I went to a few pensions presentations at work in the early years and the figures they were telling me I should put in were laughable, so I switched off and ignored them after this point.
The fact is, very few people can afford to put in 12, 15, 20% of their salary whilst they are paying off a mortgage, bringing up kids, and just as importantly, living life whilst they are young and healthy.
I think its so hard to be given this advice when youre young (assuming early 20s), as most people are frivolous and just cant comprehend that they should sacrifice money that they could be spending on enjoying themselves, and rightly so.
There is a fine balance as always, and as ive hit 40, I do wish I started putting something away at that age, despite how minimal, as it then means that you dont
have to be as strict as you get older.
Again its subjective as some people just simply can't afford, or want to sacrifice money that theyll not see for 20-30 years.
For me life is all about balance as it makes me feel comfortable, that means paying into a pension, a little into shares, and still leaving me with a decent enough amount to enjoy on socializing, holidays etc
My only advice to my younger self, was to stop wasting so much money on shite food as I went through a spell of probably having 2 or 3 Takeaways a week and spending a good few hundred quid a month on it; thats the money that can be used more wisely IMO
The good thing about life though, is that everyone gets to tell their own version of what works for them