Many women are falling behind their future financial goals, research has warned.
A study carried out by investment app Moneybox among more than 2,000 young adults aged 20-40 found both men and women are dealing with a lot of confusion and anxiety about how they can save what they will need for a comfortable retirement.
However, the research pointed to some signs that women in particular were falling behind in preparing for life after work.
On average, women aged 20-40 said they wanted to retire at 59 with an annual retirement income of £24,000, compared with £28,000 for men.
But, according to the study, 37 per cent of women said they were "extremely" concerned about saving for retirement, with 90 per cent of women saying that pension saving was a concern for them.
Approximately 70 per cent said they had "no idea" how much they would need to save for retirement, while 34 per cent were worried they had already left it too late to be able to save what they might need.
Of the men who were polled, 48 per cent expected to be better off in retirement than their parents, with 31 per cent confident that they were on track with their pension plans.
Some women had never even given a thought to their pension needs. Of the 47 per cent of women who had never considered their ideal retirement income:
- 42 per cent said it felt impossible to know how much they will need by the time they retire (compared with 47 per cent of men).
- 39 per cent said they simply did not know where to start (compared with 31 per cent of men).
- 35 per cent felt too scared/overwhelmed to think about it (compared with 20 per cent of men).
- 19 per cent said it had never occurred to them (compared with 31 per cent of men).
To help combat savings anxiety among younger clients or the children of advised clients, Fiona Elston, retirement product manager for Moneybox, has put together five top tips to help get people saving more, earlier on in life.
She said: "Many of us in our 20s and 30s are beginning to realise how much we will need to save to be able to enjoy a comfortable retirement.
"The challenge we face is significant, especially when you consider changing external factors such as the rising state pension age, rising cost of living and the fact that our research found that 69 per cent of women and 54 per cent of men were never taught about the importance of saving for retirement.
"The lack of financial education provided during our school years has resulted in many being unclear on the actions they should be taking in their early working life to maximise retirement savings for later life.”
Her five top tips are:
1. Set a goal to help you stay focused: A great first step is to think about the annual income you would like to have each year when you retire. It is a good idea to keep reviewing this figure as your salary changes throughout your working life and you get closer to understanding what your retirement outgoings will be.
2. Track down your old workplace pensions: On average it is estimated that millennials will have 12 different jobs during their working life and so it can be a lot of work to keep track of all your old workplace pensions.
3. Make the most of free money available: If you currently have a workplace pension, it is important to find out if your employer offers more than the minimum 3 per cent contribution and if so, how to maximise employer contributions.
4. Clarify your state pension entitlement: Some 76 per cent of women surveyed by Moneybox had no idea how much they were on track to receive from their state pension. Just sign up/log into your personal tax account on the government's website and you can quickly find out how much you are on track to receive.
5. Start now and enjoy the benefits of compounding: It really cannot be overstated, the earlier you start saving and investing for your future, the better. Why? Because of compound interest – £100 a month invested from the age of 25 could be worth at least £130,000 by retirement.
Elston added: “It is clear there is a lot of confusion and even anxiety around this topic and this is something we are committed to helping address.
"Those of us fortunate enough to have been taught about the importance of saving for retirement had the benefit of a well-informed family member or even a financial adviser, but that is just not the case for most people."
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
