We want to draw your attention to a new e-book available for download concerning the important issues women face in retirement. Heinz Family Philanthropies and The Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) electronically published "What Women Need to Know About Retirement." The 78-page e-book is available for quick free download at www.womensretirement.org.
The unique retirement problems that women face make this book very timely. Statistics show that the role of primary caregivers reduces the income of women dramatically over the course of their working life. That reduces Social Security benefits as well as pension benefits, if they are fortunate enough to work for an employer who still offers a pension plan. Spending less time on the job and earning less than men also limits what they can contribute to 401(k) and similar retirement savings accounts. The reduced savings and benefits impose financial hardships for women when they retire because they have longer life expectancies than their spouses.
Consider these statistics pulled from WISER publications:
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Social Security is the only source of income for 25% of unmarried womnen
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Women spend 27 years in the workforce while men work almost 40 years. Yet a woman who reaches 65 can expect to live until 84 or 85, about four years longer than a man.
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The median income for retired women was $12,080 in 2004 vs. the $21,102 retired men received.
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Fewer than 20% of women 65 or older received private pension income in 2000, with a median annual income from pension payments of $4,164, according to the Social Security Administration.
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Two of three working women earn less that $30,000 a year in jobs that do not offer pensions. Nearly half of all women work in low-paying jobs without retirement plans.
This book is a wake-up call to the estimated 40 million women who will retire over the next two decades. It provides free basic financial information in one spont, information many women (and men) are not getting through newspapaers, the internet and other sources.
