- Written by Felicity Evans
- Money Editor, Wales
Rowan Davis said he plans to return to work within six months to reduce losses from his pension.
Private pensions can consist of workplace plans provided by an employer, or personal pensions set up by an individual using an independent company. If you take time off from work or go part-time, your retirement funds will be worth less because your pension payments will be lower during your working years. Equality charities say employers should do more to support women with caring responsibilities.
Rowan Davies, 34, from Cardiff, is currently on maternity leave looking after her five-month-old son Mabon. He said he intended to return to work within six months as he was “well aware” of pension issues. .
“Finances and household income are a big factor in many of the conversations my husband and I have about the present and the future,” she said.
Mrs Davies said her mother had been able to retire early and was “always keenly aware of the importance of occupational pensions”. “There’s a lot of information out there,” she added, “but I feel like a lot of it is information.” Gretchen Betts, managing director of Magenta Financial Planning, said this is a lot of He said that it is a major life event that makes people think about how to make ends meet. “Men typically take the lead in financial decisions, especially in cases of divorce and bereavement, but this highlights the literacy gap for many women,” she says.
image source, Getty Images
A pension is a way to save money for retirement
Betts said the sooner you start thinking about saving for the future, the better, but “it’s never too late.”
He said saving 10% of your income for retirement is a good rule of thumb, but said that’s not always possible. Judith Jeeves, 63, said the loss of her family led her to consider funding early retirement. “Her brother died at the age of 56 and her mother and husband died within two years of each other,” said Ms Jeeves, from Suto, Bridgend County.
image source, judith jeeves
Judith Jeeves said she realized she had to take over financial matters after her husband, Marvin, passed away.
“That started before COVID-19, but COVID-19 solidified it and made me realize, you know, there’s more to life than work.” This may sound like a bit of a blessing in disguise, but I want to be able to do something while I’m still healthy. “Mr. Jeeves said that during their marriage, her husband, Marvin, took the lead in financial matters. So after my husband died, I was like, ‘Now I’m alone, I have to figure everything out. Equality charity Chwale Teghu said employers could “support women by offering really flexible working arrangements”.
Bethan Airey, from the charity, said: “They will get better shared parental leave, carer leave and a culture that truly supports women and the issues they face.” The proportion of women enrolled in state pensions has fallen significantly and is projected to equalize by the early 2040s. However, a recent report by pensions consultants Lane Clark and Peacock predicts that inequality in private pensions will only increase in the future. only slightly narrower over the next 20 years. The UK Government has announced that the introduction of automatic enrollment into workplace pensions, meaning employees will join the occupational pension scheme unless they choose to opt out, will “transform the UK pensions landscape and provide millions of women with benefits for the first time”. I started saving for my pension.” It added: “We recently launched the first official indicator on the gender pension gap, which will help track the joint efforts of government, industry and employers to close the gender pension gap. , ensuring that women can look forward to the retirement life they’ve worked hard for.”
