A recent article in Planadvisor.com highlighted findings from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies that a majority of women (53%) plan to remain in the workforce after the age of 65, and 13% plan to never retire.  The reasons for remaining in the workforce are not surprising, and they include the need to supplement income, fear that Social Security won’t be there or will be diminished when they need it, and the lack of retirement savings.

According to TCRS, these fears are not unwarranted, and there perceptions of the issues may be more realistic than their male counterparts.  Regrettably, women earn only 80.5% of the salary that males earn. Furthermore, they are more likely to work part-time at some point during their careers and to also be out of the labor force for parenting or caregiving responsibilities. Only 12% of women are confident that they will be able to retire while maintaining a “comfortable lifestyle”.

Here are some other notable statistics from the study:

While 82% of men are saving for retirement, only 73% of women are. Both men and women started saving for retirement at the median age of 27.

While 75% of men are offered a retirement plan, only 66% of women are.

While 28% of women work part time, only 14% of men do so.

While 77% of women who are offered a retirement plan participate in it, 84% of men do.

Men contribute an average of 10% of their salary, while women contribute 7%. However, while 31% of men have taken an early withdrawal, loan, or hardship withdrawal from their retirement plan, only 27% of women have done so.

While fully two-thirds of men are saving for retirement outside of their workplace retirement plan, only 52% of women are doing the same.

Women say their total retirement savings median is $42,000, and men say it is $123,000. Thirty-eight percent of men say they have saved $250,000 or more, but only 20% of women can say the same.

In fact, 21% of women and 12% of men have less than $10,000 in retirement savings.

In celebration of International Women’s Day (3/8), let’s remember the women in our lives who have sacrificed so much during their careers and, as a result, have likely negatively impacted a financially sound retirement.