Yes you have read the headline correctly – Sexy Pensions, two words that just don’t go together! This is an excellent pod cast and was one of the biggest read articles read on the The Irish Times website last year was about women and pensions.
Here are the extracts I’ve taken from it:
- The average years a woman is in the workforce (paid employment) is 12 years, due to taking breaks for children, minding relatives etc. This doesn’t give enough time to bridge the gap to fund your lifestyle at retirement
- Women live an average of 4 1/2 years more than men
- When a woman is divorced there is a 45% drop in her income
- 9 out of 10 women are responsible for their financial well being at some point in their lives
- State pension – you don’t have an automatic entitlement to this – 5 things you need to do to check your entitlement
- 1. Check your records with Dept of Social Protection https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/secure/RequestSIContributionRecord.aspx
- 2. Be aware of the age you’ll get your pension at. If you were born after 1961 it’ll be 68
- 3. If you took time out minding your own children or an ill or disabled person you qualify for the ‘Home Maker Scheme’, make sure these contributions have been credited to your records
- 4. If you took unpaid maternity or paternity leave you are entitled to credited contributions so once again ensure they have been applied
- 5. If you are self employed and earn €5k or less you don’t pay PRSI. Think about making voluntary contributions
- If you don’t qualify for a contributory pension you may qualify for a non contributory or as an qualified adult dependent on a spouses pension
So how do you deal with your pension shortfall?
- Be pro active and responsible for yourself – women are good at managing finances and make a difference in financial results
- Prioritise yourself before everyone else
- Don’t fear pensions they’re just savings for the future which is separating today’s money from tomorrows!