How to achieve financial security by retirement?

In short, start your pension as early as possible and aim to get at least the equivalent of 10% of your earnings in there. This target has been made easier by the new auto-enrolment laws opting-in all employers and employees to contribute to a pension. 

The long answer starts with a question: What is 'financial security' for you? If you are decades away from retirement this will be difficult to answer. But consider that when you retire you are likely to have paid-off your mortgage, your children will no longer depend on you (here's hoping) and you will have no daily commuting expenses. You may also have other income such as interest from savings, gains from investments and the state pension. 

As you get closer to retirement this question gets easier to answer and you are likely to be at the peak of your career in terms of earnings, so you can give yourself a nice pension top-up whilst enjoying the tax-relief it offers.

Want to dig deeper and forecast your retirment income? Try Aviva's Retirement Planning tool.