October 2, 2017

Financial and estate planning advice is intended to apply to everyone but the strategies and tactics used maybe differentiated based on the gender and age of the person asking the questions.

The reality is that all statistics point to women longer than men and facing more significant issues when it comes to ensuring that the assets that they have saved will last throughout their expected lifetime, especially with the potential for a nursing home stay. Some of the challenges facing women also include earning less over the course of their careers largely from taking time off to be caregivers to elderly relatives or children. Furthermore, the basic gender pay gap puts women at a disadvantage for being able to save as much as their male counterparts.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does show some promising information from 2015 that the gender pay gap is narrowing, however, women still only earn 83% of what men earn. This can translate to long-term challenges such as being able to save less for retirement, lesser social security benefits, and smaller pensions overall.

Women also face the additional problem of being more likely to live alone in their older years due to death or divorce of a spouse or by choice. Therefore, it is critical that women take individual responsibility for their financial decisions and crafting an estate plan that works for them specifically. Financial advisors, estate planning attorneys, and other experienced professionals should be leveraged in order to accomplish the necessary goals.