Women are setting their sights significantly lower than men when it comes to how much money they need to live comfortably in retirement.
This is according to new research from the retirement specialist Retirement Advantage, who found a large gender gap when it comes to retirement income expectations.
When asked to estimate, men over 50 years old felt they needed £1,593 per month to live comfortably in retirement.
This was in contrast to women of the same age who thought £1,340 a month would be enough.
This equates to a difference of over £250 each month, a difference of more than 15%.
Earlier this year the ONS found that the current gender pay gap meant men were paid on average 9.4% more than women in the UK.
The research by Retirement Advantage suggests this gender pay gap carries through from working lives to expectations of income in retired lives.
Based on these expectations, it is perhaps unsurprising that men save more than women into their pensions each month.
Women over 50 said that on average they were contributing £131 to their pensions each month, compared to £180 a month for men.
Retirement Advantage found that how people plan to get advice on their retirement income options also has a bearing on how much they save into their pension.
People planning to use a financial adviser are contributing £225 per month, around £70 per month more than those who are thinking of consulting the government guidance service Pension Wise, or alternatively chatting to friends or family.
In our experience, men and women need to set their sights higher for a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.
Seeking impartial advice and establishing a target retirement income level is an important starting point, before calculating how much you need to save towards that goal to make it a reality.
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