Tees Business Tees Business Issue 18 | Page 58

58 | Tees Business Eight key reasons why women need to consider pension advice Emma Cherrington, Claire Davison and Liza Pontone hosted a female pension advice event at Active Chartered Financial Planners. Liza Pontone, chartered financial planner at Active Chartered Financial Planners, and an ambassador for the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) Insuring Women’s Futures programme, explains why women who are drawing near to retirement are finding they have significantly less in their retirement pot than their male counterparts… Several Tees businesswomen attended Active’s special pension event at the firm’s premises on Teesside Industrial Estate. R esearch suggests that the average pension pot for a 65-year- old female in the UK is £35,800, just one fifth of the average 65-year-old man’s pot. However, the average cost of residential care for women aged 65- 74 entering a care home is £132,000, compared to only £82,000 for men.* Over the last decade, men’s occupational pensions have risen 83% more per week than women’s – £23 for women and £42 for men (*Source CII - Insuring Women’s Futures programme October 2018). Female pension planning is often not a high priority because of managing family and extensive work commitments. I frequently see this work-life imbalance with my professional clients, many of them business owners and company directors, so with my professional knowledge and in my role as an Ambassador for the CII’s Insuring Women’s Futures programme I have put together some key advice to help bridge this pensions gender gap.