ways you can do it. Obviously anyone whose watching this is familiar with the web and there are lots of sites on the web. Our own site, Scottish Widow site www.scottishwidows.co.uk, we've got a quite substantial section on pensions, and as part of that we've got a pensions calculator which will help you work out roughly how much you should be putting aside every month to have a reasonable retirement. The stat you gave at the start of the program was from that. If you'd rather speak to someone face-to-face go along to your local bank, a branch of Lloyds TSB, something like that, and they'll be able to provide an advisor. Or go and see an independent financial advisor and again they'll look at your situation and try to work out what you can afford to save and where's best to put it

H: Marco sent us an interesting question because Marco says he's already got a pension, already got a private pension, he's not sure quite necessarily how well it's performing - thinks it may be under-performing, and says "how do I go about finding that out and then maybe changing. Is it easy to change?"

I: It's pretty easy to change, any private pension you're in at the moment if you want to transfer out then you'll be able to. Now you need to be a little bit careful because some of them have charges if you transfer away

H: Right

I: Some of them might have guarantees in, so you're guaranteed to get a certain amount when you're 60 or 65, and don't give out guarantees lightly, they can be quite valuable. What I would suggest if you're in that kind of situation is go and see a financial advisor, and they'll be able to look at what you've got, explain a little bit more about what's available, maybe modern kinds of pensions, different ways you could use your pension fund, and take it from there.  Go and get some advice

H: And is the web a good place to start to look for a financial advisor, because you know again if you're in a position where you're an ordinary working person you don't necessarily know where to look for these people

I: Yes you can find financial advisors on the web, there's a company called IFA Promotions, IFAP which will have a service, have an independent advisor in your local area, and so you can have someone who you know is not tied to one particular company, who is able to help you.  Again if you go to individual company websites then you can get guidance on that and Scottish Widows website will give you guidance on the kind of pensions we offer what might be suitable for who – so yes there are lots of sites you can go to

H: One of the big issues of the moment is the green agenda of course

I: Yes

H: And ethically putting money into things.  Daisy sent us a really nice question, thank you for that Daisy, she says "I'm worried about taking out a pension because unlike individual share options, maybe buy-to-let house even, you don't know if the pension fund's investing ethically." Being green conscious is a high priority for her.  How can you go about checking those kinds of things?

I: Most companies these days, when they sell you a pension will offer you a range of different investment funds. And some of them will just be standard funds, anyone who invests in them, the investment manager, will do their best for you.  Most companies will have ethically invested funds as well and if you want to you can ask them and say what kind of companies do you invest in, what are the principles you use for your ethical investment, and whether you want to avoid arms dealers or want to avoid tobacco or whatever, they can tell you these are the companies we use and these are the ones we don't use, and you can find whatever's suitable for you. They'll almost certainly be quite a wide choice

H: And I guess it's in the pension company's interests to create more ethically aware product, because people are asking for it?

I: Yes, more and more people these days want to invest ethically. And most pension companies will allow you to do that

H: Sean from Wembley says "I'm self-employed and I'm thinking that I really do need to start sorting out a pension." He says though, and this is the thing about all self-employed people, cash flow is the biggest struggle. He says "not everyone pays on time. Are there pensions out there flexible enough to allow me to pay in a different amount each month?"

I: Yes. Self-employed people have the biggest issues when it comes to pensions. Not only don't you have an employer whose willing to pay into your pension, the government doesn't give you as high a pension as it gives to employed people either, so you really are on your own, and it can be a very difficult situation

H: Does that come under the "life isn't fair" category?

I: You could argue that yes

H: Fair enough

I: I suppose most people have chosen to go self-employed because they're entrepreneurs and they like a bit of a risk

H: Yes

I: So stakeholder pensions which are new pensions the government introduced 5 or 6 years ago, they are very, very flexible, and you can pay in, maybe pay in a small amount that you pay in every month and then you can top it up whenever you want, any amount from £20 upwards

H: So the bottom line is you have a flat figure that you always pay in, and if you want to pay in more, you rather than the other way round saying I'll pay in a large amount of money and then you reduce it down?

I: Yes. I mean I think that's probably a good way for all of us to go if you're working for an employer, maybe you get a bonus at the end of the year, you could stick in a bit extra then and maybe a bit less during the year

H: Lucinda has sent us a question in, and the questions are coming in thick and fast, thank you indeed for that – "I'm paying into a public sector pension, and I have no idea of the rates and expected returns. Should I consider stopping the contributions and pay into a cash ISA alternative savings plans which I know I can shop around for and I know what I'm getting back?" -  or is it just a question of asking?

I: Worth asking but if you're in a public sector pension, the chances are you're one of the luckiest people in the country

H: Ok

I: Public sector pensions, by and large, are much better than private sector pensions, and generally – I don't know the particular case here – but generally public sector pensions, what they'll say is we'll guarantee you a percentage of your final earnings as your pension, so if you work for us for 30 years, we'll guarantee that you'll get back half your final earnings as a pension for the rest of your life, and that is a very strong guarantee and something that's well worth having.  And civil service, NHS, most of the public sector schemes are on that basis and - can't give individual advice here, but most people would be very badly advised to opt out of them

H: Bottom line, you're in a good position if you're in a public sector pension. Interesting stuff. It is a minefield, basic question, the basic question, the basic tenant of what we're talking about this afternoon is save something is better than save nothing

I: Yes

H: Because the survey seems to suggest that we're just not saving enough, and I was interested to read some of the regional results around the country – London, we save less of a percentage of our salary than almost anywhere else in the country. Any reason for that in particular?

I: Yes I think that's a rather strange one.  Now there is an argument for the cost of living may be a bit higher in London, housing is more expensive, people's journeys, spend more on travel and so on, so that might be part of it – more positively maybe people in London earn more so maybe pounds and pence are putting in as much as anyone else, but just because their average earnings are that bit higher, it's not the same percentage. I'll be honest the answer is I don't know. But I think maybe people in London are struggling more than others perhaps to make ends meet, and therefore putting less in

H: Or it could be the alternative part of the coin and they think their houses are going to be worth more in the long term

I: Well there is that too possibly – yes people may think I'll move up north or something when I retire

H: Indeed

I: Sell my house, yes

H: It's a minefield as we say, but worth getting advice and worth starting saving if you haven't done

I: I would say so. Start as soon as you can. Now realistically most people aren't going to leave university and think I must think about my retirement

H: It's not the first thing you think about is it?

I: Retirement seems a life – well it is a lifetime away. But by the time, certainly by the time you reach 30 you need to be thinking seriously, I'm going to retire at some stage. These days when you retire, you retire 60, 65, you could easily live for another 30 years or longer, so don't think I'm only going to be 5 or 6 years retired, it could be half your – it could be as long as your working life

H: Absolutely

I: So do think – I don't want to be poor when I retire. Put aside a bit every month, build it up as I get older, and then hopefully we can have a comfortable and prosperous retirement

H: Ian, lots of good advice there.  Just tell us about that website again where the pensions calculator is too, so you can actually have a look and work it out for yourself as well

I: Yes. If you go to the main Scottish Widows website, www.scottishwidows (all one word).co.uk and then there's a link in there to take you into pensions, just follow that through

H: Excellent stuff, Ian Naismith thank you very much indeed for joining us

I: Thanks Mark

H: And thank you for joining us for the Personal Finance Show, we'll see you again very soon. Bye bye