Women Still Underfunded On The Road To Retirement

A Wells Fargo survey about women’s retirement found only slightly more than 50% of middle-class women are confident they will be able to save enough money for retirement.

The survey, which focused on middle-class women from their 20s to 60s, asked questions regarding retirement, the amount of money saved and pensions.

54% of women, compared with 62% of men who answered the same question, were confident they will have enough saved to last throughout retirement.

Also, only 40% of female respondents believed they would have a pension available to them when they retire, compared with 48% of men.

Both men and women are unprepared financially for retirement, although men have saved a median $5,000 more than women.

The survey also found most married women do not consider themselves the primary financial decision maker, though a majority, 83%, said they do consider themselves a “joint” decision maker, whereas only 58% of married men said they are a joint decision maker.

Another result from the survey shows only 27% of women have confidence in the stock market, compared to 40% for men.

When asked what they would do with $5,000 they had to use for retirement, 40% of the women said they would buy bank CDs, instead of investing it in the stock market, compared to 30% of men.

Source: Wells Fargo, Businesswire.com