New research shows that a significant number of female employees have fallen well behind their male counterparts when it comes to saving for retirement. So what should employers do to close the gap?
Here are two very eye-opening stats from a recent report by the ING Retirement Research Institute:
- Women have $41,000 less saved for retirement than men over the course of a lifetime, and
- Women with children have a full $61,000 less in retirement savings than men.
These numbers are even more troubling when considering the fact that, on average, women live 8% longer than men – and spend more on health care as a result of this.
Target your efforts
So what can benefits pros do to help women workers bridge the savings gap? One idea: Talk to your 401(k) provider about retirement-planning sessions that are geared specifically toward helping women with their savings goals.
Also, share any tips/best practices you come across in your company newsletter or on your firm’s intranet.
Example: Wiserwomen.org is a website that focuses on providing retirement planning help and useful tech tools. And the site is tailored specifically to women.
