Yahoo Finance Retirement Savings Crisis: Here’s How Much Women Have Fallen Behind Men In 2024
Retirement is supposed to be a stress-free time of relaxation and enjoyment. Hopefully, you’ve saved for many decades and your money has grown enough to sustain your lifestyle for many years to come.
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Starting in 2024, a record number of 65-year-old Americans are slated to enter retirement. The phenomenon known as “peak 65” is already underway, with an average of 11,000 Americans a day celebrating their 65th birthday between now and December, according to CBS News Money Watch.
However, when it comes to their younger 55-year-old counterparts, the current data shows they’re not financially prepared to enter retirement — and that retirement savings are not equal between men and women.
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Women Are Seriously Lacking In Retirement Funds
According to Prudential Financial’s 2024 Pulse of the American Retiree Survey, across all age groups, women are particularly vulnerable, holding less than a third of the median savings of men. The average median retirement savings for a 55-year-old man is about $157,000, while that same figure for a 55-year-old woman is only $50,000.
Further, women are nearly three times as likely to delay retirement due to caregiving duties as compared to men, and nearly twice as likely to delay retirement due to housing prices.
“Further, the financial futures of certain cohorts — such as women — are especially precarious,” explained Caroline Feeney, CEO of Prudential’s U.S. Businesses. “The upside is that, with the right planning and strategy to protect their life’s work, we can ensure this generation is well-prepared to live not only longer, but better.”
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The Average 55-Year-Old American Hasn’t Saved Enough For Retirement
While women find themselves in a more precarious situation than men, people of both genders have a lot of saving and investing to do over the next 10 years. With just a single decade until retirement, the average 55-year-old American has only $47,950 in median retirement savings. Additionally, about one-third of 55-year-olds have postponed retirement due to high inflation these days.
Probably the scariest data point is that a stunning 71% of 55-year-olds have not calculated how many years their current retirement savings will last them — and two-thirds of this group expect they’ll outlive their savings.
Saving For Retirement Early and Often Is Crucial
If you’re 55 years old (or older), it’s never too late to start aggressively saving for retirement. You’ll have a lot of catching up to do, but better late than never. Ultimately, you’ll need to save a lot more every month to ensure you have enough funds to call it quits at work. You might also want to consider working past age 65 to ensure a financially sound retirement.
No matter your gender, it’s of paramount importance to start saving for retirement as early and as often as possible. Sticking to this best practice will allow for more compounding over time, which can grow your wealth exponentially. As a general rule of thumb, be sure to save at least 15% of your annual income toward retirement each year — and more, if you can.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Retirement Savings Crisis: Here’s How Much Women Have Fallen Behind Men In 2024
