As a woman saving for your future, you may need to overcome more challenges than men.

Depending on your chosen path, you could encounter financial hurdles such as the gender pay gap and sometimes lengthy income pauses when you take time to care for children and other family members.

This can have a direct, and potentially damaging, impact on both your present and future financial security and wellbeing.

Research from the 2024 Fidelity Global Women and Money Study reveals that:

• Women are more than twice as likely as men to say that taking time out to look after children has impacted their earning potential (23% v 9%)
• 44% of women are confident in their financial situation
• 52% don’t think they’ll have enough funds to support their retirement[1].

Employment gaps and part-time employment can negatively affect your pension pot

The gender retirement gap is created in numerous ways, but pay and working hours play a significant part.

Time spent out of work or in part-time roles to raise children can result in reduced earnings. In turn, reducing the amount you’re contributing to your pension.

Later in your career, menopause can also have an impact. A BBC report recently revealed that 23% of women considered resigning due to menopausal symptoms[2]. If you’re unfortunate enough to suffer severe symptoms, you could end up having to leave work at a time when you may be earning the highest salary of your career.

Taking all the potential obstacles into account, to retire with the same size pot as a comparable male, you’ll need to start saving earlier and pay a higher proportion of your salary towards your pension.

You may not have an adequate financial safety net

The chances of dying or becoming critically ill during your working life are broadly similar between men and women. Yet, according to research from Royal London, women are more likely to need at least two months or more off work[3].

If this happened to you, it could leave you financially vulnerable.

The same research found that 37% of women would rely on their partner or spouse to support them financially if they were not able to work. While 17% women said they would have nothing to fall back on[4].

Income protection could prevent you from depleting your hard-earned savings, by providing a steady income while you are unable to work. This could help you to support yourself and others without adding stress to your situation.

If you have a family, another financial concern that you may have overlooked is the possibility that you become so unwell you can neither continue to work, or care for your children. Few people pause to think about the financial ramifications of losing the ability to care for a family due to severe ill health.

Critical illness cover could provide the support you need, so you can keep your personal finances protected in the event of a life-changing diagnosis.

A financial planner can help with your back-up plan

According to research by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, men are more likely to seek financial advice than women[5].

The good news is, working with a financial planner can boost your financial wellbeing. There are many ways a professional planner can support you. For example, they can: 

• Put financial protection in place so that you don’t suffer financially if you can’t work for an extended period of time due to illness or injury
• Help you to balance your investment portfolio appropriately, so that you have the greatest opportunity to generate positive returns
• Help to improve the tax efficiency of your savings and investments.

Most important of all, a financial planner can provide crucial peace of mind.

Get in touch

If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you to overcome the financial gender gap and improve your financial wellbeing, please get in touch.

Email info.wp@titanwh.com or call us on 0800 048 0150.

Please note

The information contained in this article is based on the opinion of Titan Wealth Planning and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation for any investment or retirement strategy.

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts. 

Note that life insurance plans typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.

Cover is subject to terms and conditions and may have exclusions. Definitions of illnesses vary from product provider and will be explained within the policy documentation.

TWP401

[1] https://retirement-employer.fidelity.co.uk/women-money/

[2] https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240408-menopause-women-job-quits

[3] https://adviser.royallondon.com/globalassets/docs/adviser/misc/o6pd0007-gender-pension-and-wealth-gap-report-2024.pdf

[4] https://adviser.royallondon.com/globalassets/docs/adviser/misc/o6pd0007-gender-pension-and-wealth-gap-report-2024.pdf

[5] https://www.fscs.org.uk/globalassets/industry-resources/research/fscs-consumer-research-attitudes-towards-financial-advice-jan-2023.pdf