Are you planning to work into your 70s or beyond? I know I’m not. I used to joke that every working day over 50 would break my heart but it wasn’t really a joke, and my attitude hasn’t really changed. I’ve become a bit more pragmatic now I’m still working and approaching my mid-fifties, but the finish line is close. I can see it from here. Not so with a great many of my peers though.

In over a decade of freelancing I’ve come across a staggering number of my peers who have absolutely no retirement fund whatsoever. I’m not joking. Some of my peers are in their late fifties and have made no provision at all beyond their state pension. It’s very worrying.

From what I’ve seen, the people who are most likely to be in this position are freelancers or sole traders who are not on a traditional payroll with a limited company, and so are not bound by the UK legal requirement for the employer to provide a workplace pension.

If you’re in this position as a freelancer and have no real pension provision, have you thought about how you’ll manage when you come to retirement age? Are you really just going to keep plodding on when you’re tired and have had enough? If not, it’s never too late to start making preparations. Here are three things you can do right away to improve your situation.