Women & Money: The Bottom Line

Women face a number of unique financial risks in retirement, including:

Outliving retirement funds

Growing older alone because they typically live longer than men

Lower retirement incomes due to less time in the work force

Greater health care costs, including out-of-pocket and Long Term Care expenses

Added care-giving responsibilities

What’s worse is that a majority of women have not been proactive in addressing these issues.

However, women who step up to the plate and take charge of their financial future by planning for contingencies have a much better chance of securing a financially safe retirement than those who do nothing about it.

The numbers don’t lie…

— Today, women have a 50% chance of living to 88 . . . a 25% chance of living to 93 1

— If you retire in your 60s, plan on a retirement of up to 30 years 2

— Women receive about half the average pensions of men 3

— Women spend an average of 15% of their career years out of workforce 4

— Half of women age 75+ live alone 5

— A common mistake for women to make is to rely on men to handle finances for them. However, 80%-90% of women will be responsible for their own finances in their lives 6

Ladies, the bottom line is this, don’t put this off any longer. I want to encourage you to take the first step. You’ll be so happy you did. Are you ready to take charge of your finances?

1 US Department of Health and Human Services, “A Profile of Older Americans, Administration on Aging,” 2005.
2 US Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, 2006.
3 Institute for Women’s Policy Research Report, 2004
4 Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement and National Center for Women’s Retirement Research, 2005.
5 U.S. Department of Heath and Human Resources, Administration on Aging, “A Profile of Older Americans,” 2005.
6 The Motley Fool, “10 Money Tips for Women,” January 2004.