Women vs. Men – The Retirement Savings Battle

September 21, 2012

Did you know that 60% of working Americans have less than $25,000 put aside for retirement?  Moreover, 30% of Americans have less than $1,000 saved for retirement!

Among the individuals who do save money for their retirement, men tend to have more in their retirement funds than women.  According to a recent study by The Vanguard Group, Inc., the median retirement savings for men was $33,547, which is 56% more than the $21,499 accumulated by women.

There are several speculations about why men tend to accumulate more for retirement than women, with some people thinking that women may not fully understand the value of saving for retirement.  However, statistics show that women do understand the value of retirement and even tend to contribute more (in terms of percentage of income) to their retirement accounts than men.  The following are three myths regarding how women invest and the realties behind these misconceptions:

• Myth – Women are less likely to take advantage of workplace retirement programs.  The reality is that when women have access to workplace retirement plans, they often have higher participation rates than men.
• Myth – Women contribute less to retirement plans.  Statistics actually show that in general, meaning at every income level, women tend to contribute more to their retirement plans than men.
• Myth – Women are more risk-averse.  This is a common misconception, but the reality is that there is little difference between the sexes in exposure to stocks.

Therefore, as the above realities hold true, the real reason that men have more in their retirement accounts than women all comes back to earnings.  Men are more likely to work in higher-paying jobs, more likely to work full- time, and less likely to have gaps in their employment (for example: to care for children or elderly parents).

Saving consistently and investing wisely is a simple formula for success, but challenging to put into practice.  With NuView IRA, you have the opportunity to self-direct your IRA in real estate, notes, mortgages, private companies, and other ways that most financial advisors are unaware.  Give NuView a call today at (407) 367-3472 or visit them at staging-wwwnuviewtrustcom.kinsta.cloud to find out all the options available to you.