The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s (EBRI) Retirement Confidence survey finds that men and women share several similar expectations with regard to their retirement outlooks.
Both genders expect to retire at a median retirement age of 65 and, among those who have altered their retirement plans in the past 12 months, a majority of both men (90 percent) and women (86 percent) plan to retire later rather than earlier. An almost equal percentage of women (45 percent) as men (47 percent) indicate that they have tried to calculate how much in assets they will need to save to retire comfortably.
These similarities are despite the fact that women continue to generally live longer than men: 80.5 years vs. 75.5 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
This added life expectancy generally equates to higher healthcare expenses for women in retirement. In addition, pay disparities continue to exist, although a recent Pew Research Study revealed a record number of working women – who make up 47 percent of the workforce – are now the sole or primary breadwinner in 40 percent of households with children.
It would seem reasonable to assume that retirement expectations between genders would differ.
Interestingly, the EBRI survey found that despite differences in longevity and healthcare expenses, women are as statistically as likely as men to think they will need to accumulate less than $250,000 for retirement.
Women face at least nine unique challenges from financial and life circumstances related to long-term retirement planning. Addressing these can be overwhelming and uncomfortable.
Specifically, women:
1. Earn less.
2. Live longer.
3. Have fewer years of earned income.
4. Start investing later.
5. Are less confident about their personal finance and investing skills.
6. Are less-aggressive investors.
7. Are less satisfied with the current financial advisory industry.
8. If divorced, face specific challenges and obstacles.
9. Are statistically likely to die single, divorced, or widowed.
Often times worksite offerings, the ability to set money aside for supplemental retirement products through the ease of payroll deduction can be an easy and effective solution to some of these challenges.
CBLife’s worksite and individual solutions products can help supplement both men’s and women’s retirement portfolios. In particular, our Security Builder Plan (modified whole life) comes standard with a flexible premium annuity rider (FPAR). The FPAR is specifically designed for long-term accumulation of money. It is a fixed annuity, which means it earns a specified interest rate during each guaranteed period. In addition, a minimum guaranteed interest rate is set at the time of issuance and is guaranteed never to change for the life of the FPAR contract. Ask your Club Counselor for details. You can contact CBLife at (888) 443-8829.
| CBLife is The Club’s partner for four areas – life insurance, critical illness insurance, retirement income and accident medical expense insurance. Currently the Club offers three CBLife products: the Security Builder Plan, the Timber Ridge Critical Illness Plan and the Accident Medical Expense Plan. Ask your Club Counselor for details. You can contact CBLife at (888) 443-8829. |
