If I invest in my pension with stocks and shares will they do my pension justice and earn me the money I will need in 26 years time to be able to retire. I'm unsure. I've thought about this a lot and what with all the doom and gloom over the stock market and banks I'm beginning to think there maybe other ways to invest my money for my pension pot.

First thing I think of when I consider retiring is will I live long enough to be able to reap the rewards of all the sacrifices I will have to make to put away sufficient money to be able to have a half decent pension. Ive not exactly lived a life of a saint, on many occasions I over indulge in liquor and cigarettes. Ive tried on almost a weekly basis to give up and I'm still doing it so I have to accept that the latter years of my life have, and will continue to decrease with every day I continue, so statistically, I don't think I will be drawing a pension at 100 years old. So at best, I hope to live till I'm seventy. If I accept this as the year in which I take the lift to the "other place" then that will only leave me 4 years in which to enjoy my pension.

This leaves me with a decision to make. Do I take the chance and invest for the future with the markets and the banks being as they are or shall I live the "life of Riley" and enjoy every day as though it's my last. Which I do now by the way.

What I need is a way in which I could invest and start reaping the rewards from day one. I suppose bricks and mortar is the obvious one or maybe a building society (are there any of them left?). I have invested in a generic domain name, that I have been told will increase in value once people forget the .com bubble. I've heard you can invest in offshore accounts and Isa's but I'm always weary of these schemes since a friend of mine invested £10,000 over a 5 year period and only ended up receiving £8,500 return after 5 years.

Well I guess with what little money I have I shall have to keep spreading my bets and hope that my pension will grow in such a way that if I live to 70 I will have had enough out of the pot as I have put in the pension pot.