Pension poverty is likely to become a reality for thousands of retired men and women who will run out of money before the age of 70 years old, according to a new survey.
Women are expected to outlive their retirement savings by 16 years, leaving them paying day-to-day bills on just the state pension.
Men fare a little better, with a 10-year pension funding gap, suggests the research.
The study warns that if retirement savers fail to make changes to their finances now, they could face making some uncomfortable decisions in their later years when the money runs out.
Data from financial firm Vitality Invest was gathered from 6,002 men and women.
Pension deficit
They were asked about their retirement plans and finances.
The assumption was each adult would need an income of £27,000 a year excluding the state pension.
Women expressed a desire to retire around an average age of 63 years old, according to the data.
Vitality Invest director Hilary Banks said: “The Your Vitality Future Calculator throws into sharp relief the pension deficit the nation is facing with women.
“Shockingly, this means that women will need to work for considerably longer than they would like in order to have enough money to fund their retirement.”
She continued: “Women are particularly impacted because they have a longer life expectancy and may take time out of their career to raise children or elderly relatives.
How big is the pension gap?
“Teamed with the issue of the gender pay gap, the result is that women accumulate a significantly smaller pension pot for retirement.
“But factors impacting both women’s and men’s savings include the tendency to be over-optimistic about the future and to prioritise today over tomorrow, favouring ‘smaller-sooner’ treats over ‘larger-later’ rewards.
“This is the same behaviour that keeps people from eating healthily, quitting smoking or exercising.
On average, official figures show that women live to an average 83 years old, meaning they will run out of cash other than income from the state pension around the age of 67.
Men have an average life expectancy of just over 79 years old, indicating they will run out of money at the age of 69.
