• Handling a Financial Windfall
• Build an Emergency Fund
• Fund Payments to Nationwide
• Children and Money
• Women and Retirement

Women and Retirement

When it comes to being financially prepared for retirement, women typically lag behind men.

They may work just as hard as their male counterparts, but they:

• Earn 76 cents for every dollar earned by male workers*
• Receive only 71% of the Social Security benefits as that of men - $11,057 vs. $15,557 for men*
• Have only half the income from retirement savings plans as men*

Women earn and save less

A woman will generally make less in her life than a man with the same job will. And because she’s usually the primary caregiver for her children and aging parents, she’ll spend less time in the workforce.

As a result, women often have less money to save for retirement and fewer years of employment to put toward a pension and Social Security benefits.

And since they usually live longer than men do, women have less retirement income to spread out over more years.

Investing and planning are key

All of which makes investing and planning for future particularly critical for women.

For instance:

• Investigating the benefits available if widowed
• Discussing an estate plan with an investment professional
• Becoming familiar with the family’s investment picture

^{*U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009}