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Why Women Need Retirement Planning More than Men Do
From the editors at WIFE |
The good news for women: they live
longer, so they will have longer to enjoy their retirement. The bad news: they live
longer, and so their retirement will be much more expensive than for their male
counterparts.
Women tend to outlive their husbands, and it is predicted that by 2003, only one-third of
women over sixty-five will be married, and women will outlive their husbands by fifteen
years.
The combination of being on their own and living longer means that women need far more
retirement income than do most men.
Unfortunately, women's pension plans just don't measure up. A study by the Older Women's
League says that women only receive 54% as much private pension income as do men, and they
are falling further and further behind. There is a simple reason for this. The pension you
receive depends on whether you stay on the job.
Today, more and more women are leaving the work force, because of layoffs, poor job
prospects, or to spend more time with their families. On average, women are out of the
work force for at least ten years, while men, on average, take just one year out of the
work force.
Women often think that they can rely on their husbands' pensions, but they are wrong.
Let's assume that a couple is living on the husband's pension, and the woman dies. Though
grief-stricken, the husband suffers no financial detriment, and goes on collecting his
full pension. But let's say the husband dies first, as is ordinarily the case.
His wife will probably get only 50% survivor benefits, which won't come close to providing
her the income she needs to carry on her life-style. No wonder 41% of older women are
living close to the poverty line. Not surprisingly, most widows who are poor now were not
poor before their husbands died.
Whether you are married or not, here are some of the things that you can do to build a
secure retirement for yourself.
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