Planning for the future can be a daunting task. The younger you are, the easier it is to put it off until next month or next year. The older you are, the harder it is to find the time and the energy. Both men and women need to plan for how they will pay the bills during their retirement years. But it is especially important for women, who live on average four years longer than men and as a result need more income. It’s important to understand the facts and learn how to plan for the future.

Over the next two decades, nearly 40 million women will reach retirement age. Unfortunately, our nation’s retirement system was created at a time when men were the primary wage earners and women worked at home; the system has not kept up with the times. Some women today are fortunate enough to be able to rely on a stable retirement income known as the three-legged stool: 1) Social Security benefits, 2) income from an employer-provided retirement plan and 3) individual savings. In theory, these three legs stand strong and provide enough income to pay the bills, cover health care costs, weather unforeseen tragedies like illness or the death of a spouse and, in the case of Social Security, adjust fully to rising inflation. However, for... MORE