Practical ways to support women’s financial wellbeing at every age

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For the fifth year in a row, women’s financial positivity is trailing behind men’s, according to insights from our Retirement Voice 2025 report. Just 41% of women say they feel positive about their financial situation, compared to 50% of men. Meanwhile, when looking ahead to their financial future, women are significantly more likely to say that recent changes in the world have made them feel less certain about their future finances, compared to men (64% vs 53%).  

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These findings highlight that financial uncertainty is reinforcing the barriers that many women already face when managing their money. Indeed, research by the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement shows that women’s finances are already disadvantaged by the gender pay gap. It also found that life stages such as motherhood and menopause can disproportionately affect a woman’s earnings and ability to save. 

It’s clear that more needs to be done to support women’s financial wellbeing. As an employer, you can play a key part by providing targeted support at every life stage, helping your female employees build their financial confidence and resilience.   

Here are some ideas to get started:  

Money tips for women in their 20s 

Set a budget  

For women who are just starting out in their careers, it’s a great time to set a budget. Doing so can help them see how much money they’ve got coming in and going out each month.  

You could signpost employees to online resources like MoneyHelper, which has budgeting tools to help them categorise their spending.  

If you’re with Standard Life for your workplace pension scheme, your employees can also use Money Mindset*, our financial wellbeing platform. This allows them to connect all their financial accounts – including bank accounts, mortgage, credit cards, and pension – to see what they’re saving and spending in real time.  

Create sustainable savings habits  

Building good savings habits early on could have a positive impact on women’s finances in the long run.  

They could start by setting up an emergency fund to cover those unexpected costs, such as a broken boiler or car repairs. Standard Life workplace pension scheme members can use Money Mindset* to create an emergency cash pot, where they can set aside money for a rainy day. 

Money tips for women in their 30s 

Tackle any debt   

For many women, their 30s can be a time of higher debt, particularly mortgages and credit cards.  

Employees who are worried about dealing with debt may be unsure of what to do or where to turn to for support. You can help signposting to resources such as MoneyHelper. This offers free and easy-to-understand guidance that can help employees identify which debts to tackle first, explore repayment options, and connect with professional advisers.  

Review pension contributions  

Thanks to auto-enrolment, every eligible employee can join their employer’s workplace pension scheme and start saving for their future.   

If they’re able to, your employees might want to consider increasing their contributions beyond the auto-enrolment minimum. Some employers will match additional contributions too, which could give their pension pot an extra boost. If you’re one of them, it’s worth spreading the word by sending out communications or promoting it on your intranet. If you're with Standard Life, we’ve got some ready to go campaign materials that can help you spread the word with your employees. 

Money tips for women in their 40s & 50s

Reset the budget   

A change in priorities – such as caring responsibilities or children going off to university – could put a strain on women’s finances. Their 40s is a good time for them to review their budget and make sure they have a clear eye on what money is coming in and going out. Chances are, their budget will need resetting to account for a shift in priorities.  

Standard Life workplace pension scheme members can use Money Mindset* to get a real-time view of their outgoings, and use the Budget Planner to categorise their spending and organise their finances.  

Start pension planning  

According to our Retirement Voice 2025 report, those who do a great deal of planning are more than twice as likely to feel positive about their current financial situation than those who do nothing (69% vs 27%).    

By encouraging your female employees to get started on their pension planning sooner rather than later, this could help them feel more positive and confident about their financial future.  

You could signpost to resources that allow them to understand how much they’ll need to fund their ideal retirement. The Pensions UK’s Retirement Living Standards is a good starting point. This outlines how much they’d need each year to fund a minimum, moderate, and comfortable lifestyle in retirement.   

In addition, Standard Life workplace pension scheme members can use our Retirement Income Tool to get an idea of how their financial future is shaping up. It incorporates Retirement Living Standards data, making it easier to see if they’re on track to meeting their retirement goals, or if they need to make any changes.  

Look at state pension forecast  

For many people, the State Pension is the main building block of their retirement income.   

The amount of State Pension people will get depends on the number of National Insurance qualifying years they have, so your employees may want to check their State Pension forecast online.   

Check if on track for retirement  

For those over 55, we also have a Mixed Income builder tool that employees can use to see if they're on track. Standard Life members can access a more personalised version through their Dashboard. 

Money tips for women in their 60s and over 

Understand retirement income sources  

Many people may be unaware that the full state pension is actually below the Pensions UK’s ‘minimum’ Retirement Living Standard. So it’s crucial for employees to find out how they can make up the shortfall to the ‘minimum’, or indeed a higher Retirement Living Standard, by looking at their different sources of retirement income.  

The biggest source is likely to be their workplace pension. To help employees understand how to bridge the income gap, encourage them to regularly check how much they’ve got in their workplace pension.  

Other sources might include savings, property, or inheritance. Plus, some employees might want or need to continue working as well, to help top up their retirement income.  

 

*Money Mindset is provided in partnership with Moneyhub Financial Technology Limited  

A pension is a long-term investment. Members normally can’t access their money until age 55 (age 57 from 6 April 2028). Its value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than what was paid in. 

The information here is not financial advice. If you're unsure, you should speak to a financial adviser. 

www.standardlife.co.uk 

Phoenix Life Limited, trading as Standard Life, is registered in England and Wales (1016269) at 10 Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B1 2JB. 

Phoenix Life Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.