Women at Risk

The fact that women have historically had less financial freedom than their male counterparts is nothing new. The problem is, that for certain women, their retirement is at risk – and it isn’t whom you might think.

While it’s true that women still earn less than men in the workplace at just over 80 cents for every dollar a man earns, that’d more than what women used to earn years ago, which puts older American women at risk.

And earning capacity is not the only thing to consider when it comes to retirement.

One surprising statistic shows that women who are in a two-income household face risks when they retire. A shocking 46 percent of married women in their 50s in dual-income households could seriously struggle to keep up with their current living standard once they retire. Compare that to just 32 percent of women who have a single income and are married or 39 percent of women in the same age range who’ve never walked down the aisle.

We know that women earn less, so it isn’t surprising to find that statistics show women save
32 percent less in retirement savings. If you earn less, you have less disposable income. Women also receive less in Social Security benefits according to Prudential. So, it’s harder for women to save as much as men for their golden years. Add to this the fact that women generally have more caregiving duties than their male counterparts, and time becomes a factor as well. It’s impossible to be earning a wage if you’re looking after kids or picking them up and ferrying them to sports practice.

It seems that being married is not a barometer of success in later life, including both partners not saving as much as they could and dual luxuries eating away at the budget. You need a larger house, and that means larger bills. Two cars and dual expenses all add up.

[4] Approximately 70 percent of women may not have enough money to survive if they do actually stop working at the Social Security Administration’s full retirement age of 67. Postponing retirement until age 70 might help or cutting expenses and trying to find a part-time job to boost savings are possibilities. There is no one size fits all solution, as everyone is different, and situations vary. But the fact is that many women are at risk, and that is not a good situation to be in.

 

 

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