Female pensioners receive an average of NOK 249,000 a year in pension, according to figures from Statistics Norway (SSB). Men receive an average of 338,000 kroner.
– Women have in all years received less in pension than men, and there are several reasons for this. Women have a lower income, often work more part-time and have fewer working years because they are at home with children, says Marianne Christensen, who is a pension expert in SpareBank 1 Forsikring.
She believes that women should actually have retired more than men, as they have a longer life expectancy.
– Women live longer and are retired longer, and thus have several years the total pension money to be distributed over, Christensen says.
Worry
In a survey conducted by Respons Analyze for SpareBank 1, 49 per cent of women answer that they are worried that they will have too little to spend as a pensioner. 36 percent of men answer the same.
– I think many women find retirement difficult. The concern lies a lot in knowing that it is something you should address. If you get more overview and knowledge, I am sure you will worry less, Christensen says.
Exactly examining how standing really is, Christensen believes is an important first step.
– Our surveys show that far more men than women log in to see what they will receive in retirement. The first thing everyone should do is log in to Norsk Pensjon to get an overview of their own situation.
What you should do
Once you have logged in and seen which pension agreements you have, you should collect the pension agreements in one place.
If you have the agreements scattered around, you will quickly lose track. You also have to pay additional fees for the various agreements. Many got their agreements together when their own pension account was introduced earlier this year, but be aware that this applies to those who work in the private sector and have a defined contribution pension, Christensen says, and continues:
– Our figures show that far more men than women have made an active choice for their own pension account. This confirms that there are still more men than women who have a conscious relationship with their pension.
The pension expert has made a simple overview of what women should do to secure a better pension.
- Get an overview of the pension from current and previous jobs. You can easily find this on norskpensjon.no
- Gather your pension in one place. If you have your own pension account, this happens automatically
- Increase the share of pensions from the employer and own savings. You do this by logging in where you have your pension savings. There you will find information about which shareholding you have in the pension agreement, and can easily change it
- Start or increase your own pension savings
- Pension is your future salary, so remember to also consider the pension scheme when changing jobs
- Save extra for retirement for periods when you are at home or working part-time due to children. Create separate ownership for the pension savings
– This is a step all women should take now, Christensen says.
– Can turn over time
Jorge Jensen, Director of the Consumer Council, explains that the pension system is structured so that those who receive the most in the system also get the most out of it.
– The payments are mainly governed by the individual’s wage income. This means that the differences we see in salaries propagate to the pension, says Jensen.
– Director of the Consumer Council, Jorge Jensen. Photo: John Trygve Tollefsen
–
As women have traditionally had several interruptions in working life and to a greater extent worked part-time, this results in a smaller pension today. But that is not the whole story, Jensen emphasizes.
– It is also part of the fact that female-dominated occupations and industries have historically had lower wages than male-dominated ones. This will also propagate to gender differences in current pension payments.
No one knows exactly what this will look like in the future, but Jensen believes there is a possibility that this may change over time.
– Women dominate higher education in subjects that have historically meant that you get a high salary in working life. In addition, they complete to a greater extent than men. It has been a long time since it became clear that the number of working women with higher education will be far greater than men, and in the long run this can be expected to translate into pension differences the other way around.
Global Index Fund
A common advice from banks is that women need to save more. Jensen says this is not wrong, but believes women will earn more by securing a better salary and better pension from the employer, than using what they may have left over from their own money.
– Where you work has a lot to say for the wage differences between women and men. Fighting for higher salaries and better pension schemes for her profession, ie in the central negotiations, or for herself in the workplace in local negotiations, could give her a larger pension, says Jensen.
If this does not work, the director encourages you to try another workplace or another profession.
– Last but not least, there are also solutions with their own savings that can compensate somewhat for the biases. In this context, investments in financial products that provide a higher return than a savings account will be an opportunity, says Jensen, and continues:
– In this case, the Consumer Council recommends cheap, global index funds. They provide a nice balance between risk, fees and return. These are investment solutions I wish consumer consumers had talked more about.
Three saving mistakes you should avoid
–
–
