According to a recent study from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, women are living an average of five years longer than men but accumulating about $70,000 less for their retirement. The study, the “2019 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Workplace Benefits Report,” indicated that the biggest issue for women is the gender pay gap, which analysts say still exists based on their data.
Although U.S. Census data indicates the “average adult woman in the U.S. is more likely to be a college graduate than the average adult man,” the Bank of America study indicates women are presently earning about 20 percent less than their male counterparts. Women also are statistically “penalized” for motherhood when it comes to retirement savings: The study reported women tend to experience about a 4 percent decline in wages for each child they have.
Catherine Collins, president and CEO of the Transamerica Institute and the Transamerica, said awareness of issues around women and retirement is “the single most important step to addressing the issues.” Many self-directed asset classes, such as real estate and private notes, offer what some advisors refer to “accelerated returns” because they can generate cash flow and returns more quickly than “traditional” investments, generally considered to be stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.