Image credit: © Spectorfiona | Dreamstime.com
A report reveals disparities in retirement planning and savings among today’s consumers, with women especially struggling to save for retirement.
Women face a growing retirement crisis amidst a host of responsibilities and institutional challenges, including caregiving needs and gender pay gaps. Previous research from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Research (TCRS) found that only 19% of female workers said they were “very” confident they could fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.
“In recent decades, women have made great strides in accessing educational and career opportunities. However, despite these advances, women still lack financial stability in retirement. They remain at greater risk than men,” said Katherine Collinson, CEO and President of Transamerica Research Institute and TCRS. “Factors such as the gender pay gap and time away from work to care for children and family members can hinder women’s lifetime earnings, retirement savings, and government and employer benefits. women tend to live longer than men, creating an even greater need to save for retirement.”
Transamerica has released 24 facts and findings about the personal finances and preparedness of women workers age 18 and older as part of its latest 24th Annual Retirement Survey.
“Our research examines the attitudes and challenges women face, uncovers problems, identifies viable opportunities, and serves as a societal call to improve retirement security.”
Katherine Collinson, Transamerica
“Our research examines the attitudes and challenges women face, uncovers problems, identifies viable opportunities, and serves as a societal call to improve retirement security.” Collinson said.
Transamerica points out how the next presidential administration can alleviate these challenges by addressing a number of gaps. For example, 60% of survey respondents named addressing Social Security’s funding shortfall as a top priority for the president and Congress.
Other priorities include making health care and prescription drug out-of-pocket costs more affordable (50%), addressing Medicare funding gaps (48%), and ensuring that all workers have access to retirement benefits at work. These include ensuring savings (46%) and increasing access to affordable medical supplies. housing (41%), implementing financial literacy curriculum in schools (39%), supporting family caregivers (38%), innovating more affordable solutions for long-term care (38%), and additional broadband access. (28%) and creating incentives for continuing education (28%).
“Everyone has to play their part to improve retirement security for women,” Ms Collinson said. “Policymakers can lead the way by addressing structural barriers and implementing reforms, and employers can strengthen their business practices and benefits to be more inclusive of women’s needs. Women can take the lead by becoming more involved in financial planning, and men can lean in and do more as advocates and allies. ”
Read the next page for key facts about women’s retirement prospects.
See: 16-24 facts about women’s retirement prospects
