Helping Women Save

Art by Eben Alex-Meyer

As progressive, societal reforms are implemented every day, one issue seems to remain a constant in our modern world: the gender pay gap.

While the wage differential is tightening, each passing year, women still need to give up more of their paycheck than do their male colleagues—all just to accumulate an equal amount of retirement savings.

According to the NerdWallet report, “Pay Gap Closing but Women May Face Retirement Shortfall,” the problem behind the gap is not necessarily due to gender itself but, instead, the greater chance men will gain upper management positions and, as a result, earn more than their women colleagues. Life factors that lead to career breaks, such as women aiding as caregivers and requesting maternity leave, influence this shortfall.

“When you add that to the fact that women are living longer than men on average, and then also taking career breaks to raise children or to care for family members and elderly parents, all of those things add up a retirement savings gap,” says Arielle O’Shea, investing and retirement specialist at NerdWallet.

To help address these challenges, Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies produced a report, “Seventeen Facts About Women’s Retirement Outlook … and Eight Steps to Improve It,” listing statistics for other issues that add to the wage barrier. Survey findings were selected from the center’s annual “Retirement Study of American Workers.”        

For those less familiar with retirement planning, Catherine Collinson, president of Transamerica, suggests implementing convenience features, such as online retirement calculators and automatic escalation, and adding a once-a-year event during the benefits enrollment season. According to the report, 57% of women believe simpler advice would aid significantly in encouraging them to learn more about retirement.

“Part of the challenge of saving is having funds available to save, but another is, sometimes it can be really complicated with all the paperwork,” she says. “The more convenient we can make it for people to save, the more likely they will save.”