The figures are truly depressing. According to benefit consultants Hewitt, today's 30-year-olds can expect to work until their early 70s, and maybe even into their 80s if stock markets fail to perform as expected. Even then, they will have to make do with pensions that are only half of their earnings while working.

This is not scaremongering: Hewitt's analysis is based on the pension arrangements that almost all companies now offer to younger workers. And the problem only gets worse the longer you wait to start a pension.

Rather than burying your head in the sand, go out and buy a pension tomorrow. You probably cannot afford to contribute the recommended amount but don't be put off.

Every penny you contribute qualifies for generous tax breaks. So look on your pension as a tax-efficient savings plan even if it is unlikely to provide a decent income in retirement.

"With every paypacket you have a choice: you can pay a sizeable chunk to the government as tax; or you can move it into a pension and pay a lot less tax, " says Brian Sullivan, pension manager at Bank of Ireland Life. "Whether you have 30 years to go to retirement or only ten, a pension will at least save you a lot of tax.

Whatever way you do the maths, it's very attractive."

Yet few of us bother to contribute anything more than the bare minimum to our pensions. In a typical 45-member pension scheme managed by Bank of Ireland, Sullivan said only three employees were making significant top ups to the contributions required under the scheme rules.

Under Revenue rules, workers in their 20s can contribute up to 15% of their wages to a pension and get full tax relief. This rises to 20% of income when you hit your 30s, 25% in your 40s, and 30% once you reach 50 years of age.

Under recent changes introduced by finance minister Brian Cowen, the thresholds are even more generous for older workers. Once you hit 55, you can pump 35% of your earnings into a pension tax free, rising to 40% from age 60. These higher thresholds should make it easier to play catch-up if you have neglected pension planning.

"Putting in a little extra, reviewing where you stand every year, and increasing your contributions by a few extra percentage points whenever you can afford it takes away a lot of the pain, " Sullivan says. "The importance of keeping your eye on the ball gains momentum the closer you get to retirement."

The end of the SSIA scheme over the coming 12 months provides an ideal opportunity to get your pension planning back on track.

More than half of SSIA savers are now contributing the maximum 254 a month to the savings scheme. Having got used to living without the money, they should not find it too painful to divert it from savings to pensions after their SSIAs mature. A net contribution of 254 a month is worth 480 a month in your pension, assuming you pay tax at the top 42% rate and PRSI at 6%.

The government has also announced an incentive to encourage us to roll our SSIA nest eggs into pensions. But it is only a half-hearted effort and you should think twice before taking up the offer.

The government promises a tax credit of 1 for every 3 of SSIA savings rolled over into a pension. The money also escapes the 23% exit tax levied on the interest or investment returns earned on SSIA savings.

But top-rate taxpayers would probably be better off giving it a miss. They already qualify for a tax and PRSI credit of almost 1 on every 1 paid into their pensions. So why bother with a 1-for- 3 incentive, even if it means avoiding the exit tax on your SSIA savings?

To make matters worse, the rollover incentive is bound up in red tape. To qualify, you must earn less than 50,000 a year and the most that can be rolled into a pension is 7,500, which is only about half of the average SSIA nest egg. In addition the SSIA money diverted into a pension must be on top of, rather than instead of, your normal pension contributions.

For many people, property has become their pensions.

Disillusioned with the pension industry's high charges, topsy-turvy investment performance and complicated jargon, they have come up with their own solutions by becoming buy-to-let landlords.

This means sacrificing the generous tax breaks that come with traditional pensions. But buy-to-let investors have other tricks up their sleeves.

By borrowing to invest, they get the banks to put up most of the finance while pocketing all the upside from rising property prices. If the deal is structured correctly, rent from the property will cover the mortgage while tax bills are kept to a minimum by writing off the interest against the rental income.

But as property values keep rising, the maths of buy-tolet no longer add up. Rents are no longer sufficient to cover the payments on the huge mortgages needed to get into the property game. So new landlords end up subsidising their tenants, something that can only be justified if you believe that property values can continue to rise and rise.

This is quite a leap of faith at a time when many believe we are close to or have already reached the top of the market.

Even if you can get buy-tolet to work, it is inherently more risky than traditional pensions because you are betting your pension on at most a handful of properties rather than a broadly-balanced collection of assets that includes stocks and shares, bonds and cash, as well as property.

The bottom line is that there are no easy answers to the pensions crisis. The only certainty is that doing nothing is no longer an option.

Young dentist files his tax returns while filling up his long-term nest egg

PAUL FITZSIMONS, a 26-year-old dentist based in Clondalkin, Co Dublin, puts 10%-15% of his earnings into a pension managed by Bank of Ireland.

With maybe 40 years to go to retirement, Paul says he was initially sceptical about taking on such a long-term commitment.

"I held off for a while because I was dubious about locking away my money for so long, " he says. "I could see that with other investments, such as property, you get your returns much quicker."

In the end the generous tax breaks won him over and Paul began his pension with a lump sum contribution that took some of the pain out of a year-end tax bill.

"My accountant kept telling me how good pensions are, not only as an investment, but also for tax reasons, " he says.

"I also like the "exibility of being able to stop and start contributing whenever I like."

For now Paul is happy to keep squirrelling away a sizeable chunk of his earnings for retirement. "I quali"ed as a dentist in 2003 and, like all students, I was in the habit of spending whatever I had, " he says.

"I didn't want to continue like that once I started earning."

Paul believes it is important to save while he can because he might not be able to continue making such sizeable contributions in the future if he sets up his own dental practice, takes a career break or starts a family.

"Because of the way that returns are compounded over the years, even small contributions at this age make a big difference to the size of your pension, " he says.

Even though Paul is developing a keen interest in the investment markets, he is happy to let Bank of Ireland look after his pension until he learns the ropes.

All of his money is invested in stocks and shares, which he believes offer the best hope of long-term rewards.

"Over the long term stock markets have always done well, " he says. "Because of my age, I'm not thinking 10 years ahead, I'm thinking 30 years ahead."