When Baby Boom Women Retire

The following is taken from a very interesting book called "When Baby Boom Women Retire", it is on Amazon. The book was written by Nancy Dailey. 

 I would encourage you to read the entire book

The message for baby boom women is clear: baby boom women need to prepare and plan for retirement primarily because they are at a financial disadvantage. They earn less than men, have less access to defined benefit coverage, have more difficulty saving, and carry the caregiving burden for children and the elderly. These differences point to a more precarious financial fixture for women than for men. It is further aggravated by the fact that baby boom women are expected to outlive their spouses by fifteen years

Many believe that Boomer women will do ok in retirement and this is because they make some assumptions:

·       Assumption #l: Baby boom women will be the first generation of women who will have earned their own retirement as a worker, not as a spouse. For some women this will be true but many will be disappointed to learn that their Social Security spousal benefit will be higher than their worker's benefit. Even though they have worked all their adult lives, many will not have “earned" the right to retire on their own.

·       Assumption #2: Baby boom women 's labor force participation will make them eligible for their own pensions. Pension coverage is not pension receipt. The nature of work for baby boom women could very well diminish opportunities for actual pension receipt. lf women do receive pension benefits it will most likely be a small, one-time, lump-sum distribution.

·       Assumption #3: Asset income, the third leg of the income "stool. " will be an important part of retirement income; 90% of baby boomers can expect to receive some form of asset income. Asset income will either be minimal or non-existent for the majority of baby boom women. Baby boom women will have great difficultly accruing personal savings. Home ownership is even at risk given the divorce rates of baby boom marriages.

·       Assumption #4: Baby boom' women will not work in old age. They may not get paid but they certainly will be working as caregivers to the elderly.

Over the years’ female boomers have done much to advance the social slams of women yet their progress is steeped in irony:

·       Baby boom women are redefining the institution of marriage yet marriage, as with their mothers, is their best bet for a secure retirement.

·       Life-long employment for women is no guarantee of an “earned” entitlement to retirement.

·       Working outside the home, even with young children, may not give a baby boom woman any more financial advantages in retirement. For many women, not working at all could prove more profitable in their old age.

·       Just as women become eligible, pension benefits will most likely be minimal for the majority of baby boom women.

·       Investment in human capital and increased labor force attachment offered self-sufficiency and some financial independence. but affirmed baby boom women's social role as caregiver.