There’s more and more in the news about pensions at the moment and it’s going to get to a crescendo in the Autumn. Be prepared!

The latest info I’ve had is from YouGov saying that women are badly served when it comes to pensions and that half of them are saving less than £100 a month for their future.

This is nowhere near enough!

They say there are a few reasons for this:

• Confusion, lack of confidence and lower levels of investment combine to ensure British women can expect to have less money to live on in retirement than men.
• As a result, more than half of women (53%) say they worry about how they will afford to live in their retirement.
• Only 39% of women, compared to over half of men (56%), think their retirement plans will allow them to have a comfortable lifestyle when they retire.
• However, this worry doesn’t necessarily translate into action: a quarter (24%) of women aged 40-54 haven’t even started thinking about saving for retirement – compared to just 16% of men in the same age group.

The government is aware of this, though, and has been for quite a few years, which is why they’ve come up with a new pension scheme called NEST.

I’m pleased to hear about NEST because it’s plugging a gap, particularly for women, as it takes into account the fact that women regularly have to take time out to bring up children or care for relatives. Here are some of the key features of the new NEST account:

1. NEST is an easy-to-use, low-cost occupational pension scheme available to all employers to help them meet their new duties under automatic enrolment.
2. NEST can also be used for self-employed people or single-person directors.
3. NEST has a public service obligation to accept any employer who wants to use the scheme to meet their duties, large or small, as a sole scheme or alongside other provision.
4. NEST is not-for-profit and has a legal duty to act in the interests of its members.
5.  An individual’s membership of NEST can travel with them throughout their working life. This also means that employers do not need to manage ongoing administration of people’s pensions if they leave a company.
6. Contributions can come from:

• You or someone paying in for you – regular contributions or one-off contributions of at least £10 are allowed
• Your employer – your employer can make regular contributions
•  The government through tax relief

Also,NEST has an annual contribution limit which means the most that can be contributed to your pot in a single year is £4,400.  (This is the annual contribution limit for the 2012/13 tax year. This figure will be adjusted every year in line with average earnings.)

It’s also very cheap to run which is REALLY good for the long-term growth of your fund.

So keep an eye out for NEST. It’s coming soon and if you’re working, or not working, I suggest you take one out. I’m certainly going to.