Get Your Ducks In A Row
Educate Yourself about Your Sources of Retirement Income to start your path to a secure retirement
It is never too early, or too late to start saving for your retirement. The first step is understanding your current budget. Once you know how much you are spending in a month, you can figure out how much you can afford to save, or ways to increase your savings. WISER’s retirement income worksheet, called Get Your Ducks in a Row, will help you to organize each of your sources of retirement income, so there is no guesswork as to how much retirement income you will receive each month. It is an easy-to-use tool that considers all of your benefits, such as Social Security, Employer Pensions, as well as contributions from part-time work. The worksheet also distinguishes which sources will keep up with inflation, and which will not.
Here are a few reasons why it is essential that women plan for their retirement:
1. Three out of five working women earn less than $30,000 per year.
2. Three out of four working women earn less than $40,000 per year.
3. Half of all women work in traditionally female, relatively low paid jobs without pensions.
4. Women retirees receive only half the average pension benefits that men receive.
5. Women's earnings average $.77 for every $1 earned by men - a lifetime loss of over $300,000.
