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May 03, 2012 at 12:34 PM
That women are less prepared for a secure retirement than men is well-reported. A survey released Thursday by ING Retirement Research Institute digs into various women’s segments to see how pervasive the problem is.
Men have nearly $150,000 saved on average, compared with women who have just $108,000, according to the report, “What About Women (and Retirement)?” Similar percentages of men and women contribute to their employer-sponsored retirement account (73% of women compared to 77% of men), but 55% of women are contributing to another account as well, compared with 61% of men.
Both genders report barriers to saving like not enough income or too much debt, but women are more likely to say they don’t save because they don’t know what their options are. Single women are especially likely to say this, while divorced or widowed women are more likely to claim low income or high debt as their primary barrier to saving.
Just 36% of women have ever calculated how much they’ll need in retirement, compared with 49% of men, and while only a third of men have a formal plan to reach their retirement goals, even fewer women have one (25%).
Looking at different segments of women investors, mothers have even less saved than women overall, with just $88,000. Over half of mothers have less than $25,000 saved in their retirement plans and less than two-thirds are taking full advantage of their employer’s company match. By comparison, 76% of fathers take their company’s full match.
Almost 70% of single women rely on their own research or input from their family and friends for financial guidance. Married women are only slightly less likely to do so (63%), but they are more likely to work with a financial professional (31%) than single women (21%). While half of men have calculated how much they’ll need for retirement, just 28% of single women have.
“There isn’t much difference between segments of women, but compared with men, women have less saved and are less engaged than men,” Delia deLisser, director of women’s marketing for ING, told AdvisorOne.
The goal of the report, deLisser (left) says, is to give advisors information they can share with their clients that will make them aware of the challenges they face. “Women have greater needs,” deLisser says, “and need to be engaged and proactive.”