Women face £8k retirement shortfall

Investing and pensions

16 January 2015 | 5 Comments

Women not saving enough for retirement.

Women face a financial shortfall of nearly £8,000 a year compared to men.

That's according to a new study from Friends Life, which has been exclusively shared with lovemoney.com.

The research found that women thought that they would need an income of £24,068 per year for retirement. However, they only expect to receive an income of £16,242 based on their current saving habits, leaving a shortage of a whopping £7,826.

When it comes to addressing that shortfall, things don't look too good either. Less than half (47%) of women have a pension, which is 12% less than men.

And even if they did have a pension, they might struggle to contribute to it. The salary gap between the genders has grown to 19.1% from 18.6% last year, meaning women have less money which they can put into retirement pots than men. Almost half (47%) of women say they have other financial priorities which are preventing them from planning for retirement too.

Men responding to the survey said they would like to have an average of £25,086 a year once they stop working. With an expected income of £20,014, this is only a £5,072 shortfall, making them £2,754 a year better off than women.

Andy Briggs, group chief executive at Friends Life, said that too many women are putting pension provision at the back of their mind. He added: "It is easy to think of retirement as a less than immediate priority, but the sooner they act, the sooner they will secure their financial future."

Make sure you have enough for retirement

No matter your gender, you need to get on top of saving for your later years.

Be sure to read our guide on how to work out how much your need to save for retirement.

Take a look at investment opportunities in our new investment centre (capital at risk)

More on pensions:

Less than half of pensioners to get full state pension

Pension Wise: Government confirms name of free pension guidance service

Pension reforms could leave many pensioners penniless

Government: pensioners could swap annuity for cash

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