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Irish Independent

Men being more active in their pensions explains the retirement gap, experts say

Men also save more into their pensions than women, according to a majority of financial advisers surveyed nationwide by pension trustees, Independent Trustee Company. The most common reason cited for why women lag so far behind on pension savings is that ­women often take extended periods of time out from the workforce to start and raise their families. They also often earn less than men. A separate recent study found that Irish women have 31pc less than men in their pension pots when they retire. The Independent Trustee ­Company (ITC) survey of 130 financial advisers found that the main reason pension experts feel that women lag behind men in building up pension pots is because they often leave the workforce to raise families. Another factor is men take a more active role in financial planning. And they are more likely to think long-term when it comes to financial planning, the survey respondents said. One in seven of the pensions experts said men are more interested in pensions than women. However, in what is better news for women, the finance experts said it was their experience that the pension gender gap is ­narrowing. This is when compared with the same survey run by ITC last year. Twice as many advisers now believe that men are saving the same amount into their pensions as women. And there has been a slight fall in the number of financial experts who believe that men are saving more than women into their pension. Glenn Gaughran, head of business development with ITC, said: 'While the over-riding message from this research is that women still lag significantly behind men when it comes to their pension savings, encouragingly the results suggest that some progress is being made and that the gender pension gap is narrowing.' He said that given that women in Ireland typically live longer than men, and that there has been a substantial increase in recent years in the number of female pensioners, the gender pension gap is hugely concerning and it is important that this gap is bridged. Mr Gaughran said women have long faced challenges in building their pension savings.