During the current period of economic uncertainty, it can feel hard to make financial plans for the month ahead, let alone for the years to come. However, if you’re on top of your finances at present, it’s always worth thinking about retirement.
Also, although magazines tent to focus on the importance of putting money aside every month, it’s also worth thinking about how long you want to carry on working for, as this will, of course, have a big bearing on how much you’ll need to save.
According to data from the ONS, there are more women aged 60 to 64 in work in the UK than not. Hopefully the majority of these women are continuing to work because they choose to, and not because they were unable to build up a big enough pension pot, or were victims of pension mis selling. Also, of course, it helps if you have a job that you love and which you can imagine wanting to do for many years to come.
Emma-Lou Montgomery, associate director at Fidelity International, commented: “For both women and the workforce, the fact that more women aged 60-64 are in work than not is a step in the right direction. Choosing to work and earning their own money can offer women a significant amount of financial independence which protects them when in relationships – and into later life.
“Our research found that more than half (52%) of UK adults are planning to work at least part-time during their retirement, and therefore it’s more important people have a choice in how they approach these decisions.
“However, our pensions must reflect the current changes in our working lives, with women still more likely to move to part-time or flexible work to fit around family responsibility this has a significant financial impact on women’s lives and their preparations for retirement. We must ensure that women are well informed on how they can safeguard their finances, so they have financial stability into retirement until we can close the gender pension gap entirely.”
If you’re reading this and you don’t know where to start when thinking about pensions, you’ll find plenty of free online resources, like those offered by the Citizens Advice service which can help you work out which type of pension would be most suitable for you and roughly how much you’ll need to set aside each month.
We’re very proud to bring you this feature in association with Money And Me Claims. If you have any strategies for saving for the future, or budgeting, which have worked well for you, we’d love to hear from you. Please share your tips in the comments below or via our social media channels.
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