The rough rule is thumb is that you should put aside a percentage of your salary equivalent to half your age. This means that at the age of 40 you should be contributing 20 per cent of your earnings into a pension. For a more exact calculation, the best online resource is a pensions calculator website run by the Financial Services Authority and the Association of British Insurers, on www.pensioncalculator.org.uk. You can play with different retirement ages and contribution rates to come up with the weekly pension you want. Be prepared to be unpleasantly surprised by the sums necessary.

With the recent announcement from the ABI on State Second Pensions, do you think people should definitely contract back in to S2P? Do you believe that S2P will still be there for most of us by the time we reach retirement? I am concerned that by contracting back into S2P, I will effectively be giving up my right to any state provision in my retirement. Name and address withheld

The Association of British Insurers has warned savers that many of them will be better off contracting back into the State Second Pension, because the National Insurance rebates paid to those who contract out are too low. The ABI's rule of thumb is that men over 60 and women under 54 should consider contracting back in, but experts believe that younger savers should also think about their position. The choice is not an easy one to make - although it will not affect your entitlement to the basic state pension. The financial benefits of contracting back in will vary according to your age. But the choice you are making is also based on trust - do you trust the Government of the future to stick to its pension promise, or would you rather keep the rebates and trust them to the private sector? The S2P may well not be around in the future. But remember that the S2P replaced the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme, and all rights accrued under the old SERPS scheme were protected. No Government, however machiavellian, would find it easy to scrap completely inherited pension rights. For more information, read Anne Ashworth on the S2P dilemma here

My personal pension is currently worth less than the total amount of premiums I've paid in, yet they have the gall to ask me to put more into it. I told them I'd have been better off if I'd put the money already paid to them in a biscuit tin, let alone had it in a deposit account. Is there an alternative way to provide for retirement (apart from the biscuit tin)? Paul Keeble, Manchester

Pensions are effectively just a tax-efficient wrapper around a bundle of investments. You can save any other way you like, although few methods are as tax-efficient. Tax relief means that every £1 invested costs you 78p if you are a lower rate tax-payer and 60p for higher-rate payers. This is a good incentive to use pensions as part of a broader portfolio of savings including your house and other investments, such as individual savings accounts. The reason your pension has fallen is probably because it is invested in the stockmarket. Over time, equities have historically out-performed cash, so you are likely to retire on a higher income after this initial bad run if you stay invested in equities rather than relying on a deposit account. As a pension is a long-term investment, most experts say savers should keep their pension primarily invested in equities while they are young, moving to safer investments as retirement approaches.

I have been paying into a university pension scheme since I started working in 1979. I have had an Isa for two years into which I pay the full £3,000. My other savings accounts (Building Society, Post Office and Friendly Society) are not huge and are used to pay off chunks of my mortgage and for holidays and changing the car. Is there anything else I can do to ensure a solvent retirement? Name and address withheld

The first thing to do is find out exactly where you stand. Ask for an update from the university scheme, to find out how much you are predicted to receive at retirement. The chances are that you will be relatively well placed, after such a long time in a scheme - which I assume operates as a final salary plan. If you are not on track there are measures you can take. The pension scheme is likely to have an "additional voluntary contribution" scheme, which allows you to top up your pension. These work in different ways according to the scheme rules, but in many final salary schemes the AVCs allow you to buy added years on your pension. Final salary pensions are based on your years in service and earnings, so buying "extra years" will boost the amount paid out.

In 1990, I agreed to have my pension contributions paid out of my National Insurance. This works out at about £800 a year going into a pension fund. As it's such a small amount, is it worth carrying on, or would I be better going back to the old system and relying on my state pension? I have no other savings and am 52 years old. Fred Monaghan, London

It seems you are contracted out from the State Second Pension system. The Association of British Insurers has just written to savers urging them to rethink contracting out because the national rebates received in lieu of the S2P are too low. Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, an independent financial adviser, says: "From the look of things you are referring to 'Contracting Out', where a portion of your employed NI contributions are paid into a personal pension on your behalf. If you have no other savings, and given your age, you would probably be better off contracting back in again - contact your pension company to get hold of the appropriate form."

I am 52 years old. I have a company pension, to which I and the company each contribute 5 per cent of my salary. The pension scheme closes at 60. I do not think 10 per cent of my salary is sufficient - how can I save more? Name and address withheld

The answer to this question depends entirely on what type of pension you are in. Find out if the scheme is final salary or defined contribution. If it is a final salary scheme, in a sense the amount you pay in is irrelevant. This is because the pension will be based on the length of time you serve with the company and your salary. So if the scheme is a final salary, the key is how much you are promised, not how much you are paying in. If, on the other hand, the scheme is a defined contribution plan, the contribution levels are key. In a defined contribution plan, the pension paid depends on the cash put aside and its performance on the stock market. In this case, it may be wise to start topping up payments as you approach retirement. Both final salary schemes and defined contribution plans tend to offer additional voluntary contribution (AVC) schemes. In a final salary plan, paying into such a scheme often allows you to weight in your favour the formula used to calculate your pension - by buying added years of service. In a defined contribution plan the AVC acts like its own mini version of the main scheme. Contact your company scheme administrator for more details.

I have worked since graduating for three different employers, all of whom offered good pension schemes. It is looking likely that I may move from my current employer in the near future. What do I do with these short term contributions - can I amalglamate them into one private scheme? Should I consider a personal scheme anyway to remove concerns over moving jobs? Joe Percy, Heswall