Retirement dreams for working women include traveling, spending more time with family and friends, pursuing hobbies and volunteering.
Yet more than half of people say they are guessing how much money they will need to be financially secure in retirement, according to a new survey from the nonprofit Pan American Retirement Research Center.
At the median, women workers of all generations estimated they would need $500,000 to achieve their goals. At the top end, about a quarter thought $2 million or more was needed, with 15 percent estimating $1 million to $2 million.
“This speculative statistic stands out to me,” Lindsey Stanberry, founder of The Purse newsletter about women and money, told Yahoo Finance.
Me too—especially considering that nearly half of the women surveyed said their biggest retirement fear is running out of life in their savings and investments.
“That’s consistent with what I’ve seen when I’ve interviewed women,” Stanbury said. “I asked women to share their biggest financial concerns, and nearly all mentioned concerns about having enough saved for retirement.”
Some of the women are in their 40s and have saved more than $1 million for retirement, she added. “They have good, consistent saving habits and, in some cases, access to employer-sponsored retirement plans and generous matching packages — but they’re still not sure whether that’s enough.”
learn more: Retirement Savings by Age – How do you compare to your peers?
“There’s nothing earth-shattering here,” Cary Carbonaro, a certified financial planner and author of Women and Wealth, told me after reviewing the report.
“What hasn’t changed in decades: Women are less confident about retirement than men, have smaller emergency funds than men, fewer women work with advisors and more women are guessing about retirement,” she added.
Data shows that only a quarter of women have a retirement financial strategy in the form of a written plan, and only three in 10 women currently use a professional financial adviser.
Read more: 7 Best Questions to Ask Your Financial Advisor in the New Year
“I found that female job and recruitment consultants only do this when it rains,” Carbonaro said. “Or that’s what I call it. It’s death, disability, job loss, divorce. Men are going to hire counselors while the sun is shining. Women have to do a better job at this and not think about asking for help only during a crisis.”
Another red flag: These workers dipped into their retirement savings before retiring.
Survey results show that nearly 4 in 10 female workers have taken out loans and/or made early withdrawals from retirement accounts.
“Women are vulnerable to financial setbacks,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the Pan American Institute. “When a disaster strikes, if they don’t have adequate emergency savings or insurance coverage, their options may be limited to dipping into retirement accounts or taking on high-interest credit card debt.”
“For women in this predicament, taking out a loan from a retirement account can be the lesser of two evils because you can pay it back with interest,” she said.
Withdrawals from a 401(k) account are generally taxed as ordinary income. Additionally, you’ll pay a 10% early withdrawal penalty before age 59½, unless you qualify for one of the IRS’s exceptions. These include certain medical expenses, qualified tuition and fees up to $10,000 for first-time homebuyers. Some employer plans will also allow non-hardship withdrawals.
When determining how much money you need to save to confidently exit the workforce, there are steps you can take to avoid “standing still.”
Consulting a certified financial planner or using an online calculator will help you focus on what you should actually be saving, even if it has to be a motivational goal right now.
Retirement calculators are widely available online and can help you understand whether you’re on track. Start by looking at AARP, Bogleheads, Fidelity, Schwab or Vanguard.
what else? Talk about it easily.
Avoidance runs deep, but talking about money and not being afraid to ask “dumb” questions is essential – yet less than two in 10 respondents said they regularly discuss savings, investing and retirement with close friends and family.
“We need to open up and talk about it very honestly, because when we do, we may feel better about our personal circumstances, which can translate into overall health,” Madi Diechtwald, author of Ageless Aging: A Women’s Guide to Improving Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan, told me.
Now, some of my suggestions:
Add more ways to learn about personal finance and investing into your schedule. If your employer offers workplace workshops, take advantage of them.
Invite a small group of friends, relatives, or colleagues to read a book about investing and retirement planning. You could even ask a financial writer or financial reporter to give a presentation.
If you’re married or in a relationship, planned, honest money conversations can help you set near-term and retirement financial goals together.
People who are 50 or older this year can take advantage of what the IRS calls catch-up contributions. You have until April 15, 2026, to invest an additional $1,000 in a 2025 traditional or Roth IRA for a total contribution of $8,000.
This year, the standard contribution limit to an employee 401(k) is $23,500, but people 50 and older can generally invest additional contributions. You usually have until December 31st to deposit funds.
learn more: How to catch up on retirement savings
Many women are still too risk-averse and conservative when it comes to retirement investing, which isn’t the best recipe for making ends meet when you’re no longer working. This is especially true if you are solely responsible for your finances in retirement due to divorce or the death of a spouse.
Find a trusted advisor. I prefer fee-only financial planners who make no money from brokerage commissions.
Women don’t need to invest differently than men. But we do need to work harder because we tend to earn less than men, live a few years longer on average, and may miss out on raises by spending time raising families or caring for elderly relatives. This reduces the amount you ultimately receive from Social Security during retirement and reduces the time you have to fund your retirement plan at work and get your employer to match your contributions.
Many women I know don’t advocate for themselves when negotiating a salary for a new job or after being hired. This can hurt you for decades, since raises are usually based on a percentage of your salary.
You have the power to do a few things to get what you deserve: Negotiate fearlessly.
Kerry Hannon is a senior columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including “Retirement Living: Gen X’s Guide to Securing a Financial Future,“”Taking Charge in Your 50s: How to Succeed in the New World of Work” and “You are never too old to be rich. “Follow her and continue blue sky and X
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