Should I join company pension scheme?

Recently got married and realised I don't want to live fast, die young after all. I'd like to live for quite a long time. So I need to plan for the future.
I have the option to join my company pension scheme. The company matches my contributions up to 5% of salary.
The catch is this....
if I leave the company within 5 years I lose the company contributions (but I can get a refund or leave my own contributions in the pension fund).
Now, it's quite likely I won't be staying for 5 years. What are good investment alternatives?

Sorry, I should have mentioned I'm in Ireland but originally from UK. Scheme is an acceptable term I think, not me implying I think it's a scam :)

if you are in the UK , then the information you have been given is wrong, if the scheme is a group personal pension or a group stakeholder pension then once the money has been paid in the employer has no control over it or ability to get its money back if you leave ,irrespective of time period. It the scheme is an occupational money purchase or final salary scheme the the employer can only get a refund of contributions if you leave within the first two years.and yes you too can get a refund of contributions within two years but subject to a tax charge.if the law of five years is true for the US then I'm surprised that for once it seems we are better off in good old blighty!!

Your other alternatives would be a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA that you would contribute to on a regular basis. Most of those, however, need at least $1000 to start and some will charge a small fee until your assets with them reach a certain dollar amount.

I am always hesitant to turn down free money as in the case of your company's matching policy, which is like a pay hike for you. What makes you so sure you're going to leave the company before 5 years are up? The two jobs I had the longest were jobs I took only intending to be there a short period of time. If you enrolled in your company's investment plan and took advantage of the free money, you could still open and contribute to an IRA.

social life

This does not sound like a pension, but a 401K. The word scheme does not sound good, and I guess that is your term, not theirs. If it is a true defined benefit plan then you are not vested in the plan until after 5 years. In a defined benefit plan you are guaranteed a benefit for life, as opposed to a 401K which gives you a sum usually from the market that is yours to either withdraw lump sum or have a payout after 59 1/2 years of age. If you plan on working for this company, and sometimes we stay somewhere for life when our intentions were to only work there for a year or two, then take advantage of the pension.

I have to admit, I don't trust pension plans. (Notice how you called it a pension "scheme"? Perhaps you don't trust them either!)

It sounds great, but there are a few ways that you can end up screwed in this deal, even if you stay for the five years. For instance, what happens if the company goes under, or sells out? There are rules about what can and can't be done with pension money, of course. There are also loopholes to some of those rules.

For instance, one example I saw with my own eyes... bigger company buys out smaller company with nice pension plan for employees. Decides to close down smaller company (because they were really only after the pension plan in the first place.) They then proceed to keep the smaller company open giving all of the previously full-time employees 10-15 hours a week. Thus, they no longer qualify for any benefits, plus their take-home pay gets slashed and burned. They keep going like this till everyone quits. Because the pension plan can only be raided if all the former employees "quit", not if they're fired, laid off, etc.

So, guess who never got a dime of that money?

Bottom line, I'd take self-directed saving, myself. Pensions are dinosaurs. You might try looking into something where your risk is tied to the stock market. (And isn't it saying something when THAT's less risky?!!?)

YES the government pension is crap and anyway you will probably be able to transfer any company pension you have over to your new employer.
I had the same dilema nearly thirty years ago and i didnt bother to join the company fund i'm regreting it now cause i was with them for thirteen years before leaving. Thirteen years i could have carried on to my new employer.

The expression "pension scheme" is the correct term for the UK and Ireland. Not sure why people are getting hung up on the word!

Mmm, why don't you just look for a personal/private pension. I had a company one years ago and because i left, the money i got back was just what I had paid in (sounds similar to what you describe)