A public service career addresses many of them

A growing amount of research reveals that women approach retirement planning differently than men, and International Women’s Day on March 8 marks a good opportunity to consider both the risks in retirement that women disproportionately shoulder and ways that they can be prepared.

According to a 2018 report from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, 55 percent of women fear outliving their retirement savings, compared to 49 percent of men, and women are growing more concerned: A survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute revealed that in 2017, 31 percent of women anticipated that their post-work life would be better than their pre-retirement life but that dropped to 26 percent last year.

These fears are well founded. Women live longer than men, to the point that there are 5.7 million more American women than men at age 65, and 67 percent of the over-age-85 population is female. These and other factors, including lower average income and shorter average careers, contribute to an increased risk for women of falling into poverty as they age.

Despite this seemingly grim information, there also are signs of hope for women who are in, or nearing, retirement. In the 2018 election, arecord number of women were elected to Congress. According to Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works and chair of the Strengthen Social Security coalition, this diversity in elected representatives is seen as a driving force behind upcoming hearings and potential legislation designed to strengthen retirement security and address health care programs and affordability.

Not only that, when women save and invest their money, they tend to outperform men by an average of 40 basis points. They prepare better than men for unexpected events and more closely track their daily expenses. They’re more open to seeking the counsel of a financial adviser. (For more about the issues women face in this area, see Retirement Voices, an information-sharing project about retirement concerns designed for late-career women.)

If these figures demonstrate anything, it’s that women who work for an employer that offers a defined benefit plan such as PERA’s are far more prepared for retirement than are average American women. Even if pay is low, PERA members are saving for a future retirement distribution. This is important because the proportion of female PERA members and retirees is 66 percent—including a robust 74 percent who work in or have retired from the School and DPS Divisions—and they have or are earning a retirement income that cannot be outlived and can be passed on to survivors. They also have health careoptions that those who spend their careers in the private sector may not have access to, as well as the ability to participate in low-cost voluntary savings vehicles like PERAPlus.

Women who have chosen a career in public service in Colorado have, almost by definition, set themselves on a productive path toward retirement. To further strengthen their financial security, they should continue to take advantage of the many ways PERA can help ensure a secure retirement.