Women and Retirement planning

The life expectancy of women exceeds that of men so imagine going from making $2000-plus per month to receiving a check on the second Wednesday of the month that resembles the cost of your mortgage? If they're lucky, they have a husband who is still living and receiving a check as well but what about the women trying to make it on their own?

That's a reality that many senior citizens face during retirement so when I read the following study I would be lying if I said that I was surprised.

ING U.S. released findings from a study commissioned by the ING Retirement Research Institute that sheds light on the distinct realities women encounter when saving and preparing for retirement.

According to the study, among those who have savings in or outside of an employer-sponsored retirement plan, men have substantially more saved than women, a striking $149,000, on average, compared to women, who averaged $108,000 in total savings.

Could it be that women are not encouraged to save as frequently as men?

In many households, boys are told at a young age that they have to provide for their families. They're encouraged to get out and work and make enough money to take care of their families. It really doesn't matter what environment they're a product of, the message of 'survival of the fittest' is loud and clear.

But what about girls?

While times are changing and the age of women getting married increases every year, girls are still encouraged to be passive in certain areas of their life. This rings true for the workforce and in relationships. In a perfect world, there is room for two leaders but you and I both know that the world is not perfect so if a man is taught to lead, then women are taught to follow.

Although followers play an important role in every situation, they aren't the leader. By definition, a follower subscribes to the teachings or methods of another. Followers don't think ahead, they seldom take initiative and they definitely don't plan for the future, i.e. retirement plans. In the study, men far outnumber women in terms of planning for retirement.

Let's look at some more statistics:

· The majority (60 percent) of mothers do not feel prepared for retirement and almost half (46 percent) don't know how to achieve their retirement goals.

· Less than three-in-ten (28 percent) have calculated how much they'll need to retire, compared to half (50 percent) of men.

· Gen Y (age 25-34) women are most likely to have barriers to saving (86 percent) compared to women 35 or older (74 percent) and more than half of Gen Y women (56 percent) have outstanding student loans.

What does the “Mother” profile look like?

· She has a median age of 40.6

· She’s likely married or living as married (80%)

· 63% have completed college or a higher level of education

· She contributes 7.1% of pay to her employer’s retirement plan, has a plan balance of $46,000

· She’s likely a moderate investor (55%)

· 85% have barriers to saving for retirement; insufficient income and debt are the most significant.

· She’s especially vulnerable to life’s sudden and financially unpleasant surprises

· She probably doesn’t have a will

· Saving for college for her children is a significant long-term financial goal – #1 for 26%, but retirement is the #1 long-term goal for 46% of women raising children (it's the #1 goal for 61% of women without children at home)

· She likely has life insurance (94%), but in terms of multiples of pay, her coverage is roughly 25% less than that of a similarly-insured father

· She’s not likely (only a third or 33%) to have calculated how much she’ll need to maintain her lifestyle in retirement

· She likely doesn't have a formal plan to reach her retirement goals (21%)

· She has higher expectations of her employer when it comes to financial education; 52% think their employers could to more

· She feels unprepared for retirement (60%)

Changing the mindset of millions of women isn't something that can happen overnight but it can be done.

Take responsibility and take action

Women, however, are more likely to report that “not knowing what my options are” is a significant impediment to retirement saving.

In relative terms, at all ages, women have saved significantly less than men. Younger women have saved just two thirds of men at the same age, and women age 65-69, in those critical pre-retirement years, have still saved just 78% of men the same age

At the same time, women are less likely to agree that “It is more important to maintain a good lifestyle than to plan and save for retirement.” 18% of men but only 13% of women agree. Conversely, more than half of women (52%) and just 46% of men actively disagree with the statement. Younger women, not surprisingly, are more likely to feel that current lifestyle takes precedence over long-term retirement planning

Educate yourself. No one knows everything and that's okay but that's what google is for. If you google the term "Retirement," one of the first thing that comes up is a link for Retirement Planing: Retirement Planning Checklist

Pace yourself. Getting to a place of financial empowerment doesn't just happen, it takes time. Take baby steps before you run. We want immediate results and are prone to give up if we don't see the light fast enough. Good things come to those who wait and that includes a lucrative retirement savings account.

We are all grown so we know what we should and should not be doing. Sometimes we just need a friendly reminder, to get our finances in order

The information here is from the following sources

Stephanie Penn, Editor at DailyVenusDiva.com Retirement Realities for Women, Posted: 05/08/2012; ING’s Retirement Revealed, On-line survey was conducted by ORC in October 2011