Securing fair financial futures for all
6 Moments That Matter is a unique six life-stage approach created by Jane Portas to help everyone to live a fair and secure financial life.
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6 Moments That Matter for everyone
6 Moments That Matter is a way of thinking about our money and our life that helps us to work out steps we can all take – whether we are an individual, a parent, an employer, a business or a policymaker - to secure our own, our loved ones’ and society’s financial future.
Based on many years of extensive and detailed Risks in Life research applying risk management principles to people's whole lives, the 6 Moments That Matter are six life stages where our life circumstances, the life events we face, and the life decisions we make, shape all of our financial futures.
Learn more about how 6 Moments That Matter can help you to navigate your financial life.

How 6 Moments That Matter works
6 Moments That Matter works on the basis that we all face Risks in Life that have the potential to affect our financial security. The Moments That Matter are points in our lives which prompt us to reflect on how we are approaching our financial future.
With risks come opportunities and understanding the Risks in Life we face and how they affect our money enables us to manage our financial wellbeing today and to take ownership of our financial future tomorrow.

Growing up, Studying & Re-Qualifying
Experiences and opportunities while growing up, qualification choices, student life and ongoing skills development can have far-reaching financial consequences.
Differences in people’s earnings are often influenced by education and skills, and the career they open up and return to.
Jobs and workplaces are changing, requiring lifelong learning. Making informed decisions, having the opportunity to maintain our skills and to invest in our development supports our long-term financial wellbeing.
Together, Risks in Life and 6 Moments That Matter make up our Financial Life Journey.
Risks in Life
Our Risks in Life vary depending on the education paths we take, the jobs we do, how we form relationships and families, and our healthy wellbeing in working life and in retirement.
In the diverse society we live in, Risks in Life are also affected by intersectional differences, for example to do with our gender and ethnicity, whether we live with disabilities as well as our cultural and lifestyle beliefs.
12 top level financial Risks in Life that affect everyone are highlighted here. The Risks in Life are given names to help us to remember them all.
Financial Capability Imperative
Many of us find managing financial matters complicated. At the same time, we all face different combinations of Risks in Life and experience our own unique Financial Life Journey. Life is becoming less linear with more to consider in navigating our financial future.
Living longer, working longer, more flexibly, and changes in relationships means decisions about life and money are ever more complex, with implications for financial security. Being engaged in financial life decisions, seeking out and being afforded access to relevant financial information, guidance and advice empowers people to make informed decisions that reflect their Financial Life Journeys.
Financial Life Journey
We all have our own unique Financial Life Journey made up of different combinations of Risks in Life and Moments That Matter. Some people experience similarities in their Financial Life Journey – for example, women and other diverse groups.
Considering Financial Life Journeys for a particular group of people or a specific Risk in Life can identify changes to address financial gaps that affect many people’s financial futures.
The 6 Moments That Matter help focus our attention on the Risks in Life we face through our Financial Life Journey, they prompt us to equip ourselves so that we can make informed and positive choices that reflect our life circumstances and aspirations for our own, our loved ones', our colleagues’, our customers’ and society’s financial future.
Click to see Althea’s Risks in Life & Moments That Matter on her Financial Life Journey

Althea is 59 years old. Find out about her Financial Life Journey so far, her Risks in Life, Moments That Matter and the decisions she is now facing.


Althea went to university and then started out in marketing. Early in her career she worked full-time. The Gender Pay Gap was wider then, 21% full-time in 1997 (7% today).


Althea decided to marry in her mid-20s and to move in with her husband afterwards. In 1990, the marriage rate for both men and women was 2x the marriage rate today and marrieds expected to stay together.


Althea stopped work when she had her first child. Back then most people thought mothers of pre-school children should stay at home, 64% in 1997 whereas 33% today.


Althea’s pension is a fraction of her husband’s. The value of men’s average pension wealth (excluding the state pension) age 55 to 64 years is 1.5x women’s for people with pension savings, and 2.6x for men and women overall. This gap grows with age to 1.9x and 5.2x in the late 60s and early 70s. This is the Gender Pension Gap.

Like many people Althea had not realised there was such a big gap or thought through the implications on retirement. 5 in 10 men and 7 in 10 women do not know how much pension they have.

She is now back working full-time and re-started saving for her pension. Today, the full-time Gender Pay Gap peaks in the 50s and 60s, impacting savings.


Althea is going through a divorce. The divorce rate over 55 years is rising - up 39% for women and 22% for men since 1990.

She needs to earn but her prospects are far lower than her soon-to-be ex-husband’s. Age 56 plus, future lifetime earnings for men with a degree are almost 2x women’s.

Althea’s Financial Life Journey and future prospects are relevant when considering the divorce agreement, especially pension sharing and dividing property.

It’s quite likely she will live alone in future. More people are living alone driven by increases in women aged 45 to 65 years and men aged 65 to 74 years.


45% of people self fund later life care costs mostly through realising their home. Althea will need to consider her plan – only half of divorced people own property (83% of marrieds).

Thinking about the Risks in Life she experienced on her Financial Life Journey helps Althea to reconcile her financial life today and to consider the Moments That Matter that will shape it tomorrow.
Interactive Financial Life Journeys
See how the Risks in Life arise and accumulate throughout our lives, and how the 6 Moments That Matter help prompt individuals and organisations to make changes that improve Financial Life Journeys.