According to an analysis of Irish Life’s personal pension customers, people in Wicklow are saving 7% less into their pensions than Irish Life’s national average. The average monthly pension contribution by those living in county Wicklow is €320 compared to Irish Life’s national monthly average of €343. On average women in Wicklow pay €252 a month, and men pay €353 a month. Only 29% of Irish Life’s pension customers from Wicklow are female, compared to an average of 30% female customers nationally.
As market leader, Irish Life is well placed to provide an insight into the behaviour of Irish pension customers. The analysis revealed significant differences between male and female customers and in terms of contributions across different areas, for example:
Women nationally represent just 30% of Irish Life’s personal pension customers. The highest number of female pension savers is in Waterford city where women account for 37% of customers
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown residents have the highest pension contribution figures, saving almost €100 a month more than Irish Life’s national average of €343
Sligo residents have the lowest pension contributions, saving €120 a month less than Irish Life’s national average
Women in Cork city make the highest monthly pension savings overall (of either gender) at €518 per month. Waterford at €427 and Galway at €409 come second and third as the counties with the highest pension savings by women
Dublin has the highest pension contributors among men at €437 a month, followed by Galway city at €373 and Limerick city at €372 a month
Gerry Hassett, Managing Director, Irish Life Retail said that 2015 could be the first year since the downturn that we’ll see a fall in the average age of people starting pensions.
“In 2008, the average age of a new pension customer was 35. This increased to 42 years old during the recession, as Irish people in their 30s focussed on essential financial payments such as mortgages and other shorter term commitments. However, the average age stopped rising last year and it looks like it will fall to 41 this year. We have also seen a significant increase in the overall market for personal pensions with sales up by 18% for the first half of 2015,” said Gerry.
In spite of these positives, research conducted for Irish Life by Coyne Market Research last year highlighted that almost one in two working adults (49%) still do not have a personal pension, with this figure increasing to 54% for 24-35 year olds. Around 50% of people without a pension cite ‘affordability’ as the main reason for not having a pension, and almost a fifth of people think they are too young to start a pension.
Commenting on these findings Gerry said, “We’ve also seen from the recent ESRI study that there’s still a large number of people, as many as two-thirds of those over 50 years, who still don’t understand how pensions work. Irish Life MAPS, our Multi-Asset Portfolio funds, makes investing in your pension more accessible for customers, wherever you are in life. We’ve an easy to understand range of options and we’ve also plenty of useful tools and helpful information on our website to help guide potential customers to making sound financial decisions for their retirement.”
