Research by pension and investment company Aegon reveals the vast disparity between men and women when it comes to adequately preparing for retirement.
Compared to their male counterparts, women are more likely to bury their head in the sand when it comes to knowing how much they hold in a pension, with one in three women unsure of the exact amount saved, compared to just one in five men.
Women are more likely than men to have no pension arrangements in place at all, with 15% of women compared to 11% of men failing to pay into a pension plan of any kind. When it comes to saving enough for retirement, significantly more men (15%) than women (4%) have saved more than £300,000 in pension savings – the amount that someone on average earnings would need to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement.
When it comes to being optimistic about being able to retire comfortably, men are far more likely to be very confident that they will have ample funds for retirement, with just 6% of women compared to 13% of men.
Kate Smith, Head of Pensions at Aegon comments: “These figures are staggering and show just how wide the gap between men and women is when it comes to preparing well for retirement. We know that there a number of factors that impact a women’s ability to save for retirement including career breaks to raise a family or care for elderly parents, however our research shows that many women are burying their heads in the sand and failing to prepare for retirement.
“The widening pensions saving gap between men and women shouldn’t be ignored and the sooner that women are able to engage with pension saving, the better. Everyone should think ahead to retirement, regardless of their age or gender and when it comes to pension saving, it’s good to regularly check in how much you hold in savings and where possible think about paying in more in order to have the lifestyle you want in retirement.”
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