22% of adults say they’ll struggle financially in retirement, higher for women at 27%, according to a new Aviva survey
27% of men will be financially secure in retirement
A new survey from Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland DAC (Aviva) has found that 22% of adults say that they anticipate that they will struggle financially when they retire. The survey further revealed that more women (27%) than men at 18% believe that this will be the case. However, a further 22% of respondents said that they will be financially secure in retirement, with 13% claiming that they will be near the poverty line when they retire. The disparity between the genders was further evident in those who believe they will be financially secure, with 27% of men and only 17% of women claiming this.
These are the key findings of a new survey conducted by iReach Insights on behalf of Aviva which examined 1,000 people’s expectations of their pension fund, as well as the activities they hope to partake in during retirement. The survey polled a 50/50 split of men and women aged between 25-65.
While 22% of those surveyed claimed that they will be financially secure in their retirement, a further 38% said that they will be able to get by financially in retirement, bringing the total of those who will be financially secure or able to get by in retirement to 50%. However, 14% of respondents said that they would either still be paying their mortgage (4%) or renting their homes in retirement at 10%.
The Aviva survey found that:
- Of the 22% who said they will struggle financially in retirement, the highest number of respondents were single women (33%), followed by households with children (22%) and single men at 19%.
- The 4% who will still be paying their mortgage in retirement is highest amongst single women at 5%, 4% of couples and 2% of single men.
- Those who claimed that they will continue to be renting their homes in retirement was highest amongst single men at 16%, with 12% of single women admitting this and 7% of couples.
- Of the 13% who said that they will be near the poverty line in retirement, 20% were single men, followed closely by 19% of single women.
The findings of this survey are concerning given the high percentage of respondents that believe that they will struggle financially in retirement, with many claiming that they will be near the poverty line when they retire. Ireland has the highest life expectancy in the EU according to a report published by the Department of Health late last year, with men having a life expectancy of 82 years and slightly higher for women at 84 years. Even though women are statistically more likely to live longer than men, they remain the gender cohort in almost all pensions’ surveys that are less likely to be financially secure in retirement. The findings here are consistent with that in that more women admitted that they will struggle financially in retirement.
Eoin Kennedy, Aviva
“Saving for financial security in retirement during peoples’ working lives is important and it offers savers the best tax relief of any other financial product in the market. Those who save into a private pension benefit from tax relief at their standard rate of tax, which means higher rate taxpayers can claim 40% in pension tax relief. While most people will have fewer bills to pay in retirement, various surveys point to the fact that more and more people are saying that they will still be paying their mortgage in retirement, with increasing numbers also renting their homes in retirement. We recommend that individuals looking to start planning for their future financial security in retirement speak with a financial broker,” concluded Eoin Kennedy.