While long life generally is viewed as a positive thing, it has implications for retirement including additional financial costs especially for health care, according to a study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute.
The study focused on the longevity difference by gender, in which women on who reach age 60 on average have a life expectancy of 24 years compared to 21 years for men.
"These bonus years have their costs; women’s resources must last an extra-long time. Importantly, women’s extra-long lives are also extra-complicated by some very particular risks in later life. These risks include aging solo; extra costs of health care and long-term care, including caregiving demands; and gender-related income disparities in later life," it says.
"Aging solo" is the term for being widowed, divorced or otherwise living alone; among those age 65 and older, widows outnumber widowers by four to one, while of those between 65 and 74, only 57 percent of women are married compared with 79 percent of men the same age.
In addition, women on average have "significantly higher health care expenditures than men," in part because of the longer life expectancy. Meanwhile, women on average have lower retirement incomes, making health care premiums less affordable. Women also are more likely to need long term care—after age 65, women spend about 30 percent of their remaining life in a state of disability compared to 20 percent for men.
Due to work patterns and other reasons, "the average retirement income from all sources for men age 65+ in 2009 was $37,509; women’s income for the same age group was just 57 percent of that amount, or $21,519."
The study noted that many women are aware of these factors, with two-fifths of those aged 65 and up expecting to live beyond age 90; only one-fifth of men of the same age expect to do so. Women are more likely to be concerned about the adequacy of income and assets through retirement, more concerned about having a comprehensive financial plan for retirement and more concerned about having to work during their retirement years.
The study recommended creating a financial plan that addresses the risks and make a "plan B" for contingencies such as the need for long term care or the need to change anticipated retirement plans for reasons such as financial setbacks or poor health.