In our Pension Diaries series, we speak to people of all ages in the UK to find out how much or how little they have saved for retirement and the realities of putting money aside for your future.
This week, we speak to Tricia Reilly, 76, who lives in Warrington, Cheshire, alone. She is renting a two-bedroom house after being forced to give up her home as she could not afford the mortgage.
Tricia, who is mother-of-two and has three grandchildren, says despite paying into pensions all her life, she now survives on the state pension and a small private pension.
What career were you in and did you save into a pension?
I got a job in a bank and got married at 19. I had my first son in 1970 and then my second in 1973. By this time, I realised my marriage was a sham and got divorced. So I was a single mum from when my sons were aged three and six-months-old.
