Household financial decision making: Qualitative research with couples

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Decision-making typologies
‘My pension at work is changing which I think initiated us looking at pensions … So we have not 
made any decisions as such but we are fairly aware that we are going to have to in the next
few years.’
(Danielle, 40s, North West)
Even if they had concerns about their retirement; some people admitted to having their ‘head in the 
sand’. For example, Hailey had learned after a few years in a previous job that the proportion of her 
final salary paid out by the company’s defined benefit (DB) scheme would be reduced by two-thirds 
from the proportion she had been promised initially. She had made no further plans to supplement 
that pension scheme. Mathew explained that he had a defined contribution (DC) scheme through his 
employer, but felt that he had started contributions quite late in life. However, he had not made any 
plans to increase his contributions or organised a supplementary source of retirement income.
For beta partners, lack of engagement was in some cases reinforced by reliance on their alpha 
partner, and the underlying expectation for the alpha partner to organise provision on their 
behalf. This reliance was generally extended from existing dynamics within their relationship, and 
specifically from their approach to household finances. Beta partners, who often relied on their 
alpha partner to provide the majority of the household income, tended to adopt the same reliance 
in relation to retirement planning. Mathew’s wife Debbie had made no provision for retirement, and 
although she regretted this, she had not made any alternative plans and expected to depend on 
Mathew to a large extent, as well as the state pension.
‘I find it [the thought of retiring] quite frightening actually because I haven’t got a private 
pension and I could kick myself that I have never organised it.’ 
(Debbie 50s, South East)
One or two of the couples in the Cautious and Content group also mentioned more immediate 
financial priorities that they deemed more urgent than retirement planning, such as paying 
their children’s university fees. In these cases, the couples envisaged that discussions regarding 
retirement would be revisited after these priorities had been dealt with. Even at this relatively late 
stage in the life course, retirement planning had been sacrificed to other emerging priorities. 
‘Things [planning for retirement] have kind of stopped because we are very aware that we may 
have two children at university in the next year or so. We haven’t done anything really.
It [retirement planning] will probably be revisited once they get through [university].’ 
(Danielle, 40s, North West)