We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
WOMEN ARE LESS prepared for retirement than men are, according to a new survey from Standard Life.
The subject of gender pay inequality was the focus of a symposium hosted by the government earlier this week, but the gap in pensions between men and women is also pronounced according to this survey.
Reinforcing the results of a survey last year, this one found that just over one in three women own a pension (36%) compared with 55% of men.
The vast majority of women (71%) don’t know how to start a pension, while the average woman with a pension saves just €140 a month. Depending on her age, she should be saving at least double that.
Retirement age
Linked to that is that the average woman wants to retire on about €600 per week but, even when the state pension of €239 is factored in, women are saving at best half of this.
Further questions put to the 1,000 adults over the age of 18 from a variety of socio-economic groups showed that three in four women (76%) who don’t have a pension are worried about not owning one.
A vast majority of women (89%) also said they’d like help with their retirement planning.
The problem of a gap in pension planning has been flagged by government, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying last year that he would introduce an auto-enrolment pension system by 2021.
Pensions was “an issue that had been long-fingered for too long”, he said.
Commenting on the survey, Standard Life spokesperson on women’s pensions, Aileen Power, told TheJournal.ie: “Female pension ownership is frighteningly low and for those that do save the amount saved is nowhere near enough for a comfortable retirement.
Women will want to continue having their sun holidays abroad city breaks, dinners out and have some fun when they retire. The average woman will be hard pressed to run a car in retirement on less than €300 per week. Where’s the fun in that?
While men will be relatively better off in retirement, on average, neither men nor women are saving enough to maintain their current lifestyles in retirement. You don’t want to get to 68 and find you can’t afford to enjoy a glass of wine or a decent night out.
Getting started
While some employers offer a workplace pension, you can also take out your own personal retirement savings account (PRSA).
Statutory body The Pensions Authority provides details of what you need to do to start up a pension, as well as a calculator of what you need to be putting away to get the pension that you want.
It says: “Saving for retirement is important. People are living longer and leading more active lives in retirement. As a result it is more important than ever for you to think about where your income will come from when you retire.
It is important for you to take control of your retirement planning and make decisions regarding your pension irrespective of your age. It is often not appreciated that membership of a pension scheme can be an extremely valuable asset.
Power added: “Our advice would be to start off by talking about pensions to your friends and family, particularly those friends who are financially savvy. Google pensions, read websites etc. Find out how much your peers are saving and consider getting some financial advice.
“If you’re a PAYE employee, your company will either have an existing occupational pension scheme that you should join asap or your employer should have a pension that you can contribute to without a matching contribution from them.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I’m sorry, but this is men’s fault?
@Peter Brophy: talk about paranoia, there’s no suggestion of that.
@Cent: there is
@Cent: there is
@Peter Brophy: Female pension planning = Find man with own house – > Marry TA DAAAAAA
@Peter Brophy: yes Peter, everything is men’s fault, particularly white men, keep up Peter!
@Peter Brophy: you really read that this is men’s fault? Women with young kids are most probably in part time work/ 0 hours contracts so i am thinking thats the reason why less women have no pensions. They have less money. Plus this country would grind to a halt or could not afford to pay for all the voluntary work that is done around that country.
@Peter Brophy: Where in the article does it say it is the fault of men?
Noticing a trend with this website. It seems to all about dividing and polarization. Men vs women, gay vs straight, right vs left, religious vs non, etc. What a toxic ‘media’ outlet this now is. Full of propaganda with an agenda to divide opinion. Disgusting.
@Bairéid Rísteard: its Standard Life who did the survey as a press release.
The journal are only running with the story as it is pre-written and can be dished out with 5 minutes topping and tailing.
Go easy on them.
@Bairéid Rísteard: it’s the pc culture that is dividing society.
@Bairéid Rísteard: I couldn’t agree with you any more. The Journal writes articles in a deliberately inflammatory manner to encouraged comments and discussion which results in more clicks and more money.
What media outlets don’t consider or don’t care about is that reporting the news in this manner has much broader negative societal implications and in my opinion, they neglect their responsibility as a media outlet by doing this.
@DeShawn Jersey: Absolutely, I think its time people voted with the feet (or fingers)
Not enough detail in the survey to be taken seriously. 1000 people were surveyed, how many of those were women? If we say 500, how many of these were in there 20′s or early 30′s? Reality is people these days don’t think seriously about pensions until their mid-30s or older and that’s only after marriage, babies, houses, etc..it’s the same for men too.
@Brian O’Loughlin: not really. All companies now provide info on pension schemes as thet have to by law. Age is irrelevant. If a 30 year old can put €40,000 into a new car the 7% tax free into a pension fund isnt that difficult
@ChuckE: CAN a 30 year old put €40,000 into a new car?
I think most private sector workers have small or no pensions because they cannot afford them. Most people are still put to the pin of their collar paying their mortgages, insurances, food, gas and electric bills. There’s just nothing left after tax and necessities.
So most women don’t know how to start a pension according to this survey. Most women also want to start a pension according to this survey.
Maybe this is just me, but if I want something and don’t know how to get it I research it and get it sorted. Is it really that difficult to pick up a phone or Google it?
@Thought for Food: According to this article 71% of women are as thick as a bloody plank…
@Thought for Food: it also doesn’t say how many men don’t know how to start a pension. Obviously men don’t matter. Also the percentage of women that have a pension and the percentage that don’t know how doesn’t add up.
@Skim Coat: ha ha yes some of the women who don’t know have obviously been helped by their husband – come on dearie you can do this I know it’s hard but I can help you with the hard sums and you can just sign your name st the end.
Always relate your quality of life to the ability to have a glass of wine.
The Pensions and Insurance industry is a corporate setup designed to provide a steady stream of worker money for corporate stock marketeers to gamble with. Returns for the worker/source is of least priority, as the 2008 Crash shows. Investments may go down as well as up, but those gambling on your behalf mar ya, will never lose because they are guanteed a significant share of what you give them regardless of how the gamble goes.
@245hkJ01: you choose what to invest in yourself. Over long time periods you’d have to be extremely unlucky to not make at least 4% per annum growth. If your fund charges too much then switch. Rather than moaning about it people need to take responsibility.
@245hkJ01:
Stick it under the mattress if you prefer but you’ll be extremely lucky if you do any better in the long run, even against a poorly performing pension fund.
I think it’s a case that when you have kids, bills, mortgages etc, it is naturally to put yourself, as a woman, last. When it comes to savings, my priority is saving money for my kids education and needs. In saying that, seeing my own parents just getting by on a state pension was the kick i needed to put the minimum amount aside every month towards a pension, in the hope in a few years when im past childcare costs that i can start putting more in…! Naturally no one thinks of a pension or being old in your early 20s!!
We had our start of year pensions meeting Tuesday morning and our boss makes everyone attend even those who don’t have one in an attempt to get all involved or into a plan. As above more than half of the females don’t have plans and when questioned on why i couldnt believe that most felt they were fine because their husbands had a pension plan. When the accounts manager explained it wouldnt be enough to live comfortably it didnt bother a single female. Not one joined the company plan which matches your own payments. In an age where men get blamed for pretty much everything cases like this lay bare the sheer lack of drive and personal responsibility from females when it comes to their own well being
@ChuckE: that’s mad and irresponsible
@ChuckE: Good post which explains a lot. Whether it is socialised or innate women seem to have a tendency to want to depend on men – hence the reason for the so-called earnings gap. Find a man and make him responsible for your well-being.
Simplify it, just start saving money!
Nobody comes into the world knowing how to provide for a pension! If you need advice or help, ffs ASK SOMEONE!
Thank you so much for your sharing your thoughts – really appreciate it. The most shocking comment was re the women who said No to matching pension contributions because their husbands have a pension. Most men are not saving enough for one comfortable retirement let alone 2. Men and women take the matching pension contributions! We all need as much help as we can get when saving for retirement.
Pension planning tends to be based on targeting an acceptable “replacement ratio” of income on retirement.
Because women are paid less than men there is less need for them to have a pension. On average the state pension (which is the same for all) will make up a greater percentage of women’s working salary than for men.
If women’s wages rose then this “pension’s gap” would matter more. However it is likely in that case pension saving would naturally rise also.
Is the article suggesting that women are stupid that they don’t know how to arrange a pension for themselves. Can they not contact an insurance company or broker to arrange.
@Paul Coughlan: um no… are *you* suggesting that?
Google !
They’re better off,unless your a high flier or a civil servant the safest place for your money is the post office, where no greedy little financier can back horses with it ,and walk away when it goes down the swanny.
@Gerard Heery:
What interest rates are they offering, and do you get the same tax advantages that you do with a pension fund?
This is an attempt by Standard Life to get publicity for their useless endowment-model pension schemes. If it’s any consolation to women, they have been less likely to have been the victims of these useless risky and commission and fee laden products that are inherently incapable of providing adequate pensions for ordinary folks.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say