Beacon Wealth Group talks about the importance of pensions

Then contributions made in later years are often of higher value when salaries have increased with career length. However, according to Scottish Widows, this is not the case for everybody. Their ‘Women and Retirement Report’ (2022) shows that women have a significantly lower average pension fund than men: £260,000 versus £137,000.

Tony Larkins of Beacon Wealth. (Image: Beacon Wealth)

Women tend to live longer on average, yet their final pot is much lower than required. Research shows that women typically face a triple whammy of pension contribution reductions: Child care, later life care, and divorce.

Firstly, child care is often considered a contributor to the widening pension gap as traditionally it is women who take career breaks, sometimes for years, to raise children.

Depending on home-life circumstances, some women can't return to full-time work or find they have fewer opportunities to climb their career ladders.

Secondly, later-life care has a similar effect. Again, this may not be the case for every woman, but as noted with child care, they are more likely to make work sacrifices to undertake a caring role. Thus, caring for an elderly parent can also mean reduced hours, reduced pay, or sometimes stop working altogether.

Thirdly, an issue that is gaining more attention is that divorce may cause women to experience further pension inequality. When couples divorce, their assets get split but pensions are often overlooked, traded, and in many circumstances not valued at their 'true' value.

Make sure you aim to contribute as much as possible, for as long as possible into your pension, starting right from the earliest opportunity.

Especially, if you’ve had or are likely to have employment breaks. Experts are working to close this gap, so if you have any concerns about your pension, speak to a chartered or certified IFA or advanced pension specialist.