Women’s retirement gap gets its own day as savings hurdles persist
A new Women’s Retirement Security Day spotlights pay gaps, caregiving breaks and investing barriers that can leave women with less money later in life.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
July 14 has picked up a new personal-finance label: Women’s Retirement Security Day, a campaign aimed at the stubborn money gaps that can follow women into old age.
The day is sponsored by the American Retirement Association, working with dozens of industry and advocacy groups. The ARA says future observances will fall on the second Tuesday in July.
The push is tied closely to Erika Goodwin, the ARA’s director of advocacy and engagement, and the different retirement paths in her own family. Goodwin told MarketWatch that her mother, now 80, worked as a speech therapist in the Washington, D.C., public school system before a knee injury on the job forced her to stop working when Goodwin was young. Her mother now relies only on Social Security for income, according to MarketWatch.
Goodwin’s sister had a different outcome, spending 33 years as a city worker and choosing to retire at 67. Goodwin, who works inside the retirement industry, told MarketWatch she feels prepared herself, while recognizing how fragile retirement planning can be for women without access to the same information.
The numbers behind the gap
Several studies and industry reports cited by MarketWatch point to the same pileup of problems: women often earn less, pause work more often for caregiving and live longer, making shortfalls harder to absorb.
- PensionBee said a one-year break involving $5,000 in missed account contributions could leave a worker with $79,000 less by retirement.
- The Wealth Equity Index found women retire with 74% of men’s wealth, citing the gender pay gap and career breaks tied to caregiving.
- Nationwide reported that 1 in 3 women investors say a financial adviser has been condescending while explaining recommendations.
- The American Retirement Association points to an average 15% wage loss for people who leave work early to become caregivers.
Those pressures can show up decades apart. Veronica Taylor, a certified financial planner at Ellevest in New York, told MarketWatch she has seen them in clients across age groups and in her own life after having children and taking time away from work.
Taylor said some clients in their 70s and 80s are hesitant to invest because they were taught that markets are risky. Her counterpoint, according to MarketWatch, is that inflation also carries risk because cash can lose buying power over time.
For middle-aged women who left paid work for children or other family responsibilities, the math can feel abrupt. Taylor described one client who raised five children, later divorced and began working for the first time in her 40s, when retirement saving became a new priority.
Planning help is part of the campaign
Goodwin said the new awareness day is meant to point women toward financial education and planning resources before a crisis hits. She told MarketWatch one myth the campaign wants to challenge is the idea that planning help is only for wealthy people.
Taylor said one tool for nonworking spouses is a spousal IRA, which allows retirement saving based on household income. She also told MarketWatch that some caregiving choices may be hard to avoid, but knowing the financial effect can help women decide whether to take a shorter break or plan how to catch up later.
Another shift is coming through inheritance and widowhood. MarketWatch cited projections that $54 trillion from the so-called Great Wealth Transfer is expected to land under women’s control, while research continues to find gaps in investing knowledge and confidence.
Taylor told MarketWatch the barrier is often psychological rather than a lack of ability. Her advice is direct: delaying investing is its own risk, and starting earlier creates more choices later.
This story draws on original reporting from MarketWatch.