Young men planning pensions early but women lag behind

Young men are wising up to the need to get a pension sorted early in their working lives but women are lagging a long way behind, according to researchers. New data from technology provider Selectapension has suggested auto-enrolment has prompted a change in habits among men. When looking at clients aged between 22-29, researchers found that in 2014 men made up 73% of an adviser's pension review activity.This meant only 27% this age band were women - a significant fall from 43% in 2013.The research showed that when advisers worked with older clients, they were more likely to be male. {desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile} This year, of clients aged 30-39, 73% of cases analysed were for male clients. When clients hit the 40-49 age group this increased to 75% and for those aged between 50-59 over three quarters (77%) of all pension cases were male.On average the company found the majority of pension cases analysed by advisers in the past year were for men and only a quarter (24%) of pension reviews were for female clients. There has been an overall year-on-year decline in the number of pension cases being analysed by advisers for female clients.Andy McCabe, managing director at Selectapension, said: "Auto-enrolment made an immediate impact last year, particularly amongst younger savers as many would have been exposed to the concept of retirement saving for the very first time."However, young male pension savers seem to be much more active in seeking out a financial adviser."With so many changes to pensions coming into force in April next year, it is likely that more women will start to actively seek advice on their pension pots."This is a clear opportunity for the industry to engage with more women about the need to work with a professional, paid-for adviser to actively invest their money in retirement funds now."Shona Barr, from Affinity IFA, said: "We are dealing with younger clients as a direct result of auto-enrolment and from my experience, younger women often put long-term planning on the back burner due to career breaks in their late 20s and early 30s to start a family or go travelling."However I believe that the adviser industry needs to engage with female clients to ensure they do not fall off the radar and continue planning for retirement."

Young men planning pensions early but women lag behind

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