Maxwell - did he damage pensions or what! The problem with most private pensions is that they are linked to stocks and shares, so you investment can fall as well as rise. The 'wise' reckon though that the FTSE rhas risen on average 12% per annum since WW2, despite the well publicised crashes. Timing is therefore everything, about 10 years before retirment you should start looking at converting a nice bouyant pension pot out of higher risk investments into safer stuff like goverment bonds, thereby reducing exposure to whims of share prices. Conversely it is however the higher risk options that can grow your pension pot successfully prior to that, given enough time, like decades. This is why pensions need to be considered on time scales hard to imagine, like half a life time, if you are to have a comfortable retirement.