Ten Reasons Women Should Save For Retirement

It is essential for everyone to save for retirement, but there are specific reasons why women need to focus on their investment plans. Planning for the future can be difficult and confusing, but investing in your retirement now will keep you from worrying about your financial stability later in life.

First of all, all those jokes you’ve heard are true: Women do live longer than men. Statistics from 2004 revealed that women have a 5.2 year longer life expectancy than men. Since women outlive men, they need to be financially able to cope with supporting themselves after retirement on a single income.

The income gap is not a myth. Current research still shows that women earn less money than men. In April of 2007, a study released by the American Association of University Women revealed that one year after graduating from college, women earn only 80% of what men earn. The study also found that ten years after, women only earn 69% of what men earn.

Regardless of stereotypes, women are not unable to hold down a job. But, it is true that women change jobs more often than men. Women are more likely than men to switch to more flexible jobs for family reasons. Another reason women change jobs more often is because women don’t receiving as much fulfilling work as men do, making them bored with their jobs and causing them to move on.

Women are more likely to leave their jobs to raise a family or provide care for elderly parents. This means that women leave and return to the work force more than men do. Returning to the workforce after productive time away is often difficult for women. It is possible to successfully return to a career, but it won’t be the same as it is for the people who did not take time off.

Because many women with families seek out jobs that are flexible to the lifestyle of a working parent, women are more likely to work in kinds of jobs where there aren’t employer-provided retirement benefits. As well, some women work part-time, thus remaining ineligible for many benefits. Many jobs, like those in childcare, are mostly filled by women, but remain underpaying and rarely offer valuable benefits.

The women’s rights movement has been very successful, but women who were in the workforce before the enactment of the Equal Pay Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) in 1974 were adversely affected by the laws restricting jobs, overtime, and hours. Women who were already working before these laws went into effect have never been able to claim any of their lost earnings.

Working women who do receive benefits receive considerably lower benefits than men. This is a fairly simple one to figure out: if women are earning less than men, their retirement benefits will be less than what men get as these benefits are based on what you earn.

Whether women want to do it, or feel that society pressures them to, women are the ones who leave their jobs to work at home as a caretaker. Women are more likely to temporarily leave the job market to care for their family. This means they are working, but not earning.

It is more likely for women to give up a job and benefits when their spouse is relocated. Although some men do follow their female partners to new jobs, the women tend to be the ones who give up their jobs to follow their partners.

The idea of women having to invest and plan their own retirement savings is still new. Women do not have role models for retirement planning. Luckily, future generations won’t have this same problem.

Start learning what you can do to invest in a retirement plan now. Check your local community centers and libraries for free investment planning workshops, ask for advice from family and mentors, and check out books and articles to learn more.

Have some tips or thoughts you would like to share? Leave a comment in the box at the bottom of the page.