High costs top reason for not taking private pension

AFFORDABILITY has been cited as the main reason for people not investing in a private pension.

This is according to research carried out by HerMoney, a financial services company specifically for women.

The survey of just over 200 people found that 59pc of men have a private pension, in comparison to just 40pc of women.

Along with affordability, one in five females who do not have a private pension listed reliability issues, including concerns that the pension might fail, as a barrier.

Men were less concerned by this, with one in 10 males citing issues around pension reliability as a barrier to having the financial product.

Of the males that do not have a private pension, one in three said they hadn’t considered having one, compared to 16pc of females who cited this as their reason for not having a private pension.

In addition, the survey of workers who are self-employed, owners, or directors of companies, found that men were more likely to have a savings accounts.

Almost eight in 10 men surveyed said that they had a savings account, with retirement at the forefront of their reasons for saving, followed by the need for an emergency or rainy day fund.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of the women had a savings account. Unlike their male counterparts, retirement was only third on their list for having such an account, after an emergency or rainy day fund, and providing for children.