For generations, women have faced several obstacles in the workforce. And although they have overcome most of these challenges, there is one issue that still plagues them – retirement. In a piece from Forbes, reporter Manisha Thakor highlights the recent Merrill Lynch webinar, “Women & Retirement: Investing for the Life you Want,” to illustrate the distinctive obstacles that women face when saving for retirement.

Women typically face more challenges in saving for retirement than their male counterparts and they also tend to live longer. This means that they need to save more and thoroughly plan how to make their nest egg last longer in retirement. Thakor makes the following observations:

• Women need to save more than men.
• Women face unique challenges finding money to save.
• Women respond differently to questions about financial planning.

Women need to save more than men

Thakor remarks correctly that women live longer than men in life, and need more to support themselves in old age. She mentions a panel moderated by ABC World News Tonight anchor Charlie Gibson that estimated the cost of healthcare for retirees at around $170,000 for men and $240,000 for women. But, according to Sallie Krawcheck, the President of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth and Investment Management, women “are retiring with two-thirds of the assets of men.”

Women face unique challenges finding money to save

According to Thakor, women are still doing two times the housework and three times the childcare than that of men, so finding time to save is challenging. Women are also not asking for raises at the same rate as men. “Krawcheck guesstimated that men ask her for raises at a rate of 50- to -1 more frequently than women. Fellow panelist and USA Network founder Kay Koplovitz concurred.”

Thakor says it gets even worse when women drop out of the workforce to care for kids or an aging parent, “[women] see a nearly 15% drop in earnings after just 1 year. And that drop in earnings grows to nearly 50% if we stay out for 3 or more years.”

Women respond differently to questions about financial planning

Thakor says that research shows that women and men both get confused with financial jargon, but men tend not to let that confusion bother them. On the other hand women let the confusion stop them in their tracks.

But these limitations on retirement savings for women should not be a deterrent to planning for the future. Women of all ages should begin to look at their finances and consider if they are putting enough away for retirement. On the policy front, our legislators must do more to encourage women to better plan for retirement.  This includes strengthening employer-sponsored plans, providing incentives for retirement planning and increasing the visibility of retirement tools. With a little bit of planning and more attention and encouragement from policymakers, women can overcome the retirement challenge and guarantee a secure retirement into the future.

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