5 Ways Women Can Secure Income in Their Retirement Years
Written by
Jennifer Taylor
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
You deserve financial security in retirement. However, achieving this security comes with a special set of challenges for women.
Issues such as the gender pay gap, women being more likely to take time away from the workforce to care for loved ones and the fact that women tend to live longer than men can make retirement savings a challenge.
Whether your golden years are decades away or quickly approaching, it’s always a good time to make sure your retirement plans are in order. Securing income in your retirement years can help bring you peace of mind. One way to do this is by purchasing an annuity, like the ParityFlex™ annuity, available on the Gainbridge® platform — it can provide a paycheck for the rest of your life.
The ParityFlex™ annuity was created by women for women, and it offers guaranteed returns of APY*.
Here’s a look at five ways to achieve better financial health in retirement.
1. Prioritize Retirement Savings
When retirement seems like a lifetime away, saving for it might not be a priority. Even if you are putting money aside, your savings plan might lack structure.
As a general rule, try to save the equivalent of your annual salary by age 30, three times your salary by age 40, six times by age 50, eight times by age 60 and 10 times by age 67, according to Fidelity®1. Breaking it down by paycheck, you should aim to save at least 15% of your pre-tax income.
Don’t panic if you can’t afford to put aside that much money or haven’t met these savings milestones. Using your current financial situation, create a retirement savings plan you can commit to.
In 2024, the annual limit on contributions to a 401(k) is $23,000 and $7,000 for an IRA. However, employees age 50 and older are permitted to put aside an extra $7,500 per year in their 401(k) and $1,000 per year in an IRA.
Remember, saving something is better than nothing. Start somewhere now and try to increase savings amounts as much as possible, like when you get a raise, pay off a big bill or receive a bonus.
2. Consider Purchasing an Annuity
An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company that provides a future payout in either a lump sum or a series of payments. One of the main functions of annuities is to remove the risk of retirees outliving their savings.
In other words, you could earn a guaranteed annual paycheck for the rest of your life.
Even better, annuities may offer higher APYs than traditional savings accounts or certificates of deposit, and they are more flexible. The ParityFlex™ annuity, available on the Gainbridge® platform, for example, offers guaranteed returns of APY* — more than 11 times the national average for a savings account, without the risk of the stock market.
Your rate is immediately locked in with a seven-year guarantee period, so you can feel confident in knowing you’re maximizing interest earnings. See how much you could earn for life.
3. Take Advantage of Employer-Match
If your company has a 401(k) match program, try your best to contribute the maximum amount. For example, they might match 100% up to 4% of your contributions and then 50 cents of every dollar for another 2%.
Not taking full advantage of this is essentially turning down free money. While this money isn’t in your paycheck, it’s still part of your overall compensation, and it can seriously add up.
While it can be difficult to part with money today that you won’t be able to use until retirement, you’ll thank yourself later.
4. Delay Social Security Benefits
As of January 2024, the average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker is $1,907, according to the Social Security Administration2. While this probably won’t be enough to live on, it should help supplement your monthly income.
You might not realize it, but the longer you wait to start receiving Social Security benefits, the larger your monthly benefit will be. Benefit increases stop at age 70, so if you can wait this long, you’ll maximize your monthly check.
For example, if you were born between 1943 and 1954, your full retirement age is 66. If you start collecting your benefit at age 66, you’ll receive 100% of it. However, if you wait until age 70 or later, you’ll receive 132% of your benefit.
Another way to look at it: If you were born on April 15, 1958, still work and are earning $60,000 per year, your monthly benefit would be $1,662 on your 66th birthday. However, this would rise to $2,373 per month when you turn 70 years old.
5. Ask For What You Deserve
In 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned, according to the Pew Research Center. Things didn’t change much in the two decades prior, as women earned 80% of what men did in 2002.3
Clearly, you need to know your worth. Use tools such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data to learn more about average salaries in your employment field and in your local area.4
This will give you an idea of whether you’re being paid fairly for your work. Not to oversimplify the matter, as this is often easier said than done, but try to advocate for yourself.
If you’re unable to score a fair salary at your current job, consider searching elsewhere.
*Annual Percentage Yield (APY) rates subject to change at any time, and the rate mentioned may no longer be current. Please visit gainbridge.io/parityflex for current rates, full product disclosures and disclaimer, and other important information. All guarantees are based on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. ParityFlex™, a multi-year guaranteed annuity, is issued by Gainbridge Life Insurance Company, Zionsville, Indiana
1 Fidelity: How much do I need to retire?
2 Social Security Administration: What is the average monthly benefit for a retired worker?
3 Pew Research Center: Gender pay gap in U.S. hasn’t changed much in two decades
4 Overview of BLS Wage Data by Area and Occupation
More From GOBankingRates
