Study Finds Retirement Confidence Gap Among Women

Women are less likely than men to believe their personal finances or the economy will improve in the next year — and less likely to save as much for retirement.

The latest Transamerica Small Business Retirement Survey found a confidence crisis among women. Catherine Collinson, retirement and market trends expert for the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, said: “More than half of women surveyed believe that they could work until age 65 and still not have enough saved for retirement — and if they don’t take action, they may be right.”

The survey found many women aren’t taking full advantage of retirement savings — even though they start saving at the same age as men and participate in retirement plans at similar levels. Some key findings:

• Women contribute a median of 6% of pay to their company-sponsored retirement account; men contribute 7%.
• Women spend five hours per year managing their retirement accounts; men spend 10 hours.
• Women surveyed have saved $71,800 to date for retirement; men have saved $122,700.
• About 80% of women report not knowing as much as they should about retirement investing; 67% of male workers say they should know more.

Although women live longer, most estimated they would need to save an average of $639,000 to meet their retirement goals — one-third lower than the $941,000 estimated by men.

The survey found common ground in the need for improved financial planning. About one-third of both men and women admit basing their estimates on guesswork instead of using a worksheet or calculator or meeting with a financial advisor.

Source: Transamerica Small Business

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