Seeding Change

Bright Beginnings

Germinating Seeds

INTRODUCTION

Like a germinating seed, our financial journeys all start somewhere.

Leaving school, college or university is quite often the first time we learn to manage money. Some of us are naturally good at managing our personal finances, and some of us not so much.

With only 4 in 10 young people confirming that they have had some financial education at school [1], learning the basics of how to manage money usually comes gradually with life experience – and quite often, when we run out of money, make a mistake, or find ourselves in moments of financial distress.

Getting into good money habits early can set you up for life. In this guide, we’ll explore the jumping off points to consider when starting your financial journey, to help you feel in control of your money – and your future goals. 

LEARNING TO BUDGET

For many of us, leaving the family home and starting university or work is usually the first time we manage money ourselves. Rent, utilities, the big food shop – often, we spend a large amount of time counting down until that next pay day, or regretting that impulse purchase we made at the start of term.

Managing our essential expenses, and if we’re lucky, surplus income, is a skill that we need for the remainder of our lives. Training yourself to live within a set limit can mean more freedom as we grow ever more successful – your future self will thank you!

Budgeting for essentials should always be a priority – essentials are the things we simply cannot live without, such as food, energy and a place to live. Managing the excess above this amount is sometimes where we run into trouble.

There are various budgeting tips and tricks available, for example:

• Set up essential direct debits, such as utilities and rent, immediately after pay day. Everything is paid at the same time rather than throughout the month, meaning you can sensibly manage the rest.
• Separate your pay into two different bank accounts – one of bills, that you can’t touch, and one for general spending.
• Check your household bills regularly and make sure you are getting the best deals available.
• Be wary of short-term borrowing and repaying expensive short-term loans. Learning that ‘when it’s gone, it’s gone’, can be a difficult but valuable lesson.
• Try reviewing your spending at the end of each month. What could you have saved money on? What did you really need, and what could you have gone without?
• Look after your mental health – feeling down makes it harder to think critically about our financial circumstances. We all deserve a treat now and then, and to look after ourselves.

SAVING EARLY

The current cost of living is high and many of us are not fortunate to put aside big savings each month.

But there is nothing wrong with starting small. Putting aside a small amount, be it £10 or £20 at the start of the month, can leave us feeling a huge sense of fulfilment by the end, even if it’s just enough for a takeaway.

When we start out, it is not the amounts that matter, but simply allowing the habit to form. Gradually over time, as our income increases, it will feel natural to increase your savings amount each time, adding up to a healthy pot and more confidence in our ability to manage money.

Like learning to budget, learning to save is a lifelong skill. Savings can be viewed as short-term, for example, saving up for a holiday in 6 months’ time, or longer-term, such as big purchases like new vehicles or a house deposit. Selecting a good bank account with a good interest rate is usually the first step for our longer-term goals.

Understanding compound interest is another important factor – the interest earned on your initial savings earns you more interest in the longer term. Think interest, earned on interest, earned on interest, reinvesting itself over time to grow your savings.

Once the saving habit is formed, you can explore other saving options that can grow your money further – like investing.

EMERGENCY FUNDS

Investing money into ISAs or other general investment accounts feels exciting and is the natural next step after establishing your confidence in money management. But it is prudent to make sure you have a safety net in place – usually three to six months of your essential expenditure that you can access quickly in the event of an emergency.

Emergencies can come in many forms – losing your job, the end of a relationship, falling ill and taking time out of work. Sometimes we end up with an ad-hoc bill we were not expecting.

A pot of money left aside to cover these expenses can help provide a sense of security, and should always be a consideration before jumping into investments that put your savings at risk.

PENSIONS? DEFINITELY WORTH IT

It is fair to assume that most of us don’t immediately walk into our dream career – and our dream income. The average graduate salary in the UK for 2021 was £25,787 [2] – compared to the average cost of living and renting in a city centre at £18,480 [3], excluding travel. This leaves very little surplus income for spending on ourselves.

Add into this mix the impact of pension contributions deducted from your income – under auto-enrolment rules, you contribute 5% of your income each year to a personal pension, although you can opt out if you do not wish to contribute.

But should you? It is difficult to weigh up – £107 deducted from your salary each month can feel like a huge amount of money, especially when retirement may not have crossed your mind.

However, the effect of compound interest on your early pension contributions can be huge, meaning smaller contributions when you are young are likely to be more important than larger lump sums or savings later in your career.

An investment of £10,000 into a pension, growing at 4% a year for 40 years could be worth £49,398.

Compare that to the same investment growing at 4% for only 15 years – the final value works out at much lower at £18,203.

In fact, the final values will likely be much higher, as pension contributions attract tax relief – the government repay tax on your contribution based on the highest rate of tax you pay. Under auto-enrolment rules, your employer must also contribute to your pension too.

Your pension savings are locked away until your minimum pension age (currently 57) meaning you can’t access your money for some time. Other investment accounts such as ISAs apply the same principle – but allow you access when you need to, rather than locking up money for your retirement.

LONG-TERM GOALS

While you are young, and hopefully carefree, thinking about long-term goals such as your future family and retirement can feel like several lifetimes away.

But establishing goals early on – even if they may seem like a long way off – can help give you the drive to make small, impactful changes, whether that be choosing a better savings account, choosing to invest for longer in an ISA, or re-joining your workplace pension.

TALKING HONESTLY ABOUT MONEY

Talking about money has always been considered a taboo – whether it be with colleagues, friends, prospective partners or family. We avoid talking about money for a number of reasons – fear of being judged, fear of appearing arrogant, or we were simply brought up to believe it rude.

Money is an emotive topic. Opening up about it to the right people can allow us to learn valuable life lessons from others who may have struggled or have other financial wisdom to impart. If we are in financial distress, help and advice from our families can be invaluable, as is knowing we have a support network to help us through the bad times. It does not always need to be an extreme discussion – simply asking a friend who they bank with, who they save with or if they pay into a pension can get the conversation going.

It does not have to be so gloomy, either. Getting confident in managing our finances is something to be celebrated, and lessons we learn from our mistakes could be an important mentoring moment for a close friend about to do the same. 

MOVING IN AND BLENDING FINANCES

Being honest and open about your finances is never more important than we you are considering blending yours with someone else – moving in with a new partner, for example.

Gone are the days where we marry and hand financial control over to someone else. There are lots of aspects to consider when it comes to blending finances – what if one of you earns significantly more than the other and how will you split bills? Is it worth getting a joint bank account for your joint expenses, or keeping your finances separate? What if one of you owns property – how will you tackle mortgage payments, who will pay rent? What happens if you have significant debt – how will this impact on your household budget?

Early in a relationship, these questions may not seem important, however understanding your partner’s relationship to money, as well as your own, can help to avoid problems later. Try talking to your partner ahead of moving in – how do they feel about money, what was their relationship with money growing up, have they ever experienced financial difficulty?

The most important point you need to consider is how you feel about blending your finances. If something does not feel right, or you feel pressured into an unfair financial situation, take the time to think it over and talk with someone you trust.

[1] https://www.fincap.org.uk/en/articles/schools
[2] https://www.graduate-jobs.com/gco/Booklet/graduate-salary-salaries.jsp
[3] https://wise.com/gb/blog/cost-of-living-in-the-uk

Seeding Change

Forging a Path

Sprouting Plants

Introduction

A sprouting plant – no longer a seed but some way off being fully grown, this stage of your life can feel a little like limbo.

We have grasped the basics of financial confidence, and most of us have turned our thoughts to saving for the big purchases we’ll make – such as a wedding, our first home, or new business idea. Our financial commitments at this stage in our lives tend to be fairly concentrated on ourselves, although planning for a family may be just on the horizon.

It is the perfect time to take stock of your circumstances, particularly if you have recently switched career, or started earning more than you were before.

Higher income, higher savings

Changing jobs, or a recent promotion? This is usually the moment in our financial journey where we feel like we’re beginning to thrive.

A higher income allows for more luxuries – but also the opportunity to consider saving more than you may have been previously. By this stage, you have most likely learnt how to effectively budget, have a little put aside for a rainy day, and have the freedom to start thinking about large purchases and how you want your future to look.

A consequence of earning more also means potentially more tax – some of us might have crossed over into the Higher Rate or Additional Rate tax thresholds.

Maintaining your existing emergency savings and keeping back cash savings for shorter term needs should still be one of your financial priorities. But surplus income can also be invested to make your money work harder than the interest rates that may be offered by deposit accounts.

Introducing investing

Aside from contributing to a personal workplace pension, you may never have invested your savings before.

A good place to start is with ISAs, or Individual Savings Accounts. Each year, you can save up to £20,000 within an ISA, and any growth or income received within the account is tax-free. Withdrawals from your ISA account are also tax-free when you come to access funds.

There are four main types of ISA account available, including Cash ISAs, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs and Innovative Finance ISAs.

Cash ISAs will have varying interest rates, depending on the type chosen. Some will come with restrictions on when you can access your money – the longer the term of the ISA account, generally the higher the interest rate.

Stocks & Shares ISAs allow you to invest within stocks and investment funds, and typically offer the potential for a higher degree of capital growth than cash savings.

Lifetime ISAs are more restrictive – the maximum you can invest in a Lifetime ISA each year is limited to £4,000, and you must be over 18 but under 40 to open a Lifetime ISA. Contributions can be made until age 50 and the government will add a further 25% bonus to your savings, up to a maximum of £1,000 per year. You can only access savings from your Lifetime ISA if you are purchasing your first home, aged 60 or over, or terminally ill.

An Innovative Finance ISA allows you to invest in peer-to-peer lending, where you agree to lend money directly to borrowers and businesses in return for a set amount of interest. While the principle is similar to a Cash ISA, Innovative Finance ISAs are riskier.

You can spread your annual ISA subscription across one of each type of ISA if you wish, as long as you do not exceed the annual ISA limit.

There are other, if slightly less tax-efficient, investment accounts that you can also invest within, such as a General Investment Account. Like a Stocks & Shares ISA, you can invest in stocks, funds and investment trusts, but will have to consider capital gains and income tax on the growth and income from your investments.  

Considering investment risk

Whether it’s an ISA or an alternative investment account, it is important to understand the timescales of how long you expect your money to remain invested.

For shorter term goals, for example, if you need the funds within the next year or two, keeping your savings in cash may be a better idea, as fluctuations in investment markets may mean you get back less than you invested. This is important – if you have worked hard to save up for your dream property deposit, you do not want your savings to suddenly fall and put your goals out of reach.

A good rule of thumb is a minimum time period of 5 years if you are looking to invest in stocks and shares. You should also consider how much risk you want to take – which will also be dependant on when you need to access your money.

Pensions on the other hand, offer an opportunity to take a higher level of risk than you may do with your short-term funds. Given that you cannot access the funds until your minimum retirement age, or potentially longer if you are not planning on retiring until after 60, they offer a very long investment timescale – which means more opportunity for higher returns and enough time to recover if the markets should drop.

While taking slightly more risk when you are younger does drive long-term growth, you should consider investment risk carefully. A good question to ask yourself is ‘What would I do if my investments fell by a certain amount?’

At Path, we’ll discuss your preferred risk approach with you in detail before making a recommendation – and you can change this at any time should you wish.

The Gender Pay Gap

Climbing our career ladder and becoming successful gives us a huge sense of fulfilment. However more than three out of four reporting UK companies pay their male staff more than their female staff [1].

The Gender Pay Gap has been decreasing slowly, from 17.4% in 2019 to 15.4% in 2020 – the gap remains high however, when taking into account part-time work, roles which are usually staffed by women at a much lower hourly median pay. The sectors with the worst Gender Pay Gaps are in some cases relatively typical – for example, construction, finance and insurance – and in some cases, surprising, such as the education sector, of which only 9% of reporting companies pay women more, or the same, as men.

While the Gender Pay Gap affects our lives on a day-to-day basis, lurking in the background is a further consequence of pay inequality – the Pension Gap. Women’s personal pension savings are likely to be 11% smaller by retirement age, than those policies held by men [2], affected by the likelihood of women to undertake lower paid, part-time roles or leaving the workplace to concentrate on raising a family.

Taking action and choosing to invest early is therefore essential for female financial independence in future.

Goals based investing

There is a common misconception that women do not like to invest or are more risk-averse than men.

Female investors are much more likely to invest with specific goals in mind – for example, providing for their children’s future, education, and achieving financial security for their family, not only themselves. Women will take a lower level of risk if their goals can be achieved by sensible growth, rather than choosing a higher risk strategy that risks potential detriment in future.

Representation also matters – gender diversity across the finance industry is incredibly low, with women representing only 17% of FCA-approved individuals in the UK [3]. This figure has remained largely the same since 2005. Finding a female financial planner, who understands your wider personal goals, rather than product, profit and performance led male counterparts, is very difficult.

At Path, we are already ahead of the industry average, with 30% of our adviser qualified staff identifying as female. And we’ll continue working on improving this figure in future. 

Getting married and impact on finances

There is significantly less pressure today to tie the knot than years past – some of us may never get married, based on personal choice rather than ‘unfortunate’ circumstances.

While married couples and those in civil partnerships are no longer seen as one taxable entity, choosing to get married does have an impact on our personal finances, whether that be applying for joint loans and mortgages, marriage and inheritance tax allowances, the impact on gifting and ensuring Wills are up to date.

Marrying someone doesn’t immediately mean your become financially associated – however taking out joint mortgages or loans together will, and those associated with you can have an impact on your credit score and ability to get credit in future.

However there are still some financial benefits in getting married – the ability to gift assets to one another with no tax consequences, and clever structuring of your savings and investments between the two of you, can help to improve your combined wealth in a tax-efficient manner, in both the short and in the longer term.

It is important if you have an existing Will to understand that this will become invalid on marriage or civil partnership and you will need to set up a new Will that details how you wish for your estate to be distributed. Delaying writing a new Will does leave you open to the risk of passing away ‘intestate’ and your estate distributed in line with the Rules of Intestacy.

[1] https://ig.ft.com/gender-pay-gap-UK/
[2] https://www.unbiased.co.uk/news/financial-adviser/women-and-investing
[3] https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research/research-note-gender-diversity-in-uk-financial-services.pdf

Seeding Change

Finding Balance

Growth

Introduction

There are a lot of changes that can take place in your Growth phase – switching your career, raising a family and finding the right work / life balance.

With work and family at the forefront, your personal financial situation can sometimes take a back seat. From navigating which parental benefits you may be entitled to, switching to part-time hours, amending your budget or saving a little bit for your children’s future, the list can feel very overwhelming.

In this guide, we’ll look at various areas to think about in your Growth stage, with guidance on some of the more technical financial planning considerations to help you find the right balance.

Maternity Leave

In the UK, individuals are legally entitled to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave. It is separated into two parts – Ordinary Maternity Leave, within the first 26 weeks, and Additional Maternity Leave for the remainder.

You do not have to take the full year of Maternity Leave, but you must take 2 weeks’ leave after your baby is born.

While Maternity Leave entitlement is 52 weeks, Statutory Maternity Pay is limited to 39 weeks, with 90% of your eligible average weekly earnings paid for the first 6 weeks, and £151.97 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks.

Company-paid maternity leave above the statutory minimum is not available for everybody – although a recent poll[1] found that almost two-thirds of UK businesses now offer some kind of enhanced maternity leave as part of their benefits packages to help attract and retain valuable individuals in the workplace.

Shared Parental Leave, a blending of both maternity and paternity leave has also been available since 2015.

Being frank about figures, £151.97 per week (£7,902.44 per year) is not a huge amount of income, particularly with the increased household expenditure that naturally comes with a new arrival. A sudden reliance on only one partner’s income can also come as a shock.

We can’t always plan for everything, and even small miracles are sometimes unexpected!

But careful budgeting, cash flow planning, a sufficient emergency fund and properly stress testing your existing savings can go a long way to ensuring that your time off is spent on the most important things.

Benefits

There are a number of benefits and financial support you can claim as a new parent, including Child Benefit, Child Tax Credits, Maternity and Adoption Leave and Pay, plus a number of other financial options to help if you need support with childcare, support as a student and support if your child has a disability.

Some benefits will be means-tested – for example, Child Tax Credit can only be claimed if you are already in receipt of Working Tax Credits. Child Benefit, on the other hand, is not means-tested but does have some circumstantial conditions that may affect your eligibility.

Income received from your savings and investments can affect how much you will receive from your tax credits. In addition, there are certain savings thresholds that may impact on other benefits such as Universal Credit.

At Path we’ll always establish early on any potential impact that your investments may have on the benefits you may be entitled to.

High Income Child Benefit Charge

The High-Income Child Benefit Charge applies if you or your partner has an income over £50,000. The tax charge applies at the end of each tax year and is applied to whomever is the higher earner.

Finding out if the High-Income Child Benefit Charge applies involves calculating your ‘adjusted net income’ – your total taxable income before any personal allowances of Gift Aid.

An important part of planning in your personal finances is taking account of any investment incomes that may push you over this threshold. Careful encashment of investments needs to be considered, as does your personal circumstances before and after the end of the tax year.

The Marriage Allowance

Taking time out to concentrate on your family may involve a reduction in your household income, so a little extra help is always welcome.

In some cases, even with statutory maternity pay, the Marriage Allowance can also be claimed, if your earnings are below your Personal Allowance, and your partner pays basic rate income tax.

The Marriage Allowance will let you transfer £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to your partner, reducing their tax by up to £252 in the tax year and giving your household income a small boost.

The Marriage Allowance can also be backdated to include any years that you both were eligible from 5 April 2017. It is also a valuable allowance to claim if one of you chooses to be a stay-at-home parent and the other remains a basic rate taxpayer.

Unfortunately, this allowance only applies to individuals who are married or in a civil partnership, and not those who are living together only.

Pension planning while you are not working

If you have left the workplace – temporarily or permanently – continuing to fund your pension arrangement is vital.

In the UK, there is a large disparity between the values of personal pensions for men and women. In 2019, this gap was larger than the gender pay gap, at 37.9%[2]. The gap exists for a number of reasons – it is women who are most likely to reduce their working hours, or cease working altogether, to concentrate on raising a young family, in addition to the existing gender pay gap and previous state pension inequality.

The good news is that pension contributions under auto-enrolment continue while you are receiving Statutory Maternity Pay and if your employer already matches your contribution, they will continue to do so throughout your leave. However, pension contributions during this period will be dependent on your actual earnings – so you may find that you are contributing at a much lower level than you were prior to your leave.

It is important to remember that your auto-enrolment contributions will only be paid for the Statutory Maternity Pay period. The final 13-week period is treated as Unpaid Leave, and therefore would not qualify for pension contributions under the auto-enrolment system.

It may also be the case that you have decided to leave the workplace permanently, perhaps as a stay-at-home parent or to concentrate on more meaningful pursuits and your young family.

Pension contributions are limited to 100% of your relevant earnings each year but this doesn’t mean you cannot contribute at all while you are not working. As a non-taxpayer, you can contribute a maximum of £2,880 net (£3,600 gross) to a personal pension each tax year to boost your retirement savings in the longer term.

Returning to work

Returning to work, in any stage of your life, is a daunting proposition, particularly if you have been out of the workplace for some time.

A lot of us return to work gradually after having children, suffering from illness or taking a career break. Returning on a part-time basis can help provide balance, such as increasing your financial independence while also ensuring quality time with your family and lowering childcare costs.

If you return part-time, you can still join your company workplace pension scheme, and you will be automatically enrolled if you meet the minimum eligibility criteria. Even if you are outside the auto-enrolment age limits or below the earnings trigger, you can opt in if you choose to.

If your earnings are low, your pension contributions may feel too minimal to make a difference. But investing over a long period of time, and with the benefit of compounding, small pension contributions can grow into significant savings by the time you come to retire in later life.

If you return to work on a flexible basis, your employer will automatically enrol you into a pension scheme the first time your earnings pass the auto-enrolment threshold. These contributions will continue while you remain eligible but remember that they may also cease if your earnings fall below the minimum amount, depending on the rules of your workplace pension scheme.

Auto-enrolment rules don’t apply to those of us that are self-employed, and it is up to you to consider saving for your retirement. Remember, a little bit goes a long way, so if you can afford to make personal contributions, it is definitely worth putting aside a little each month if you can.

Family protection

The Growth stage of your life comes with a lot of things to protect – your mortgage, your income, and your family in the long-term.

Sickness and illness can strike at any time. Statutory Sick Pay is currently £96.35 per week, and your employer will pay this for up to 28 weeks.

Most of us, particularly those of us with younger children, will spend much more than this in an average week. Protecting your income is an important consideration and can be easily facilitated with a robust Income Protection policy, that can pay you a replacement income should you fall ill and need to take time off work. More importantly, this income can be higher than Statutory Sick Pay, allowing you breathing space to pay your essential bills while you concentrate on getting better.

In some cases, we may be critically ill, or more sadly, pass away early, leaving our family in a vulnerable position. Life insurance can be vital in clearing any outstanding mortgage liabilities or debts, or simply leaving a lump sum to help take care of your loved ones after you have gone.

Specialist policies, such as Family Income Benefit, can pay a regular income to your family after your death, to help with school fees, childcare and support rather than a large lump sum that needs to last until your children are financially independent.

Writing your policy into trust can help ring-fence your insurance pay out from any lurking inheritance tax, ensuring that your loved ones are free of further financial worry and giving you the option to decide who you wish to look after funds for your children in future.

Saving for your children’s future

While we mostly concentrate on our future selves during our Growth stage, looking out for our children also becomes a priority. Whether it’s saving for future school fees, help with university costs, house deposits or a wedding, we would all like to be in a position to help out as our children begin finding their own financial independence.

Children’s savings accounts usually offer a fairly generous interest rate in comparison to accounts available for parents, and NS&I Premium Bonds offer an alternative option if you have a larger lump sum to invest. Grandparents can also purchase Premium Bonds for grandchildren, unlike savings accounts that may be restricted to parents only.

Junior ISAs are an excellent – and tax-efficient – method of saving for our children, benefitting from tax-free growth and income much like a regular ISA with the possibility of achieving a higher level of growth than saving accounts alone. Currently, you can contribute up to £9,000 per annum per child to a Junior ISA.

But be aware – Junior ISAs will automatically convert to an ISA when your child turns 18. Unrestricted access to a large lump sum may not be the best outcome for everyone!

At Path, we can help you explore alternative investment options that allow you to keep control and ensure your children get the help they need when the time is right.

[1] https://www.xperthr.co.uk/survey-analysis/maternity-leave-and-pay-xperthr-survey-2021/165964/
[2] https://prospect.org.uk/article/what-is-the-gender-pension-gap/

Seeding Change

Time to Thrive

Blossoming

Introduction

Our blossoming stage of life comes with an entirely different set of financial decisions.

We have previously taken control of our personal finances, and for some of us, put our careers on hold to take care of our families. This stage in our lives is usually when we return the focus to ourselves – our children may be leaving home, or we have reached a point where we are comfortable in our career.

While this stage in our lives is where we come into full bloom, it is also a time when the unexpected can derail us– and it’s better to take stock during a moment of calm, so that you can feel prepared no matter what else is around the corner. 

A moment to take stock

Personal financial planning does not always sit at the forefront of our minds. We may have been diligently making pension contributions, rising through the ranks at various jobs, or have a healthy pot of savings that could be working harder, but not set aside time to understand what this means for our long-term goals.

We are more likely to start seeking financial advice at this stage of our lives – whether it’s consolidating pension pots to a single arrangement, understanding what our retirement provision may look like or considering encashing investments to help provide for family or our personal goals.

Cash flow modelling is particularly useful at this age, a visual representation of your financial circumstances that is easier to understand than simply looking at figures on a page. At Path, we can help you understand what changes you need to make to achieve your long-term goals, with helpful advice on managing any shortfall, tax-efficient investing strategies and small changes that could make the difference when you reach retirement. 

Mapping out our future with a robust financial plan makes sense – receiving tailored financial advice increases the probability of retiring early and increased personal wealth by retirement, with figures ranging from 17%to 39% in the increase of liquid wealth than those individuals that haven’t received formal financial advice [1].

Thinking about retirement

With children leaving home, work, family, and general day to day life, thinking about when and how you want to retire can feel unimportant. We are most likely still decades away from the big event. However, outlining – and sticking – to a general plan is better done as early as possible. 

Some of us would prefer to keep working beyond the traditional retirement age of 65, but a great deal more of us would like to stop working as early as possible and focus on more meaningful pursuits.

Understanding what provision you already have in place is the main starting point when planning for early retirement. The average UK adult is on target to achieve a pension pot of £355,000 and combined with state pension provision, likely to retire on an income of £15,080 per year [2]. If your pension savings are below this level, you are less likely to achieve a comfortable retirement, meaning reduced funds for travelling, holidays and other luxuries.   

On average, individuals in the UK will have held 12 jobs by the time they retire, which could also mean 12 individual pension arrangements to keep track of.

Pension consolidation is the next stage, bringing all of your hard-earned savings together with a coherent investment strategy aligned to your personal values.

Ensuring you know where you stand allows time to make changes to address any income shortfall in your later years – whether that be making further contributions, or seriously thinking about how much you will need and when. Other investments, such as ISAs or General Investment Accounts, can also be explored as alternative means to funding your retirement years.

Caring for elderly relatives

Women are also much more likely to provide care for older relatives during this stage in our lives, in addition to our careers and looking after our younger family – in fact, 58% of family carers are women [3].

Caring is a demanding role – if you have been with your employer for more than six months, you have the right to request flexible working options to help you meet your caring responsibilities. Usually this comes with amending or reducing your working hours, which in turn can have an impact on your personal finances, such as take-home pay and your workplace pension contributions.

If the person you care for qualifies for certain benefits, and your income has reduced, you may be entitled to Carer’s Allowance, of up to £67.70 per week, to help bridge the gap between your reduced income and your caring responsibilities.

In some circumstances, we may need to temporarily leave work entirely to take care of our loved ones. If you receive Carer’s Allowance, you will automatically receive Carer’s Credit, a valuable contribution to your National Insurance record to ensure that you remain on target to receive your State Pension entitlement. Carer’s Credit can also be claimed if you don’t qualify for Carer’s Allowance.

Continuing to build up your State Pension is essential, particularly if your workplace pension contributions have been placed on hold.

Inheritance and bereavement

Sadly, this is also the stage in our lives where most of us may lose someone we love.

Inheritance, and talking about inheritance, is an emotive topic, and the administering of a loved one’s estate a stressful addition when you are grieving. Inheriting a lump sum at the end of the process may cause further anxiety – for some of us, it may be a very large sum of money, with accompanying additional tax, and the confusion of how best to spend, save or invest.

Inheritance is rarely discussed within families, or seen as morbid and taboo, which does not lend itself well to allowing us to plan ahead for what we may receive in future. Understanding what you may inherit, and the complexities of different kinds of assets, such as property or pensions, will have an impact on what you can do with funds.

Receiving a lump sum of money does offer us opportunities – to clear outstanding debts, such as a mortgage, relieve pressure on our income and allowing a higher degree of security. Saving, or investing, an inherited sum of money could make an enormous difference to our long-term goals, making early retirement more feasible, or rid us of a potential shortfall in our later years.

For some of us, it may be the case that we do not need the funds, and instead would prefer to look at charitable giving, or passing on wealth to younger generations that may be in higher need of financial help. A Deed of Variation, where beneficiaries agree to a change of the Will post death, could allow you the option of redirecting the funds to your children’s financial independence instead.

Divorce

A further unexpected event that is more likely to occur in this stage of our lives is divorce, or the end of a civil partnership.

Divorce is a life event that can have both immediate and long-term financial impact, ranging from short-term worries such as cashflow, your children and your home, to future concerns, such as pension provision and how to navigate later life with a single income.

Dividing assets during divorce and civil partnerships can get messy and complicated. There are a significant number of financial decisions to be made during a painful and tense time – for example, if the family home should be kept or sold, separating bank accounts and dividing up pensions.

Unfortunately, women in the UK are more likely to be negatively impacted financially when it comes to divorce. Women tend to have much lower savings and investments than male counterparts, including pension savings for provision in retirement. This is largely due to women working part-time, or leaving the workplace when children are younger, combined with lower incomes and less opportunity to save, with limited remaining working years in order to build up substantial retirement savings.

On divorce, assets are usually distributed according the financial needs of those involved, however women without appropriate legal advice are especially vulnerable during this process [4].

Pensions are a significant part of splitting assets in divorce, usually being the main source of wealth after the family home. There are usually three approaches to dividing pensions within the divorce process:

• Offsetting: the value of any proposed pension is offset against other assets, allowing for a fairly clean break. However, other assets may be difficult to value, and may have differing appreciation or growth rates. A pension has the potential to grow significantly over time, in comparison to cash savings, meaning an offset may be not be the fairest way to split assets.
• Earmarking: earmarking allows an individual without a pension access to income and lump sum payments in future, when the ex-partner comes to take benefits. This also comes with disadvantages, particularly in cases where separation may have been acrimonious, as you must wait until your ex-partner retires and chooses to take an income, or passes away. You do not have control over the investment decisions your ex-partner may make, or when they deem it appropriate to take income – in some cases, they may never. If you remarry, you may also lose your right to a future pension income.
• Pension Sharing: pension sharing is more common and also offers a ‘clean break’. A court decides the percentage split of a pension fund, and each party is awarded either a pension credit (those receiving the pension split) and a pension debit (those losing pension benefits). With an awarded pension credit, you have the flexibility to decide to stay in the same scheme, or transfer away to a new pension, to select your own investment strategy and to decide when you wish to access the fund. If you ex-partner passes away, or you remarry, this has no effect on your pension.

While pension sharing sounds like the most practical of the three options, choosing an alternative pension can feel overwhelming, adding to the already existing stress of separation and divorce. At Path, we can help recommend products suitable for your needs, and take control over the transfer process, allowing you space to focus on more pressing matters. We’ll help you build a financial and retirement plan that takes into account your investment experience and provide reassurance and support along the way.

Further information can be found in our Guide to Divorce – financial help for women going through divorce

Regaining financial control

Quite often, the end of a relationship highlights a previously uneven split in control over finances. With women more likely to work part-time, become stay at home parents or care for elderly family members, day to day financial decision making, such as the household budget, mortgage payments and bills, has been in the sole control of the breadwinning spouse. 

Post-divorce, or after a breakup, you may suddenly find yourself overwhelmed with increased financial responsibility, taking care of household finances that you may never have previously dealt with. Income levels may have dropped significantly, with an entirely new budget to work out and stick to, that may be tighter than your previous lifestyle would allow.

In some cases, it may not be a conscious decision to take a passive role in family finances, and many women have been the victims of financial coercion, a form of domestic abuse and coercive control. Financial coercion can take many forms and can be accompanied by other forms of domestic abuse such as violence, psychological and emotional abuse, and relationship control.

Financial coercion can extend anywhere from controlled spending and restricted access to bank accounts, to removal of names from joint assets, forced loans and credit applications, and restrictions on working or applying for work. Without access to money, the ability to leave becomes impossible.

Leaving a financially controlling partner is an extremely vulnerable and high-risk time for women, further compounded by the potential lack of financial literacy, lack of support and unscrupulous individuals who may take advantage during a traumatic change in your personal circumstances.

There are an increasing number of Financial Abuse training and certification schemes within the UK for financial professionals. At Path, we want to ensure that our financial planning team and wider supporting staff have the option to undertake qualifications to help us recognise financial abuse, and develop the skills needed to ensure the correct course of action and support is provided.

If you are experiencing financial or domestic abuse, or supporting someone who is, you can get help immediately at the following resources:

• National Domestic Violence Helpline – 0808 200 0247 – https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/
• Women’s Aid – https://www.womensaid.org.uk/
• LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0800 999 5428 – https://galop.org.uk/types-of-abuse/domestic-abuse/

Women’s health and the impact on finance

A further life change we have to consider during this stage in our lives is our changing health, and how this can negatively impact on our finances.

Menstrual complications, endometriosis and the menopause, breast or ovarian cancer and stress, anxiety and other mental health conditions are some of numerous health concerns that we may have. In particular, they each present barriers to our wellbeing at work, with many women suffering in silence as they do not feel there is sufficient support in the workplace.

Absence of support can lead to more sick days and unpaid leave for women, in turn widening the already large gender pay gap and pensions gap and causing many women to leave the workplace altogether.

The nature of certain female health conditions can have other ramifications, for example, in applying for protection policies to protect our income. Underwriting teams will only usually offer insurance cover for conditions that have been diagnosed, are well-managed or have cleared up completely. Conditions such as endometriosis can take years to diagnose, leaving many women struggling to stay at work, and left with protection policies that refuse to pay benefits until such a time as a formal diagnosis is made.

[1] https://www.adviserhome.co.uk/cd-content/uploads/files/news/ILC%20and%20RL%20The%20Value%20of%20Advice%20%28final%29%20Report%20July%202017.pdf
[2] https://www.sanlam.co.uk/knowledge-hub/insights/whats-your-number/saving-for-an-average-retirement-income#:~:text=In%20reality%2C%20the%20average%20UK,15%2C080%20per%20year%5B2%5D.
[3] https://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/press-releases/facts-and-figures
[4] https://www.cii.co.uk/media/7461333/risks_in_life_report.pdf

Seeding Change

Independence

Bearing Fruit

Introduction

Achieving financial independence is the moment when our hard work pays off and we take the step into retirement – in one way or another.

Choosing to cease work is likely one of the most intimidating financial decisions we can make. If you have previously made a financial plan, you may have been waiting for this day for some time. For others, planning may not have been a priority and stopping work altogether a difficult moment to imagine.

At Path, we can review your existing retirement provision, and via cash flow modelling, stress test your retirement income sources to give you a clearer picture if stopping work is the right decision for you.

Leaving work

For some of us, leaving work is a decision that may have been made for us – for example, our health may suffered, or we have taken time out to help with grandchildren or aging parents.

Ageism in the workplace is a very real factor, with women viewed as less attractive and less competent than their male counterparts. Male bosses, on the other hand, particularly those over the age of 60, are viewed as a steady hand leading the ship. Women are more likely to take time away from the workplace to provide unpaid care for family and returning to a job after the age of 60 is difficult, no matter how much experience and how many transferrable skills you have gathered in the course of a long career.

Combined with the Pensions Gender Pay Gap, women feeling ‘forced’ from work can face financial detriment in the longer-term, with a much wider gap between retiring and secure income such as the state pension coming into payment at state pension age, and on average lower pension savings than men.

Phasing retirement

Phasing in retirement as an option for clients is becoming more popular for us in the financial planning world, with more individuals choosing to reduce their hours, switch to a role with less responsibility or moving to part-time hours.

With the arrival of new pension flexibilities in 2015, gone are the days of having to choose between working or taking your pension in full. Accessing your pension pot via various methods – be it Flexi-Access Drawdown, Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sum, or simply taking a tax-free lump sum – it has never been easier to reduce your hours and use your savings, investments, and pensions to ‘top up’ your income as and when you need.

Phasing in retirement can be a more manageable transition from working to retiring in full, and allow us opportunity to understand what we want to do when we stop working altogether, what hobbies we would like to prioritise and if our retirement goals are achievable. Think of it as Retirement Lite!

The benefits of phasing in retirement also takes the pressure off your invested assets, allowing smaller amounts of income and savings to be taken in addition to a regular paid income – and improving the overall sustainability of your retirement income in later years. 

Retirement income sources

By this stage in our lives, we will likely have a combination of investments, pensions or workplace entitlements that we can use to provide our retirement income.

Given the tax-efficiency of pension savings, it is better to begin accessing your taxable or tax-free investments first, such as your cash savings, ISAs and General Investment accounts, or a combination of all.

Defined contribution pensions can also be accessed from your minimum pension age (55 rising to 57), bridging the gap between other income coming into payment, for example, the state pension or a defined benefit scheme.

It is worth taking stock of your total financial circumstances before plunging into your various accounts. Taking advantage of your various allowances each year, such as your Personal Allowance, or Capital Gains Annual Exemption, will allow your finances to be structured tax-efficiently, minimising the amount of tax you may need to pay, and reducing the overall withdrawal rate from your total investment portfolio.

Some of us will be lucky enough to have entitlements under defined benefit schemes, pension arrangements that will pay a guaranteed income for the rest of our lives. Defined benefit schemes can be accessed early, much like invested pension policies, although caution must be exercised. Defined benefit arrangements will usually apply an early retirement factor, where benefits will be reduced by a specified amount, to cover the extended number of years that the policy will need to be paid for.

If you have alternative assets you can draw from, you may want to consider leaving these types of policy until normal retirement age and early retirement factors will no longer apply. A higher level of guaranteed income offers a higher degree of security later on.

How you take benefits and structure your retirement income can be complicated and will wholly depend on your personal circumstances. At Path we can help you model the various options available and help you pick the right options for you.

Income sustainability

Life expectancy is on the rise – for a 60-year-old female, the average life expectancy is currently age 88, with a 1 in 4 chance of reaching 96 [1]. Women on average also live longer than men.

For those of us who will not receive a guaranteed income in retirement, 28 years is a very long time to make a pension pot last for.

There are a number of essential factors to take into consideration when thinking about taking your retirement income:

• How much you have saved within your pension and how long this is likely to last
• How much income you need, for both essential expenditure and discretionary spending
• How much risk you are willing to take, and the impact of a financial loss on your income in later years
• If you have any other assets that could be used to provide income or capital
• Other secure benefits such as the state pension – will you get the full entitlement or are there gaps in your National Insurance Record?
• Your personal circumstances and health are a factor as your longevity will impact on how long benefits will need to last

For some, an annuity purchase is a sensible approach, using pension funds to secure a worry-free guaranteed income that remains in place for life.

For others, it may be the case that you are planning on spending more in the early years, winding down later on where your income requirements will fall, and a flexible approach that allows you to increase or decrease your withdrawals would be more suitable.

While modelling your income is important, stress-testing your plan is essential. If growth rates are lower than expected, markets fall significantly, or long-term care is a possibility, will your retirement provision be enough to see you through?

The State Pension

For many women, the State Pension will often make up the majority of their retirement income.

Previously, the state pension for women came into payment at age 60, although changes in 2010 and 2018 increased the state pension age to 65. This has had a significant impact for some women, with an ongoing investigation into whether adequate information was provided regarding the change in state pension age and the negative financial impact this has had on women in retirement [2].

The current state pension depends on your National Insurance Record – you will need at least 10 years of contributions to receive any state pension, with 35 full years in order to qualify for the full UK State Pension. State pension payments are currently £179.60 per week (£9,339.20 per year) for the current tax year.

The UK State Pension is at the lower end of pension income sources, when compared to other OECD countries – in fact, we are 28 out of the 36 countries used within the comparison [3], below the majority of European countries and others such as the United States, Japan and New Zealand.

Previously, there were options to inherit some State Pension from your partner if you both reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. There are limited death benefits if you both reach State Pension age after this date, usually only if you were married prior to this date and your partner had Additional State Pension or Protected Payments.

There is a widely held view that the State will provide sufficient income in retirement – it is actually almost £1,000 less than the minimum living standard as estimated by the PLSA [4]. Relying on the state in retirement is simply not an option for most individuals in the UK.

Taking lump sums from your pension

With a good financial plan in place, sensible modelling and realistic retirement goals, there is opportunity to use some of hard-earned savings to help out family – our children and grandchildren for example – or to clear debts, renovate our homes or pay for that dream holiday.

For most defined contribution pensions, retirees can access up to 25% of tax-free cash from their pension savings, to use for ad-hoc capital spending or helping out our loved ones.

While our children may have reached a degree of financial independence, our grandchildren may be more in need of support. Rather than wait until we pass away, a large number of us would like to help as early as possible – and accessing tax-free pension benefits can provide a substantial lump sum to help towards education costs, property deposits or a wedding.

Others in retirement may wish to use funds to improve their homes, particularly to accommodate changing needs as we get older, or travel to see family and more of the world.

But it is best to approach this with some caution – while it feels good to help out those we love, and finally have enough to pay for those larger capital expenses, taking large lump sums early in retirement could be detrimental later on, significantly reducing the value of your pension that needs to last a lifetime.

Widows pensions

With women reaching retirement with significantly less savings than men, a number of us expect to be reliant on our partner’s retirement provision.

Defined benefit schemes will usually come with an established spouses’ or widows’ pension, quite often ranging from a third, to half of the deceased spouses’ pension in payment. Other schemes may be more generous, and some may not have any spouses’ provision at all.

If you have chosen an annuity as the most suitable retirement income, you can make provision for a spouse or dependent at the time of purchase, including a guaranteed period and a pension income to inherit (which could be up to 100% of your retirement income). However, additional benefits within annuities come at a price and can reduce the amount of starting income you will receive.

For defined contribution schemes, there is not automatic spouses’ pension – pensions can be passed on to nominated beneficiaries via an Expression of Wish form.

It is essential to keep nominations up to date – the Expression of Wish form provides guidance to a pension administrator in passing on benefits, but they will take steps to make sure this is appropriate and check if there is reason to pay benefits to a different beneficiary.

Pension scheme rules will also depend on how benefits are paid – most offer a lump sum payment on death. While this may be appropriate for some, it could negatively impact your tax position, and the loss of future growth compared to other options that offer the ability to leave sums invested for your future.

Reviewing your pension arrangements in later life, as your circumstances change, is still a good idea – whether simply checking if your nominations are up to date, or switching to a policy that offers more freedom for your partner in future.

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/articles/howlongwillmypensionneedtolast/2015-03-27
[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005948/Women_s_State_Pension_age_-_our_findings_on_the_Department_for_Work_and_Pensions_communication_of_changes_Final.pdf
[3] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN00290/SN00290.pdf
[4] https://www.plsa.co.uk/Press-Centre/Press-Releases/Article/PLSA-launches-Retirement-Living-Standards

Seeding Change

Sowing the Seed

Reseeding

Introduction

While our later years are time for us to relax and enjoy our retirement, there are still areas of our personal finance that require careful management and ongoing planning.

Without the pressures of work, and our families now grown, it is time to turn our attention to what we want our legacy to be. However, later life and estate planning is a neglected area of financial planning, with only 11% of adults in the UK having some form of estate planning in place [1].

Legacy planning and thinking about what we would like to happen when we pass is a naturally emotional and difficult area, with complex factors to consider such as how we would like to be cared for, inheritance tax and the emotional and financial impact on our loved ones after we are gone. 

Putting in place a strong estate plan can provide some comfort in our later years, with the knowledge that our lasting legacy can continue for generations to come. 

Income in later life

Our retirement expenditure is much more likely to decrease in our later years for a number of reasons. Our health may begin to decline, our hobbies and interests may become more demanding or sadly, we may be facing our later years alone as a single individual.

If we are in receipt in income from our savings and investments, we will likely begin to reduce our withdrawal rate as our expenditure needs taper off. Understanding an appropriate level of risk to take at the age is dependant on our personal circumstances – our expected longevity, our financial security, and if we want to leave as much of our wealth to our loved ones as we can.

Financial security is a particular focus at this stage of life – we have limited opportunity to replace our wealth as we get older and higher risk investment strategies are likely inappropriate at this time.

If you have planned ahead and worked out a sustainable retirement income plan, you may be lucky to have residual wealth that you now want to pass on to younger generations – but this does come with additional complexities, including timing, affordability and tax consequences.

At Path, estate planning will always form part of your financial plan, with ongoing reassurance and support throughout. 

Long-term care

With the increase in life expectancy, particularly for women, more of us are seeing the impact that long-term care has had on our grandparents, parents and ultimately ourselves.

The average cost of long-term care in the UK is estimated to be £32,000 [2] although this figure can vary widely depending on where you are geographically located within the UK. Costs can be higher depending on the level of care that you need, with higher costs expected for conditions such as dementia where you may require specialist support.

Planning for long-term care should be made a priority – financial support from your local council is means-tested and the thresholds for care costs are very low. Should you have capital valued over £23,250, you will most likely be expected to meet your care costs in full.

Care costs can eat away at your hard-earned savings and in some cases, can mean the sale of your family home in order to cover costs. Lack of planning ahead of time could mean that your entire estate is spent on covering your long-term care needs, leaving little left for your loved ones to inherit.

There are various strategies and planning options available to plan for care costs – a structured plan can ensure you do not run out of funds and allow you to ring-fence assets for future generations. When considering the impact of long-term care, the earlier you plan the more likely you are to meet your needs.

Wills and Lasting Power of Attorney

Three in five adults (59%) in the UK do not have a valid Will in place [3].

The impact of passing away without a will – referred to as dying ‘interstate’ – means your estate is distributed according to specific rules, which may not be the outcome that you want or are expecting.

If you are married or in a civil partnership, with no children or grandchildren, your surviving partner will receive the whole of your estate.

If you are married and have children and grandchildren, and your estate is valued at more than £270,000, your surviving partner will inherit your personal belongings, the first £270,000 and only half of the remaining estate. The remainder of your estate is split into equal shares for your children – if you have grandchildren, they cannot inherit unless your children have passed away themselves.

Writing a Will is vital if you want to specify who you wish to inherit – as only close family can inherit via the Rules of Intestacy, friends and distant family members are left out.

As blended families become more common, a Will is also essential should you wish to leave an inheritance to stepchildren, or if you want to ensure children from a previous relationship are provided for in addition to your partner.

While only 41% of adults have a valid Will in place, the situation is bleaker for Lasting Powers of Attorney, with only 14% of the population having made provision for what will happen to their health and finances should they lose capacity [4]. The same study highlighted a further concern – a large number of individuals were unaware of what an LPA actually is.

Lasting Powers of Attorney come in two parts – health and welfare, and property and financial affairs. An LPA gives trusted family members or friends the power to look after you, make decisions regarding your health and care, and power to manage your finances should you lose mental capacity.

With conditions such as dementia rising and expected to increase rapidly in the next few decades [5], it is increasingly important to include LPAs as part of your long-term planning, and make your wishes and expectations known.

Inheritance tax

Recent freezes to inheritance tax thresholds mean more of us than ever will have estates subjected to inheritance tax.

Inheritance tax is charged at 40% at any assets above certain thresholds, although you can use certain allowances to mitigate the tax on your estate, including:

• The Nil Rate Band: the first £325,000 of your estate is tax-free. Anything above this threshold will be subject to inheritance tax.
• The Residence Nil Rate Band: if you are passing on a home to your children or grandchildren, you can benefit from a further £175,000, taking your total tax-free threshold to £500,000. However, if your estate is valued at more than £2million, you will begin to lose some of this exemption.
• If you do not own a home, you cannot benefit from the Residence Nil Rate Band.

The Nil Rate Band and Residence Nil Rate Band can be inherited by a spouse or civil partner on death, meaning that a total of £1million could be free of inheritance tax after your death.

A recent survey found that women in particular have limited inheritance tax mitigation strategies in place, in comparison to their male counterparts [6], with confusion around inheritance tax rules being much higher, concerns about financial literacy and not understanding the need for immediate planning.

As women are likely to live longer than men, female-owned estates are naturally liable for higher amounts of inheritance tax, as additional growth on the values of property and investments continue for a higher length of time.

There are numerous strategies, products and services that can go some way to reducing the amount of inheritance tax payable. Like with most financial planning, this area can get complex – seeking advice now on how best to pass down your legacy can offer significant value for your loved ones later on.

Charitable giving

Statistically, women are more likely to donate to charitable causes than men. [7] There a several theories as to why this is, most assuming that a natural caring and maternal instinct means we are more likely to give to causes that resonate with us and those that do good in the world.

Charitable giving as part of an estate planning strategy can also be useful – donating 10% of the net value of your estate to charity can offer a reduction in inheritance tax payable on death, reducing the rate from 40% to 36% and providing a larger legacy for your loved ones while doing good in the world.

Intergenerational wealth planning

With women more likely to outlive their partners, and therefore receive the bulk of family wealth first, it can feel overwhelming to suddenly be tasked with taking care of the rest of the family, particularly if you have not been the active financial decision maker before.

Increasingly, and more positively, women’s wealth in later years has come from our own personal success in our careers and our sensible financial planning, rather than merely passed on from a successful partner.

In either circumstance, planning and support is still essential in our retirement years to make sure our wealth continues to be managed and passed on tax-efficiently to our families.

At Path, we can explore all options available to you, such as gifting and trust planning, passing on your business, pension beneficiaries, nominees, and successors and ongoing portfolio management, to better meet yours and your family’s lifetime goals – both in retirement and beyond. 

[1] https://www.todayswillsandprobate.co.uk/main-news/majority-uk-adults-neglect-estate-planning/
[2] https://www.unbiased.co.uk/life/family-matters/long-term-care
[3] https://www.canadalife.co.uk/news/31-million-uk-adults-don-t-have-a-will-in-place/
[4] https://www.todayswillsandprobate.co.uk/main-news/the-nations-naivety-around-lasting-power-of-attorney/
[5] https://www.dementiastatistics.org/statistics/prevalence-projections-in-the-uk-2/
[6] https://www.ftadviser.com/tax-efficient-investments/2021/10/08/poor-planning-means-women-pay-more-inheritance-tax/
[7] https://www.statista.com/statistics/292929/giving-to-charity-in-england-by-gender/