Women Fall Behind Men in Saving for Retirement
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Women in the U.S. are not keeping up with men when it comes to saving for retirement, according to a new poll.
The asset management firm BlackRock surveyed 27,000 investors across the world, about 4,000 of them from the U.S. In all, the poll found that two-thirds of American working-age men have at least started saving for retirement as opposed to 53 percent of women.
Women ages 54-64 who’ve managed to put away some money have an average of $81,300. Men in that same age group, on the other hand, have saved $118,000.
Another problem women seem to have is that they are more averse to taking investment risks than men and fail to invest for growth.
Among other things, women allocate 68 percent of their portfolios in cash and cash equivalents while 59 percent of men do the same. Meanwhile, fewer than three in ten women would assume higher risks compared to 45 percent of men.
In fairness, most women are at a disadvantage since they are more apt to suspend full-time careers to become a family’s primary caregiver.
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