In general, many Americans don’t save a lot money for retirement. Also, men and women have different ways of saving for retirement one big reason for this is the pay gap between men and women that still exists.
How Much Did Men and Women Save for Retirement in 2023?
Interestingly, women saved a bit more than men in the smallest savings group ($0.01 to $1,000) this past year 25% of women saved in this group compared to 20% of men. However, when looking at the largest savings group ($10,000 or more), more men saved than women, with 7% of men saving compared to 3% of women.
Retirement planning: Are you saving too much?
Even though many Americans don’t save much for their retirement, the way men and women save is different. This difference is mostly because of the big difference in pay between men and women that continues today.
A recent report by GOBankingRates showed that women still earn less than men. Women earn about 82% of what men do, which means they earn up to 21% less in their lifetime. This is a big problem, especially because women usually retire two years before men. The reasons they retire early can be due to health or taking care of a sick loved one, both of which cost money.
To understand the difference in how much men and women saved for retirement in 2023, GOBankingRates asked 1,091 Americans who are 18 years or older. They asked 20 questions about things like paying bills, saving money, and how they spend. The survey showed some big differences in how men and women save for retirement and their other money habits.
People Delay Saving For Retirement
When people are young, retirement feels very far away. That’s why many delay saving for it. Many Americans, no matter their gender, aren’t ready for retirement based on what experts say they should have saved.
The study showed that almost 10% of the people they asked saved between $1,000 and $2,000 last year. Even if someone has a 401(k) from their job, it might not have enough money in it. A study by Market Watch found that 50-year-olds usually have about $183,000 in their 401(k). But experts believe they should have close to a million dollars or even more to retire comfortably.
Who Saved the Least for Retirement?
When it came to people who had no retirement savings or investments, women were 10% more likely to have no backup money. That means 25% of women and 15% of men didn’t have any retirement savings.
In more specific numbers, 56% of women had less than $10,000 saved for retirement, while 48% of men had the same amount. That’s a difference of 8%. Lastly, when looking at people whose savings dropped a lot (over 50%) in the past year, more of them were women. Their savings dropped by 7%, while men’s dropped by 6%.