The Homemaker’s Guide to Avoiding a Retirement Crisis | ExpatWoman.com
 

The Homemaker’s Guide to Avoiding a Retirement Crisis

Here are tips to help mums maximise on their future savings.

Posted on

7 June 2017

Last updated on 14 May 2018
The Homemaker’s Guide to Avoiding a Retirement Crisis

As a stay-at-home parent living an expat life, saving for your retirement is possibly the last thing on your mind right now. 

Sadly, it’s this sentiment that has homemakers classed in the ‘high risk’ category, where pensions and retirement are concerned. 
 
If you were living in the UK, you could possibly fall back on the state pension of £8,000 per year, so long as you had 35 years of National Insurance credits. But for many UK expat homemakers, the NI payments have long since been dropped. 
 
Here, Senior Wealth Manager for Her Finance Linda Heath shares her top tips to help mums maximise on their future savings. 

1. Don’t give up the National Insurance payments

For UK expat mums, it’s usually beneficial to keep up your NI payments. You never know what’s around the corner and if you might need this buffer zone. If you haven’t bothered to keep up with payments, you can find out if you’re eligible to plug gaps in your National Insurance record by visiting gov.uk. 

2. Set up a retirement plan

Just because you aren’t in ‘paid employment’, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be preparing for your future retirement. Mums should be setting up their own retirement planning scheme, with contributions paid on a monthly basis by their spouse. This is an important aspect of growing a family’s wealth, as well as empowering women to feel valued for the contribution they make as a homemaker. There are some suggestions that the net worth of a homemaker is in the region of £159,137 per annum. I’m not suggesting you ask for this much from your spouse, but it’s important to realise your value. 

3. Keep track of your old pensions

When you leave the workplace to take up the helm on the home-front, it’s easy to lose track of your previous workplace pensions. If you think you may have some lost pension pots lurking about in the UK, it’s worth investigating. Find out more with the Pension Tracing Service.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-pension-tracing-service-website-l...

4. Ensure your joint savings don’t run the risk of falling short 

Planning your retirement with a professional will help you to calculate exactly how much money you will need for retirement. A reputable advisor will normally take a two-tiered approach, helping you establish how much money you will need to live your dreams, and how much you should have to take care of yourselves, should unexpected circumstances arise. 

5. Choose the right retirement fund

There are endless options for investors, but it’s important you choose the right fund at the right risk – especially if you’re a homemaker with limited fund options. One such trending solution is the ÆON platform and it’s easy to see why. This option comes with reduced risk and hugely reduced costs, making it a really good choice for investors who need a safety net. It’s got two of the biggest names in wealth management behind it - Fidelity and Quilter Cheviot and the reason for its popularity is largely down to the way it is built to react with the markets, with minimal or no effort on the client’s part. 
 

Our Story

Part of the Globaleye wealth advisory family, Her Finance is focused on helping women achieve their goals, establish their independence and make wise investments. 

 
We are here to help you make the right choices for some of the biggest decisions in your life, by putting you in touch with the best female advisers in the region – a team of highly qualified professionals, committed to advocating change for females in finance.   
 
Her Finance is backed by eminent partnerships with the likes of Fidelity and Quilter Cheviot, and maintains a strong commitment to compliance and regulation.