Scottish Widow reports “A million more women in their 20s could be saving adequately for retirement if they were able to access emergency cash from their pension, according to a report from Scottish Widows.

The Women & Retirement report highlights that the current lack of flexibility in pensions is a barrier to saving and that introducing the ability to access funds for unexpected bills could provide a much-needed boost to the nation’s savings. Four in 10 (40%) women aged 22-29 who have a pension say they don't save as much into it as they would like, because they want ready access to money in case of emergencies. This compares to just under a quarter (24%) of men aged 22-29.

Around 357,000 women in this age bracket would start saving into a pension for the first time if they could have the option to access some of their savings should they need it . Scottish Widows is calling on the industry to build greater flexibility into pension products by allowing savers penalty free access to some of their pension savings within limits.”  Read more

Back to List