June 14, 2012
--- Women’s confidence in their retirement preparedness
has slipped, and they are still behind men in terms of how much they are saving
for retirement. ---
However, the gender gap in
retirement planning is smaller than most other areas, with virtually no gap
between men and women who participate in employer-sponsored plans or IRAs,
according to research from Financial Finesse.
Ninety-one percent of women reported
they participate in their employer-sponsored retirement plan, compared with 92%
of men, and 26% of women said they contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA, vs.
27% of men. In addition, 87% of men and 79% of women indicated they are
capturing the maximum employer match offered by their employer
plans.
However, only 12% of women said they
are on target to replace 80% of their income in retirement, compared to 22% of
men.
While nine in ten (89%) men reported
they had general investment knowledge, two-thirds (66%) of women said the same.
Only 29% of women feel their investments are allocated appropriately, vs. 45%
of men.
Financial Finesse’s research is
primarily based on tracking employees’ most pressing financial concerns through
their usage of its financial education services.
The complete research report is here.
Rebecca Moore