Of course, we’re going to say it’s very important – but it’s not relevant what we think, it’s only relevant what you think, because a pension plan is for Future You, not us. Here are two scenarios for you to consider, to help you answer the question.
Scenario 1: If you have a pension
You are several years older than you are now and you don’t need to work anymore, because your pension is paying for all your expenses. You have no financial worries, because years ago you worked out what you wanted, how to achieve your goals, acted on your plan, and now everyday is holiday and you’ve got the rest of your life to focus on doing whatever you want to do, rather than having to do whatever you need to do to pay the bills. You are living your best life and have lots of time to spend, as well as having enough money to spend. Time is money, the only difference is you own it, so you can stop time and enjoy each moment :-)
Scenario 2: If you do not have a pension
You are several years older than you are now and you still need to work, because that’s the only way you can pay for your expenses. You have some financial worries because you know that one day soon you will be forced to stop working for some reason, whether it’s because you’re too old to work, or you can’t successfully compete for a job with the all the newly-educated young people entering the employment market. Every day you wake up and have to think about how you will make money that day, because you know you need more money just to survive for the rest of your life. You start considering all the scam-infested get-rich-quick schemes and high-risk investments, because you don’t have enough time left to successfully build up wealth in a safe get-rich-slow low-risk pension plan. Time is money, the only difference is you don’t own either time or money, you can’t stop time and you can’t enjoy each moment :-(
Now answer that question for yourself: How important is it to have a pension?