John Lowe of Money Doctors John Lowe of Money Doctors.ie asks when is it too early to think about retirement planning? If you are one of the 200,000 employees lucky enough to have a defined benefit scheme or one of the 700,000 + contributing to a defined contribution scheme, will it also be enough to fund your pension when you are ready to retire? Rudyard Kipling once said words are the most powerful drug in the world and if that is the case, then pension language and literature for some must be the sleeping pills of the English language. However, your pension is one of the most important financial undertakings in your life and it's really important to at least understand the basics.