Marital Status Is ‘Significant Factor’ in Women’s Retirement Confidence: IRI

A report from the Insured Retirement Institute found that boomer women’s confidence in retirement planning was significantly influenced by their marital status.

Almost half of married women said they were doing a good job of preparing for retirement, compared with just 30% of unmarried women. Sixty percent of married women have attempted to determine how much they’ll need to save, compared with 41% of unmarried women. Unmarried women are more likely to report not being very knowledgeable about financial products and are far more likely to believe Social Security will be a major part of their retirement income.

“Married women may be more confident not only because of their own level of retirement preparedness, but because their retirement security will likely be supplemented by their spouse, be it through access to two workplace savings plans, dual Social Security benefits, or simply having the ability with two incomes to save a little more for retirement,” Cathy Weatherford, president and CEO of IRI, told AdvisorOne.

While earlier research from IRI found that 95% of women are involved in the financial decision-making in their household, 53% say they have contacted a financial advisor.

“Financial decision makers in their own right, married women can benefit simply by having two people in the retirement savings equation,” Weatherford said.

The report found that unmarried women are far less likely to ask for help from a financial advisor. Over two-thirds of unmarried women say they have never contacted a financial advisor for retirement planning advice, compared with 47% of married women.

“The need for retirement advice is arguably greater for unmarried women,” Weatherford said. “Depending on circumstances, they may be looking to secure their retirement based on their income and assets alone, whereas married women likely are planning to rely on the savings and assets of their spouse as well.”