直到9月初，26岁的哈桑·纳萨尔（Hassan Nassar）每月仍能向自己的国家医疗服务体系（NHS）工作场所养老金计划存入约430英镑。
Until early September, Hassan Nassar, 26, was saving around £430 every month into his NHS workplace pension.
这位在西米德兰兹地区工作的实习全科医生表示，自己当时“资金非常紧张”，因此决定暂时停止存钱（预计暂停时间为6到12个月）。
But the trainee GP, who works in the West Midlands, says he was "really cash strapped" and decided to stop putting money aside for around "six to 12 months".
他需要这笔钱来照顾生病的家人、为购买首套住房攒钱，以及支付房租和学生贷款。
He needs the money to help take care of a sick family member, save for his first home and cover rent and student loan repayments.
不过他也清楚：选择退出这些养老金计划会带来相应的代价——由于现在不存钱，未来几十年将错失复利带来的收益，他可能会损失5000至10000英镑的退休收入。
But he's aware there is a cost to opting out, estimating he could lose between "£5,000 and £10,000" in future retirement income due to the decades of compound interest he will miss out on by not saving now.
他对BBC说：“别人可能会说我傻，让我看看将来会失去什么……但我更关心的是：如果现在不退出这些计划，我现在会失去什么。”
"People will say, you're silly, look at what you'll be missing out in the future," he tells the BBC. "But I need to look at what I'd be losing now if I didn't opt out."
根据规定，所有年满22岁、年收入超过10000英镑的员工都会自动被纳入工作场所养老金计划（不过也有例外情况）。
All employees will be automatically enrolled in a workplace pension if they are aged 22 or above and earn over £10,000, although there are exceptions.
雇主会从员工的工资中直接扣除一定比例的资金（通常为5%），同时还会提供税收减免；此外，雇主也必须额外缴纳最低额的养老金费用。
A percentage is taken directly from the worker's pay - usually around 5% - with tax relief added on top, and the employer must also pay a minimum contribution on top.
然而，由于生活成本的压力，越来越多的Z世代和千禧一代选择退出这些养老金计划。政府警告称，这些人的未来私人养老金收入可能会低于当前退休人员的水平。
But a growing number of Gen Z and millennials are opting out of these schemes due to cost-of-living pressures and the government has warned they could be on track for lower private pension incomes than people retiring today.
这确实是个问题：虽然英国大多数人最终都能领取国家养老金，但该养老金只能提供最低水平的退休收入，许多人仍需要依靠私人养老金来补充收入。
That is a problem, because while most people in the UK will eventually get a state pension, it only provides a minimum level of retirement income and many will rely on a private pension to supplement it.
哈桑表示，他每月会从自己的总收入中拿出10.7%用于缴纳养老金，而NHS也会额外为其缴纳一部分费用。
Hassan says he was paying 10.7% of his gross earnings each month into his workplace pension, while the NHS contributed a substantial amount on top.
不过与某些雇主不同，NHS不允许员工在困难时期减少自己的养老金缴纳金额。
But unlike some employers, the NHS doesn't allow staff to reduce their contributions when times are hard.
尽管如此，他仍然相信自己在30到40年的职业生涯结束后会有足够的资金用于退休生活，并决心尽快重新加入养老金计划。
Overall, however, he is confident he will have enough to retire on at the end of his "30-40" year career and is determined to opt back in to his pension as soon as he can.
根据英国工作与养老金部（Department for Work and Pensions, DWP）的数据，约有2260万人（占符合“自动参保”条件的人数的90%）正在缴纳养老金，而约250万人并未缴纳。
According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), around 22.6 million people, or 90% of those who are eligible for "automatic enrolment" pensions, are paying into one, while about 2.5 million are not.
然而，养老金部长托尔斯滕·贝尔（Torsten Bell）在接受BBC采访时表示：“越来越多的年轻劳动者没有进行储蓄，总体而言，未来的退休人员可能会面临比现在更低的私人养老金收入。”根据DWP的数据：在截至去年12月的三个月内，22至29岁、最近开始工作的符合参保条件的年轻人中，有11.5%选择不参加养老金计划；而2020年同期这一比例为6.6%。
However, Pensions Minister Torsten Bell told the BBC that "a rising number of young workers aren't saving, and overall there is a danger tomorrow's retirees are on track for lower private pension incomes than today's". According to DWP data: In the three months to December last year, 11.5% of eligible 22 to 29-year-olds who recently started a job opted out of their pensions.
30至39岁年龄段的人群中，选择不参加养老金计划的比例从7.4%上升到了12.7%。
That's up from 6.6% in the same period of 2020. For 30 to 39-year-olds it's gone from 7.4% to 12.7%.
来自康沃尔郡的22岁女孩埃维（Evie）表示，她在伦敦的一家活动策划公司工作时选择了不参加公司的养老金计划。作为刚刚从戏剧学校毕业的年轻人，她坦言自己很难负担日常生活开销（包括食物、交通费用以及800英镑的房租）。
Evie, 22, from Cornwall, says she opted out of entering the workplace pension at the London events company she works for. A recent drama school graduate, she says she would have struggled to cover her outgoings, including food, travel and the £800 she pays in rent.
埃维虽然意识到自己错过了为退休做准备的机会，但她目前还有其他更紧迫的开支需要资金来应对。
Evie is conscious about missing out on saving for retirement, but there are other things she needs money for that make it impractical right now.
“我该如何攒钱买房、买车，同时还能维持日常开销呢？我不想只是为了生存而工作，我希望通过工作来创造有意义的人生。”来自特许财务咨询公司The Private Office的艾普丽尔·利森（April Leeson）建议，只要有可能，人们就应该继续缴纳养老金——即使这意味着需要减少缴费金额（许多雇主都允许员工这样做）。
"How can I save for a house, how can I save for a car and afford my outgoings? I don't want to just work day in, day out to live, I want to work to have a life." April Leeson, from The Private Office, a chartered financial advice firm, says she would always advise people to not stop paying into their pensions if they can help it, even if that means reducing their contributions, which many employers allow you to do.
她解释说，这主要是因为员工会因此错过雇主提供的免费养老金补贴，同时也会损失养老金的复利收益。
This is partly because of the free employer contributions they will miss out on but also the lost compound interest.
“目前的最低退休年龄是57岁，因此你在20多岁时存下的任何钱至少还有30年的时间来增值。”
"The current minimum pension age is 57, so any money you save in your 20s will have at least 30 years to compound and grow.
“现在存下的100英镑，若以每年4%的复利增长30年，其价值将远超15至20年后才存下的100英镑。”
"£100 saved now, compounded at 4% a year over 30 years, is going to be worth a lot more than £100 saved in 15 to 20 years' time."
她还敦促年轻人要有前瞻性。“你真的需要为未来的自己着想，思考那个人在退休时需要什么才能过上舒适的生活。”47岁的卡莉尔（Kharlee）是伦敦东南部的一名教师，她对此深有同感。过去五年里，她因经济原因两次停止了向工作场所养老金计划缴款。她认为自己因此错过了约5000英镑的养老金积累。
She also urges younger people to think ahead. "You really need to think of your future self and what that person will need to retire comfortably." Kharlee, 47, a teacher from South East London, can certainly relate to this. She stopped her contributions to a workplace pension twice over the last five years for financial reasons. And she thinks she missed out on saving about £5,000 into her pension pot.
如今她的财务状况有所改善，但最近转为自雇人士，不再属于私人养老金计划，她希望改变这一状况。
She's in a better place financially now, but recently became self-employed and is no longer part of a private pension scheme, something she hopes to change.
“我希望自己的养老金是安全的，但我并没有这种感觉。我担心自己在退休时无法过上舒适的生活。”
"I would like to feel my pension is secure, and I don't feel like that. I worry I'm not going to be able to live comfortably at the age of retirement."