Women Have Concerns About Retirement Outlook

The majority of women have a poor outlook on retirement, the Nationwide Retirement Institute found in a survey.

A mere 25% expect life will be better in retirement, according to the survey conducted by The Harris Poll among 1,012 adults who are age 50 or older either retired or planning to retire in the next 10 years; 473 of which were women.

In last year’s survey, 31% of women said they expect life to be better in retirement. This year, 26% of women said life in retirement is, or is expected to be, worse. Their primary concerns are the continuation of Social Security and rising health care costs.

On average, women expect Social Security will cover 58% of their expenses in retirement. For 18%, this is between 91% and 100% of their expenses. Nonetheless, 75% worry that Social Security will run out of funding in their lifetime, up from 62% last year. Fifty-eight percent believe the Trump Administration will make cuts to Social Security.

Thirty-two percent say health problems are interfering with their retirement. Of this group, 77% say health problems occurred earlier than they had expected. Among retirees, 26% say health care expenses are keeping them from living the life they would like to be living in retirement.

Seventy-four percent of women currently collecting Social Security took it early; a mere 4% maximized their claims by waiting until age 70. Twenty-five percent of women believe that Social Security on its own should provide them with enough money to live comfortably, up from 15% last year. A mere 13% said they have worked with a financial adviser to devise a strategy for collecting Social Security.