With some astute planning now, your retirement can be a tremendously satisfying stage of life. But how do you know you’re making the right financial decisions? Here’s how to move forward with confidence as you inch closer to your next (and possibly best) chapter.
An increasing number of women have taken on leadership roles at work in recent years1, and many are also CEOs of their households—generating budgets for groceries and other monthly expenses with ease. But when it comes to high-stakes financial decisions like investing, they are significantly less confident than men.2 It’s not surprising, then, that more than half of all women are not saving for retirement.3
What many women don’t understand is that developing a retirement strategy doesn’t have to be stressful. You can start your journey to a rewarding retirement today with these five simple steps:
1. Visualize Your Ideal Retirement
In Harvard’s long-running investigation into happiness4, the researchers found four ingredients to flourishing in retirement: Replacing work colleagues with other social connections; rediscovering how to play; engaging in creative endeavors; and learning new things.5
Retirement can be a period of “flourishing” for you and other women, too. Begin to think about what each of these four elements look like for you. Will you want to go back to school to study painting or become a master gardener? Take a couple of overseas trips every year? Do you look forward to volunteering your time at a local museum or animal rescue? Keep a journal to jot down your evolving ideas.
2. Assess How Much You’ll Need In Retirement
A good rule of thumb when saving for retirement? Prepare knowing you may need to replace about 80 percent of your pre-retirement income, as estimated by the U.S. Department of Labor. This figure could be slightly higher to 90 percent, depending on how closely you want to maintain your current standard of living.
Social Security benefits will be a key source of your post-retirement income. Get an idea of your future benefits by using the Social Security Administration’s online calculator.
Financially prepare for retirement by establishing a general idea of your total assets and expenses. Once you have this baseline, you will need to make up the gap between these benefits and the income you need in retirement with other financial streams. These might include an employee-sponsored retirement plan or pension, personal savings and investments, and guaranteed income from annuities.
3. Consider Annuities as a Lifetime Income Source
In 2022, when researchers at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania surveyed adults 50 years or older about the financial decisions they most regretted, 25 percent cited claiming Social Security benefits too early; an even greater number (1 out of 3) cited not purchasing annuities.6
Both regrets are understandable for women. Those who stop working in their mid-60s can expect to live 20 or more years in retirement.7 However, it can be difficult to look forward to these work-free years if you’re hampered by money anxieties.
Annuities, which offer retirees a guaranteed income stream on a regular basis, are one way to eliminate this fear. ParityFlex™ through Gainbridge®* was designed by female financial experts to grow retirement savings and turn your investment into long-term, regular payments that you won’t outlive.
With a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit, flexible withdrawals, and a guaranteed stream of lifetime income, ParityFlex™ through Gainbridge®* is designed to empower women to provide the funds to dive into creative projects, explore new interests, rediscover playfulness, and strengthen your social circle.
4. Maximize Savings
Setting a savings goal and sticking to it is the most important thing you can do today for a secure financial future tomorrow. If your employer offers a retirement savings plan, contributing the maximum amount you can will boost your nest egg significantly, especially if your employer matches the contribution, while lowering your taxes today. If you’re self-employed or operate a small business, you can set up a savings retirement plan that offers similar tax advantages. The IRS also provides details on savings options as a self-employed person.
Whatever savings vehicle you choose, decide on one strategy and then choose to have automatic contributions deducted from your paycheck or checking/savings account on a regular basis. You can also turn to the Department of Labor for additional resources to help save for retirement.8
5. Revisit Your Retirement Strategy Regularly
Your dream of retirement from your forties may change when you are in your fifties or sixties. You may not anticipate developing a passion for boating, switching careers, or falling in love with a small resort town where you can see yourself living. Likewise, maybe your marital status will change in the years ahead, your finances will be boosted by an inheritance, or the financial markets will take an unexpected turn.
It’s a good idea to review your retirement strategy annually or after a big life change to make any adjustments to your savings or spending habits.
GainbridgeⓇ understands you can’t predict what the future holds. This is why ParityFlex™ through Gainbridge®* gives you the flexibility to withdraw your money, should you need it.
This ability to control your finances allows you to look forward to a comfortable future, since you know your retirement money is protected and working hard for you with high-yield, guaranteed returns. After working hard for so many years, you owe it to yourself to look into ParityFlex™ through Gainbridge®* and see how it fits into your overall retirement strategy.
- 1 https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/blog/the-number-of-women-hired-into-leadership-is-increasing-but-by-less-than-one-percent-a-year
- 2 https://longevity.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sightlines-Financial-Security-Special-Report-2018.pdf, p. 47
- 3 https://blog.dol.gov/2021/08/30/5-things-to-know-about-women-and-retirement
- 4 https://www.adultdevelopmentstudy.org/
- 5 Vaillant, G. E. (2002). Aging Well. Little Brown.
- 6 https://repository.upenn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/9219ee24-329a-453d-a19e-f1a8cf5aadd1/content
- 7 https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/population/longevity.html
- 8 https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/publications/women-and-retirement-savings.pdf
MORE WAYS TO BUILD FINANCIAL RESILIENCE
Learn more about how ParityFlex™ through Gainbridge®* can protect and grow your money for a secure, comfortable retirement.
*ParityFlex™, a multi-year guaranteed annuity, is issued by Gainbridge Life Insurance Company in Zionsville, Indiana. Learn more.