Long-lived women need more income
ONS data has shown that women in the UK are more likely to outlive men and spend more time in retirement, but are less likely to have adequate savings, according to the director of workplace solutions at Aegon UK, Angela Seymour-Jackson.
“It is concerning that, when it comes to retirement savings, just 5 per cent of women are on track, compared with 9 per cent of men.
“With the prospect of spending 30 – or in some cases 40 – years in retirement, it is vital that both men and women start saving early to ensure they have a healthy income to support later life,” Ms Seymour-Jackson said.
According to a 25-page ONS statistical bulletin, Estimates of the Very Old (including Centenarians) 2002 to 2014, for every 100 men aged 90 or over in 2014 there were 249 women.
The data also showed that while people over 100 account for 0.02 per cent of the population, their numbers were growing, with women making up the bulk.
The number of people aged 100 and over living in the UK has risen by 72 per cent over the last decade to 14,450 in 2014.
Adviser View
Martin Brown, managing partner of Plymouth-based Continuum, said: “The increasing longevity in the UK highlights the heightened burden on the state to try and maintain its pension provision, and for the individual to maintain private provision.
“It is a concern that the government is restricting pensions in terms of contribution limits and lifetime allowances at a time when it should be encouraging customers to put monies aside for their retirement. Customers need to seriously consider their private savings provision for retirements that could last longer than their working careers.”
