A wide gap exists between them and their married counterparts
New research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The complete report can be viewed here. Reprinted with permission. Visit ebri.org
Married couples are most likely—and single women are least likely—to have saved for retirement. Single women also report the lowest level of total savings, compared with single men and married couples, according to the most recent Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) from Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
The 2015 RCS finds that unmarried women are significantly less likely to have saved for retirement, to have a defined contribution (401(k)-type) retirement plan, or to have an individual retirement account (IRA) than single men or married couples.
In addition, unmarried women are more likely than unmarried men (and more than twice as likely as married workers) to have less than $1,000 in total household savings and investments. At the other extreme, married workers are far more likely than either unmarried women or unmarried men to report having accumulated at least $250,000.
Married workers are also more likely than unmarried workers of either gender to report having taken other steps to plan for retirement at a household level, such as estimating how much monthly income is needed, talking with a professional financial advisor about retirement planning, calculating how much will likely be needed to cover health expenses in retirement, and preparing a formal, written financial plan for retirement.
And despite the fact that women tend to face higher expenses in retirement due to their greater longevity, unmarried women (38 percent) are more likely than their unmarried male counterparts (27 percent) to think they will need to accumulate less than $250,000 for retirement.
Gender and marital status comparisons among workers
Are unmarried men and women equally likely to plan and save for retirement? Do they have similar expectations about their needs in retirement? And how do these groups compare with married men and women? The 25th annual Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) provides some answers.
Saving for Retirement
Unmarried men are more likely than unmarried women to report having saved for retirement. Married workers, however, are much more likely to be savers, with 8 in 10 having saved for retirement (Figure 1).
Planning for Retirement
Unmarried men (43 percent) are more likely than unmarried women (28 percent) to have tried to calculate how much they will need to have saved by the time they retire so that they can live comfortably in retirement. Married workers (58 percent) are more likely to have performed that calculation at a household level than unmarried workers of either gender.
Despite the fact that women tend to face higher expenses in retirement due to their greater longevity, unmarried women (38 percent) are more likely than their unmarried male counterparts (27 percent) to think they will need to accumulate less than $250,000 for retirement. Married workers are least likely to cite a figure in that range (19 percent) (Figure 3).
Married workers are also more likely than unmarried workers of either gender to report having taken other steps to plan for retirement at a household level, such as estimating how much monthly income is needed, talking with a professional financial advisor about retirement planning, calculating how much will likely be needed to cover health expenses in retirement, and preparing a formal, written financial plan for retirement (Figure 4).
Retirement Expectations
Statistically, there are no differences in the age atwhich workers plan to retire by gender; both groups have median expected retirement age of 65 (Figure 5).
Despite their longer life expectancy, women are statistically as likely as men to think they are very likely to live until age 85 (37 percent of women and 32 percent of men) and age 95 (9 percent of women and 7 percent of men). Women are, however, more likely to say they are somewhat likely to live until age 95 (29 percent of women vs. 22 percent of men).
Unmarried workers are more likely than their married counterparts to say they are very or somewhat interested in purchasing an insurance product with a portion of their savings that begins providing guaranteed monthly income at some point in the future, such as age 80 or 85. Unmarried women are most likely to say they are interested (55 percent), follo
wed by unmarried men (40 percent). Married workers are least likely to express interest (30 percent).
Unmarried workers are more likely than married workers to report that Social Security (35 percent of unmarried men and 38 percent of unmarried women vs. 26 percent of married workers) and employment (20 percent each of unmarried men and women vs. 12 percent of married workers) will be a major source of income in retirement. They are less likely to think money from a DC plan (70 percent of unmarried men and 66 percent of unmarried women vs. 79 percent of married workers) or IRA (67 percent o funmarried men and 58 percent of unmarried women vs.74 percent of married workers) will be a major or minor source of retirement income.
Retirement Confidence
Women—particularly unmarried women—are less likely than men to say they are very confident about having enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement years. Married men and women are more likely than unmarried men and women to report being very confident about some other financial aspects of retirement, such as having enough money for basic expenses in retirement and their retirement preparations. However, men and women, married and unmarried, are equally likely to express confidence that Social Security and Medicare benefits will continue to be equal in value to the benefits received
The full report, Gender and Marital Status Comparisons Among Workers can be viewed here.
