Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) published its annual research study on women and retirement. For more than a decade TCRS has published research showing that women are at greater risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement compared to men.

Findings from the TCRS 2016 national survey of working women include:

• Only one in ten are “very confident” that they will be able to retire comfortably.
• Women’s total household retirement savings is $34,000 (estimated median)
• More than half are “guessing” at the amount they will need to save in order to feel secure in retirement.
• Four out of five are concerned that Social Security will not be available to them when they are ready to retire.

Furthermore, the snowball effect of the gender wage gap and its eventual impact on retirement income continues to be a challenge for women to overcome:

The facts are startling and clear. Women must begin taking greater control and gain an understanding of their true retirement outlook. By confronting challenges head-on, women can acquire essential knowledge about how to achieve financial security and create plans that can help mitigate risks and steer them on a course for a more positive outlook for their retirement ambitions.

Source: https://www.transamericacenter.org/docs/default-source/women-and-retirement/tcrs2017_sr_women_and_retirement_17_facts.pdf