retirement plan. Always consider increasing your contributions as you progress in your career and earn more money. Rather than trying to pick better funds or adopting a more growth-oriented investment strategy, simply raising your monthly contribution may have a much larger impact over time. You can have the greatest funds, but it doesn't mean much if you have only a small amount of money in your retirement savings plan. So, try to increase your savings effort as well when possible. Only in later years, performance starts to matter. As your pension pot starts to bulk up, better returns can mean more than bigger contributions because those returns are on a much larger balance. Set your priorities -- save to the max, then allocate Great, you have started saving for retirement. The next step now is to salt away as much as possible. Contribute at least enough to get the full employer match - anything less and you're leaving money on the table. If you can't manage that all at once, increase your contribution by a percentage point a year. Eventually you want to be contributing at least 10% of your salary and, if you are investing via a SIPP, if you can, contribute the maximum annual contribution. Next, focus on your mix of shares and bonds, funds and ETF's. A number of studies show that asset allocation has a bigger impact on returns than the specific funds you hold.