According to the latest Scottish Widows Pensions on Divorce survey “Women and Retirement Report 2014” a staggering 84% of divorced women are failing to consider pensions when the settlement process is ongoing.
What?
I have to admit to being completely shocked when I first read this. To put that is real terms, if there were 100,000 divorces last year (which broadly there are each year), then that is an astonishing 84,000 women that did’t consider pensions.
Of course this cannot be the case and beyond the headline the actual report quotes “For example, among divorced women, a staggering 84% either said pensions weren’t discussed, or that they couldn’t remember them being discussed, as part of any settlement.”
Neglecting pensions when it comes to divorce is fatal in terms of securing financial security in the future for women. In my experience often little time and thought is given to pensions with short term needs such as housing and income usurping longer term requirements. Amnesia aside this merits wider reflection.
Although I don’t buy into the figures globally the sample in the report highlights that there is still a massive information gap when it comes to pensions and divorce. Financial advisers and solicitors need to do more to inform clients about pensions when it comes to divorce. As do I.
