BEYOND PAY EQUALITY – ADDRESSING THE PENSIONS GAP

by Alexis Livanes, Partner, Eight Wealth International, Financial Wellness Accredited

Women tend to retire with pensions far smaller than those of men, which is largely a result of their lower average earnings. However, you can still ensure that your plans catch up with your dreams, though you might have to do things differently. In this article, Alexis Livanes shares advice for those with UK pension considerations.

International Women’s Day is a global day that celebrates women’s achievements, raises awareness against bias and calls for collaborative action against inequality. In doing so, it seeks to highlight positive role models, increase female visibility, and accelerate gender parity.

The gender pay gap often hits the headlines, but we also need to address the lesser-known problem of the ‘pensions gap’ between men and women. Women tend to retire with pensions far smaller than those of men, which is largely a result of their lower average earnings. If you find yourself mid-career and unsure of whether you have enough set aside for retirement, all is not lost. Here are some of the things to consider, to make sure you still get to where you want to be in the future:

Identify your goals

Spend some time thinking about what kind of future you want.

Identify how you want to fund your retirement, as there are several different ways

Pensions

Ensure you are putting as much as possible into your UK pension if eligible or making investments offshore if you are away from home.

Property

Planning to downsize into a smaller home at a later stage could be another option, potentially leaving you with a lump sum to help fund retirement.

Businesses

Many entrepreneurs put everything they have into their business and hope that it could be sold one day to fund retirement or provide an annual income.

These may be viable options, but it’s important to be real- istic about how much your business is worth today and its potential future value.

The government provides a small pension to eligible people for later life. However, at its current levels, is the UK State Pension enough to retire on? Or is it more of a top-up to your other income in retirement?

Having a conversation about retirement planning with your spouse will ensure you are ready for any eventuality. For most married couples, talking about divorce is probably the last thing that they want to do. However, money is one of the top reasons cited for marriage breakdowns in the UK. Many couples just do not speak about money or even make financial plans together, but the act of doing so can not only help to make your marriage last but will also ensure that you are well prepared should the worst thing happen.

Women face unique challenges and financial decisions throughout their lives, many of which will impact their ability to plan adequately for the long-term and in particular, retirement. In the UK, women currently retire with one-fifth of the pension wealth of men and are likely to be even further disadvantaged if they get divorced. This could be because women are, understandably, preparing for a joint retirement with their spouse, or that they might not be fully involved in the financial decisions being made with regard to retirement planning over the course of their working lives. By discussing as a couple your short, medium and long-term goals and how you will reach them, you will be better informed for all eventualities.

The number of unclaimed pension pots in the UK was estimated at £19.4 billion in 2020, which equated to 1.6 million pension pots earning nearly £13,000 each. If you are not currently residing in the UK, that’s not a problem. In the event of being out of contact with your former employer, you may be able to locate them using the government’s free pension tracing service. This can be found by visiting www.gov.uk/ find-pension-contact-details

If you are looking to boost your retirement savings by finding a lost pension, we can help by applying the best financial planning to help you achieve your dream financial future. We can contact your pension providers with the information you supply, examine the performance, and advise an ideal strategy.

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About Eight Wealth International

Eight Wealth International believe in the benefits of great financial planning. At one time or another, most of us will need to seek financial advice. At Eight Wealth International, a Principal Partner Practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management, we have a wide range of expertise and knowledge, developed over many years, to help people – both individually and in business – fulfil their aims and aspirations, as well as offering that all-important ‘peace of mind’ for the future.

We offer a seamless service of distinct quality, professionalism and expertise, covering varying aspects of wealth management, all backed by the successful St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group.

The ‘St. James’s Place Partnership’ and the titles ‘Partner’ and ‘Partner Practice’ are marketing terms used to describe St. James’s Place representatives. Members of the St. James’s Place Partnership in Singapore represent St. James’s Place (Singapore) Private Limited, which is part of the St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group, and it is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is a member of the Investment Management Association of Singapore and Association of Financial Advisers (Singapore). Company Registration No. 200406398R. Capital Markets Services Licence No. CMS100851. St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group Ltd Registered Office: St. James’s Place House, 1 Tetbury Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1FP, United Kingdom. Registered in England Number 02627518.