Ladies, get your pension back on track NOW

Money expert and journalist Kalpana shows you how to make sure you have a comfy retirement…

Just as we have the gender pay gap, there’s also a gender pensions gap, with women leaving the workplace with a pension pot typically worth less than half of that of men’s.* Low pay, career breaks and going self-employed are some contributing factors. But there are things you can do to secure a better retirement.

How to boost your pot

If I told you could get ‘free’ money towards your pension, would you say no? Well, you can get just that by boosting what you pay into your workplace pension.

When you pay into a workplace pension, so does your employer. But did you know that if you pay in more, many employers will match your contributions up to a certain amount.

If you are in a position to pay more into your pension, then even a small increase could make a significant difference to your retirement income – especially with the bonus of extra cash from your employer.

So, get in touch with your HR department and ask if they will match pension contributions and if you can pay more.

Self-employed? Unfortunately, there’s no free cash from your boss but you will benefit from tax relief.

Salary sacrifice pensions