Tough news about pensions today as employers attempt to defuse the pension time bomb through closing their final salary pension scheme. This could lead to a saving of £4.5bn a year, according to BBC Online.

According to MGM Advantage, there are 2 million fewer people on final salary pensions schemes; this has, according to the Trades Union Congress and Office of National Statistics, led to a cut in pension contributions - from £7.77bn to £3.24bn. The reduction has even led to some commentators, such as Aston Goodey, suggesting that the final salary pension is nearing ‘extinction’.

These measures have been labelled by TUC member Brendan Barber as ’slash and burn’ techniques, and that a ‘populist and misleading campaign’ was being run, which was waging war against public sector pensions.

Findings by the ONS show that contributions to non-state pension schemes have been growing strongly, standing at £85.2bn; although only up on 2006 by 2%, contributions by employers to their funded occupational pension schemes dropped slightly from £38.7bn to £37bn.

Do you think you will struggle to do those once in a lifetime opportunities when you retire? Don’t let your current money problems hamper your dreams; visit us at www.247Moneybox.com and see if we can help with a payday loan. The online application takes only a few minutes to fill out, and you may be on your way to getting that bit of extra cash you need.