About 75% of the male respondents said they have had some preparations for retirement. Only 70% of the women said they did something. Fifty five percent of the males said they made early contributions a 401(k) plan. Only 47% of the women said they did.
What could have caused this divide? Perhaps it is because women face more financial hurdles to retirement than men do. One, women take care of the children or old parents. They have to stay away from work to take care of a lot of caregiving tasks. This can create a negative impact on a woman’s earning capacities. If it is anticipated that caregiving can cause pauses to a career, setting aside extra cash should be considered.
Two, generally speaking, women have longer lifespans than men. If this is true, then women need more retirement funds to take care of the potential increase in healthcare costs. Unfortunately, the survey indicated that only 15% of the female respondents were confident about their retirement funds being able to handle future healthcare costs. Women should plan how they will handle this situation in the future.
Three, women are more tentative when it comes to investments. This is not at all bad, but taking investment risks is more beneficial. Women just need to hit the balance in approaching investment portfolio.
Putting aside gender, these woes may be dealt with by taking on more decisive steps.
1. Take time to think about how your retirement should look like. This will make it easy to make the necessary steps to get there.
2. Take advantage of the retirement plans offered by your employer. If possible, max out your 401(k) plan contributions. Self-employed individuals should be more active in planning their retirement.
3. Invest in healthcare insurance.
4. Begin curbing unnecessary expenses. Place the amounts you give up into the retirement fund.
5. Save more, spend less.
Retirement planning may be overwhelming but it is a must-have for everyone. If it becomes difficult to determine how to get there, get the services of a professional financial advisor.