Keeping on Track

Women getting back on track with retirement planning A new survey of employer-sponsored retirement plan participants by the Nationwide Retirement Institute® found that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the retirement confidence of women more than men.

But women are taking steps to get back on track, including trusting the guidance of financial professionals and shifting their retirement savings approach.

Women are missing key retirement planning milestones. Women are less likely than men to have started retirement plan contributions, saved enough in an emergency fund or increased contributions to their workplace retirement plans.

Many women say they’re on the wrong track for retirement, and COVID-19 has made it worse. About 1 in 5 women (18%) expect to retire later than planned due to the pandemic.

On the positive side, many women are acting now to improve their retirement outcomes. Since the start of the pandemic, two-thirds of plan sponsors say women are more likely than men to have made changes to their retirement plans.

Among women participating in workplace retirement plans, around half (48%) showed interest in guaranteed lifetime income investment options.

Women are more likely than men to trust financial professionals when it comes to many aspects of retirement planning.

Women are experiencing more negative emotions about retirement. Stress from the pandemic has affected people’s financial lives. Women feel less confident and more worried than men about their current retirement plan status – in fact, one in 10 women feel panicked. There is hope, the average American hopes to retire by age 62 but in reality, they retire closer to 65 and work part-time or on a contract until 70. Retirement is not an age, it is a financial number, and in todays economy, people reach that number by about age 70. 

Retirement planning, however, is not one-size-fits-all for men or for women. To plan for retirement, it is recommended to sit down with a financial planner. One of the first things you should do is determine exactly how much money you need per year to fund your dream retirement. Once you have that yearly total, you and your advisor can work your way backward to figure out what size nest egg you need and you will get some help on how to build the nest egg you need.