It's the classic good news-bad news conundrum. While women continue to outlive men, the consequences of their longevity often include serious physical and financial disabilities. Many older women confront chronic illnesses with limited financial resources, according to recent studies. They are also more likely to live alone and, when their husbands die, many widows are unprepared for a likely drop in retirement income.
[See 10 Key Retirement Ages to Plan For.]
"I think we thought that because women have been working more, that the [financial] gap between women and men would have gotten a lot better by now," says Anna Rappaport, an aging and retirement expert and spokesperson for the Society of Actuaries (SOA). "If you asked us 10 or 15 years ago, we would have said that gap was going to go away. But it hasn't."
The SOA recently issued a study, "The Impact of Retirement Risk on Women." It puts forth a compelling case that women, and their spouses, face very unpleasant futures unless they do a much better job today of managing their assets and incomes. And that future, sadly but realistically, is likely to eventually involve just the woman.
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