Retirement & Financial Planning Report

More men than women are confident about their retirement security but men overall expect nonetheless to continue working longer, according to a study by the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies.

In a survey, 46 percent of women said they are not too confident or not confident at all that they will be able to retire with a comfortable lifestyle, compared with 36 percent of men. In contrast, 16 percent of men said they were very confident versus only 12 percent of women.

One reason is that 22 percent of women has or expects to take time out of the workforce to act as a caregiver for a child or aging parent, compared to 14 percent of men. Among those who had such career breaks, about a third said there was a great impact on their retirement preparedness and another third said it had some impact.

Another reason is that fewer women invest in retirement savings programs and those who do save in such programs tend to invest less.

Meanwhile, 59 percent of men versus 56 percent of women expect not to retire until after age 65 or not at all, while about equal portions, 52 percent of men and 51 percent of women, plan to work in retirement. For both genders, about four out of five who expect to continue working hope to cut back to part-time.

Said the report, “Continuing to work in retirement can help bridge a savings shortfall; however, it may not be a viable option. It’s important to have a backup plan in case retirement comes sooner than expected”–for example, due to a job loss, health issues or family obligations.