Believe it or not, women are not saving for retirement with as much vigor as men. Marlene Satter of BenefitsPro explains why and how women may be able to change this.
Everyone knows that almost no one is saving enough for retirement these days. What may be a surprise is that women trail men in retirement savings by a hefty margin, and are more likely to default on loans from retirement plans than men.
But why does this happen? And, perhaps more important, what can be done about it?
First, here are the facts, according a study from Aon Hewitt, which found that women not only save less — 6.9 percent compared to men’s 7.6 percent — and have average retirement balances of only $59,300 compared with men’s average balances of $100,000, but a third also fail to take full advantage of employer matches. Only a quarter of men fail to rake in as much as their employers will give.
