Five times as many women are reaching 100 years of age, highlighting the importance of factoring gender differences into retirement planning, says Just Group, emphasising the need for financial planning.
Analysis by retirement specialist Just Group found 12,420 women celebrated their 100th birthday in 2020, compared to just 2,700 men.
Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said the findings highlighted the need for careful planning by couples to allow for the possibility that one partner may outlive the other.
Lowe said: “These figures demonstrate the significant difference in life expectancies between women and men in later life. Health is as much a part of later life planning as wealth and it is crucial that people take longevity into account when making financial plans for retirement.”
Just Group said widowed women aged over 75 also outnumber their male counterparts by three to one. Among widowed women, half (49%) own property worth over £125,000, while a third (32%) have no property wealth at all.
Women have also been shown to have smaller pensions, with statistics from the Office for National Statistics revealing that nearly four fifths (78%) of men over 75 had some form of private pension wealth compared to just over half of women (54%). Of those with private pensions, men had average savings of £135,700 – almost double that of women at £69,800.
Lowe said: “Women in particular should think about how their income might change if their partner dies before them. They’ll want to understand what proportion of their partner’s pension will still be paid to them or if they’ll have to rely on their own savings and assets.
“The government’s recent proposals on social care still make it likely that many people will need to allocate some of their wealth to meet care needs in later life. The combined factors of longer life expectancy and smaller personal savings means that women in particular will benefit from a clear understanding of their financial plans for later life.”
Lowe added: “We have seen increasing numbers of people accessing their wealth in their properties to supplement retirement income, pay for care or pass wealth on to family members as a living inheritance. Now that medical underwriting is available in the equity release market, customers can also benefit from personalized deals that reflect their own wealth – meaning those who are older or less healthy are likely to secure a better deal.”
