I can see preparing for your pension age makes sense, however....If you can guarantee that you will be alive to enjoy it that's fine, but no one can. I've seen lots of people go without only to die just after retirement. The truth is that there is no satisfactory plan for your old age. If you save, it will all wither away, if you don't, you will get help but it wont be much. This is how it is, so its hard to criticise the decisions someone makes. A lot of it is down to how things pan out health wise and how happy you are to live on a low wage.