Thousands of women have been issued a warning that they may lose out on as much as £225,000 in pension savings if they retire at the same time as their husband or male partner.
New research by PensionBee has highlighted the retirement age gap, as well as savings difference, between men and women in a relationship.
Figures reported by The Mirror reveal that, on average, men have saved nearly £440,000 in pension savings by the time they reach the age of 64.
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Women, meanwhile, typically accumulate £300,000 in savings by the same age — meaning if they wish to retire at the same age as their husband or partner, their pension savings would be £140,000 smaller.
If a man is in a relationship with a women two years younger than him, this difference would increase to £177,000 if they were both to retire when he turned 64, according to PensionBee.
Meanwhile, if a woman was in a relationship with a man five years older than her, she would potentially be £225,000 worse off if they both retired when he was 64.
PensionBee states that a woman would potentially have pension savings of just over £214,000 if she were to retire when she turned 59.
The experts at PensionBee stated that their calculations are based on ONS data and its own modelling system.
They considered median gross weekly income and median hourly pay in order to calculate median annual hours of paid work and annual pay by gender.
The experts stated: “We assumed annual pension contributions of 8%, growth of 7%, and fees of 0.5%, for consumers saving from age 25 to 64 and taking no withdrawals between those ages.”
Chief executive of PensionBee Romi Savova added: “While coordinating retirement is a common goal for many, the persistent gender pension gap in the UK presents a significant barrier to achieving this, which is only exacerbated for couples of different ages.
“This huge disparity in pension pot sizes for savers within a five year age range highlights the urgent need for policy interventions and bold action from employers so women can enjoy the same level of wealth in retirement as men.”
These figures of course do not represent every couple, and there are a number of variables when it comes to pension pots.
For example, your earnings, how much you contribute toward your pension and when you start saving will have huge weighting on how much you have saved for retirement.
PensionBee stated that there are a number of explanations as to why there could be major differences in pension pots between men and women.
For example, if a couple has a child or children, one of the parents may take time out of work to bring them up.
There are some ways to keep saving toward your pension though, even if you are not working.
This can include keeping up contributions to a former workplace scheme and maximising your pension savings before taking a career break.
It is also worth reviewing any old pensions you no longer pay into to check if you'd be better off consolidating your pensions or keeping them separate.
Always seek professional advice if you're not sure what to do.
