Facts women and retirement steps to take

Yesterday and today's post was taken from the Transamerica Survey 2018 written by Catherine Collinson who is a champion of everyday people including those who are at risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement. She currently serves as CEO and president of nonprofit Transamerica Institute® and Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies® and executive director of Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement.

The good news is that small steps, when taken together, can add up to great strides in retirement preparedness.  Retirement will be unique for each woman, but the tools to help achieve retirement readiness are common to all. Now is the time for every woman to focus on achieving a financially secure retirement.

1. Start saving for retirement and get into the habit of saving on a regular, consistent basis. Save as much as you can, knowing that both small and large amounts add up and compound over time.
2. If your employer offers a retirement plan, participate. Be sure that your contribution rate takes full advantage of employer matching contributions, if available. Take advantage of the IRS Saver’s Credit if eligible. Consider taking advantage of catch-up contributions if you are age 50 or older.
3. Develop a retirement strategy and write it down. Envision your future retirement and use an online calculator to estimate your long-term savings needs. Then formulate a goal for how much you will need to save each year (be sure to include employer-sponsored retirement plans and outside savings) – and hold yourself accountable for saving.
4. When facing life’s important decisions about whether to reduce work hours or take time out of the workforce to be a parent or caregiver, carefully consider the financial trade-offs and options –such as shifting to part-time work – to help mitigate the impact on long-term financial security.
5. Maintain your ability to continue working past age 65. Keep your job skills up to date or learn new ones. Many employers, community colleges and nonprofits offer classes in the latest technologies and careers. Networking groups offer opportunities to meet more people in particular professions.
6. Become personally involved in your family finances ranging from daily budgeting to long-term planning. Discuss retirement saving and planning with family and close friends. An open dialogue with family members about expectations of either needing to provide or receive financial support should be part of every woman’s retirement strategy.
7. Get educated about retirement investing. Learn about possible ways to help make savings last longer including when to take withdrawals from retirement accounts to minimize taxes and penalties, and the best time to start Social Security to maximize benefits. Seek professional assistance if needed.
8. Have a backup plan in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as separation, divorce, loss of a partner, or being unable to work before your planned retirement. Consider emergency savings; insurance products such as disability insurance and life insurance; and possible ways to cut costs if needed, such as moving to a smaller home, taking on a roommate(s) or scaling back transportation costs.
9. Take care of yourself and safeguard your health. Make a habit of eating healthfully, exercising regularly, getting plenty of rest, and managing stress. Be sure to get routine physicals and recommended health screenings. Seek medical attention when needed.

Learn more about women’s retirement outlook as well as saving and investing for retirement at www.transamericacenter.org.

Facts women and retirement

Here are 18 facts from the Transamerica survey about women in retirement:

1. Only 12% of women are "very confident" in their ability to retire fully with a comfortable lifestyle.
2. About 53% of women plan to retire after 65 or do not plan to retire at all.
3. About 54% of women plan to work after they retire -- 11% plan to work full-time and 43% part-time.
4. Women could struggle to ensure they are, in fact, prepared to work in retirement. While 63% said they are staying healthy, only 57% are focused on performing well at their current job and 46% are keeping their job skills up to date.
5. Roughly 64% do not have a backup plan for retirement income if forced into retirement sooner than they expected.
6. Paying off debt is a financial priority for almost 68% of women. Only 51% of women cite saving for retirement as a priority.
7. About 73% are saving for retirement through a workplace plan and/or outside of work in an IRA, mutual fund, bank account, etc. Women started saving for retirement at 27, on average.
8. About 45% of women expect their primary source of retirement income to come from savings and investments such as 401(k), 401(b) and IRA accounts, while 30% expect to rely on Social Security.
9. However, 81% of women are concerned that Social Security won't be there for them when they are ready to retire.
10. Roughly 47% of Baby Boomer women said they know a great deal or quite a bit about Social Security benefits.
11. About 66% of women are offered a 401(k) or similar employee-funded retirement plan, but 28% of women work part-time and are less likely to have workplace retirement benefits.
12. About 77% of women who are offered an employee-funded plan participate in the plan. They contribute, on average, 7% of their salary to the savings plan.
13. Women believe they will need to save $500,000, on average, in order to feel financially secure in retirement -- but about 55% said they "guessed" to land on that figure.
14. Women's total household retirement accounts are $42,000 (estimated median).
15. Women's emergency savings are just $2,000, though.
16. Just 28% of women are aware of the Saver's Credit, a special tax break to low- and moderate-income taxpayers who are saving for retirement.
17. One in three women use a professional financial adviser to help manage their retirement savings and investments.
18. Only 26% of women consider their long-term health when making lifestyle decisions.

Thoughts can become tipping points

Thoughts become tipping points and are the key to our future. If we think we can, we will, if we think we cannot we will not. Our ideas are the answer. You can do whatever you set your mind to, whatever you want, you can have it. Just imagine it, believe it, and move towards it. And with tenacity, tilting points will be reached, significant mass produced, and the most unusual serendipities established. 

The environment you now live in was designed this way, and through "thought" you preserve the festival. You are a continuous creating device; a manifesting master. You are pure "purpose." 

And for now, it's still practically a secret: Your very ideas are the solution. 

Can you focus?

Whatever you focus on, you will experience.

So, when you talk about "what is" or "what was," even if you're just explaining to a friendly ear, you project more of the same into the future. 

If you ask more than you give thanks, you'll believe less in your own power.

And if you insist that it's hard and that you're lonely, you'll find that it is and you are.

Or, you can choose to focus on what you like, what you love, and how very photogenic you are