LGBT: Retirement Preparations Amid Social Progress
Many of the traditional patterns of family and working lives, including the way people plan and save for the long-term, have not applied in equal measure to the LGBT community. Until recently, LGBT people were legally denied same-sex relationship recognition, limiting their ability to get married and start families. In addition, discrimination in the workplace has limited the career opportunities, equal pay, and employee benefits offered to LGBT people. These factors impact LGBT people throughout their working lives and later on in their retirement, for example, by being denied spousal rights on government and employer pension benefits.
LGBT: Retirement Preparations Amid Social Progress is a collaboration among nonprofits Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies® (US), and Instituto de Longevidade Mongeral Aegon (Brazil) and Aegon (the Netherlands). The research report focuses on the retirement aspirations and plans among the LGBT community. It is based on findings from a survey of 900 LGBT workers and retirees across nine countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The research finds both similarities and differences between how the LGBT people and heterosexuals prepare for retirement. While LGBT people and heterosexuals share broadly similar expectations regarding their retirement ages, their preparations differ in subtle, yet important, ways. The research also finds that LGBT people are more likely to have set forth a written retirement plan, but they are less likely to be saving habitually.
The main conclusion of this report is that LGBT people face an even greater risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement compared to heterosexuals. While LGBT people and heterosexuals share similar retirement aspirations, differences in family circumstances, challenges in the workplace and health issues lead to greater vulnerability among LGBT people. The report also concludes that individuals, employers, the financial services industry, and governments all have a role to play in supporting healthy aging and long-term financial security for all communities.