WASPI women have more than the money they have lost due to state pension changes, says a new report.
Millions of women have seen their retirement financial plans go up in smoke as the government extended their state retirement deadlines from 60 to 66 years old to match when men retire.
Now, one in four women over 55 have disclosed not only have their state pension payments received a shock, but that they don’t have any private pension savings either.
The report, from financial firm SunLife, shows 24% of women who own their home outright or have a mortgage do not have any pension savings, compared to just 6% of men with the same financial circumstances.
Worse off than expected
When asked how they considered their financial status, another 22% of women felt that they were financially worse off than they expected at their stage in life, but only 14% of men voiced the same concerns.
The reasons for their dissatisfaction were the rising costs of living, blamed by 70% of women, while the impact of low interest rates on savings was cited by 47%.
The survey also showed on average, women over 55 have lived in their home for 24 years and have seen the property value rise by £111,000.
Moving home is too stressful
Simon Stanney, SunLife’s equity release director, said: “Downsizing is an obvious choice when it comes to releasing cash from your property, but our survey shows that 61% of women over 55 do not want to move, with more than half (56%) saying they love their home and can’t see themselves moving in their lifetimes.”
The main reasons against moving were it’s ‘too stressful’, that the house is ‘just as they want it’, they want to save the house for their kids and there are ‘too many memories’ tied up in their homes.
Stanney added: ““While there will be many women who do not have a private pension but will benefit from their partners savings, but there will still be some women over 55 who simply do not have enough means to fund their retirement. However, these women may have a significant amount of equity in their homes. Many are reluctant to leave their homes, and that is when equity release can offer a solution.”
