Winter Garden Magazine December 2018 | Page 48

How women can take control of the retirement income gender gap 48  | WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2018 W BPT omen are a force to be reckoned with in the economy. They own 10 million businesses in the U.S., control an impressive $11.2 trillion in investable assets and are increasingly the primary breadwinner and financial decisionmaker in households. But this clout is not carrying over when it comes to retirement planning. According to the Prudential’s 2018 Financial Wellness Census, women lag behind their male peers by an average of 43 percent in retirement savings. What makes this trend even more worrying is the fact that by age 85, women outnumber men by two to one. When comparing balance sheets, men have an average of $203,000 saved up compared to the $115,000 saved by women, according to the census findings. Only 38 percent of women are certain how much