Help! In my forties and still no pension!

If you've left your pension planning to the eleventh hour, find out how to catch up quick.

Take control

The first step is to find out exactly what savings you do have. The chances are if you’ve been working for 20 years or more, you may have one or two old pension plans. Get together your paperwork and contact each of the relevant pension companies to get a current valuation. If you really have lost track of things, use the Pension Tracing Service to help you recover forgotten schemes.

Get switching

You’ll probably find these old pensions aren’t invested well without any attention from you. So now is a good time to think about switching to improve performance. But it’s really important you don’t sacrifice any valuable benefits or trigger heavy exit penalties when you move your pension. It may be a good idea to speak to an independent financial adviser before you take action.

Get saving

It really isn’t too late to build up a decent pension pot if you make it a priority and save hard. Remember each contribution qualifies for 20% tax relief which will boost the amount invested in your plan. This means you’ll only need to pay £80 out of your own pocket, for £100 to be paid into your pension. Higher rate taxpayers will enjoy a further 20% tax relief which can be claimed through their annual tax return.

If you have any spare cash in an ordinary savings account, think about moving it into your pension too. You can invest a decent chunk and still get the tax break as long as you earn enough to cover the contribution.

I don’t like pensions

Many people don’t like the idea of locking money away in a pension. If you prefer, you can use a different tax-efficient investment such as an ISA to prepare for your retirement. ISAs enjoy roughly the same tax breaks and can be just as effective.

For more help on pensions or to compare ISA rates, visit lovemoney.com.