Ivret Williams, Contributor
YOU ARE in a 'comfortable' relationship. The man in your life takes care of his home and family. He is committed to that. Unfortunately for many women, this scenic beauty will not last forever. What am I getting at?
Ladies, if you do not die early, all roads lead to retirement. My question to you is, are you making preparations for it? I am not asking if you and your spouse are getting ready. I am asking if you are making any plans for it.
Everyone wants to have a comfortable and enjoyable retirement, but without adequate planning it probably will not happen. People are living longer than ever, which means that retirement will become more expensive.
The United States Census Data for 1997 says that women on average, can expect to live 19 years in retirement, while men can expect to live 15 years. This means that women will end up needing to accumulate more income to carry them through their retirement years.
Satisfactory lifestyle
Retirement planning is not something you put in file 13 until you reach age 55. It is the thought and planning that you do now to ensure that you will have an income and a satisfactory lifestyle in your later years. This should begin as soon as you start your first job.
Unfortunately, many women are too busy raising a family to think about something that far away. And let's face it, it is awfully hard to be thinking about retirement when you are trying to find a good day-care for your infant and dealing with your husband's infidelity at the same time.
Let me be a nag here and inform you that retirement planning is critical for women as statistics say that 85 per cent of women die alone, unmarried, widowed or divorced. Added to that, when one looks at a woman's income, women generally work fewer years and earn less money than men over a lifetime. This means that their social security benefits will be less. Research informs us that women 65 years and older have a total median income of 43 per cent less than men of similar age.
As it relates to savings, retirement-age women have half the amount of personal savings as men their age. The American Association for Retired Persons says that although only 12 per cent of all elderly persons live in poverty, 74 per cent of that number are women. Research also shows that women tend to be more cautious about investment than men and often make more conservative investment choices. The end result is that many women are left with fewer resources to draw upon in retirement.
As a woman, do you know where you are at financially? What is your net worth? Calculating your net worth every year allows you to measure your progress as you approach retirement. If you have a large debt load now you should try to reduce it. You also need to reduce your spending and make informed decisions about your purchases. What are the times of the year that you make your major expenses?
What prompts you to spend? If you are prompted to spend when feeling down, find out why you are feeling this way and deal with it. If you do not, the brain will fall into the habit of instigating a shopping spree whenever you are feeling depressed. And by the way. Are you one of those women who has not a clue about your spouse's affairs? If he has a business, you should be aware of his creditors and even have a 'working' knowledge of the business. Your retirement income may depend on it.
Being alone
Let me be quite frank, not many women will be spending retirement with their spouses. Hard reality! Some men will die before you. Research shows that women live five to seven years longer than men (she nags him to death). If and when he goes before you, will the quality of your life be a fraction of the former years? It does not matter how young or how old you are, start planning your retirement today. It will be better to have the money and not the life span than to have the life span and not the money.
Ivret Williams is a counselling psychologist. Send enquiries and comments to letstalkrelationships@ yahoo.com. Check the Saturday Gleaner for the answers that Ivret Williams has for the questions you ask about your relationships.
