In the USA, President Franklin D Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935, starting a more organized government pension system than the more private alternatives that existed since 1875.
This is a pension system adopted by many other countries in the world, where the working population is putting money into a pension fund, paying for the current retiree.  
Most people think that they are saving for their own retirement in the future, but that is not the case.

In 1935, 42 people were paying for the pension of 1 retiree. Today less than 2 people are paying for the pension of 1 retiree.
And it is the same in most countries. Not only the US.
And it is getting worse….

There are government pension systems that are constructed in the way that the employee of today is paying a percentage of their salary to a pension system.  Most people think that this money will be saved, invested and managed for their own benefit, so that when they retire they get to collect this money as pensions.
That is not the case!

The money saved into government pension funds today is used to pay out the pensions to the retirees of today, and not being saved for the pension some time in the future for the employee saving the money today.  And that creates some problems.

In the USA, President Franklin D Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935, starting a more organized government pension system than the more private alternatives that existed since 1875.
This is a pension system adopted by many other countries in the world, where the working population is putting money into a pension fund, paying for the current retiree.  
Most people think that they are saving for their own retirement in the future, but that is not the case.

In 1935, 42 people were paying for the pension of 1 retiree. Today less than 2 people are paying for the pension of 1 retiree.
And it is the same in most countries. Not only the US.
And it is getting worse….

Let’s just make a note; that all debt for loans and credits that you have is because you have spent money on your current lifestyle, instead of living more modest and save your surplus earnings.
If you decide to pay off your loans and credits, as a rule of thumb you should always pay off the loans and credits with the highest interest first. Then you pay off the one with the next highest interest etc. However there are exceptions. Check out our recommended method for getting debt free within a limited time period.

Note
Every investment has certain risks!

Different investments have different risks and rewards. It is always up to you to consider the risks and rewards of an investment. And it always come down to the two questions above, which is about math and psychology. It all comes down to what you are willing to risk, in relation to what you are able to win.
Normally, a general rule of thumb is not to invest any money that you cannot afford to lose. However, investing for your future financial freedom and retirement, we would say that there are good investments that you could borrow to.

Private pension funds or private pension insurance is different than government pension funds.
This is money that you save each month and each year to live off when you retire. You are actually saving to yourself, in the future.

There are however two problems with this. Since most private pension schemes include active management from an insurance company and / or a fund management investment company, your money is actively managed and you will also have to pay a management fee on the savings. This will take away up to 40-50% or more of your savings over a 40-50 year investment.  It all depends on the size of the management fee.

Research shows that, in many cases stocks that you buy and just let to run increase more in value over a longer period of time, than stocks that are actively managed, buying and selling the stocks “at the right time”.
And for this active management, you also need to pay a management fee to the insurance company or the management company, which will take off a big part of your investment.
For this purpose it may be better for you just to choose a self-managed retirement saving, that you actually don't manage, but just let it run.

As the investor major rule; consider this – Where can you get the most profit?
In most cases, in these days with very low interest, you will not be able to save more money than your spend on loans and credit.
Most bank accounts today have zero to none interest on savings, but your loans have an interest of 1% or a couple of percent or higher, and your credit debts could have interest rates up to 20% or more.
If this is the case for you – you should definitely pay of your loans and credits, because that gives you the bigger profit.
However – what if you could get higher interest on investments?

The best way to secure your own retirement, and make absolutely sure that you have alla the money that you will need in the future, is to become financially free.
It may not take as much effort, money and knowledge as you might think.  But it normally takes time.
There are two things you need to use to make this a reality - that is time & compounding interest.