The following is a guest post by Rhonda Sherwood of itsHERmoney.com. Rhonda is a Certified Financial Planner and a Financial Management Advisor.

As women, we are likely to outlive our spouses or partners by an average of 5 years. Although this may seem financially insignificant when planning for a 20 to 25 year retirement, it could potentially be our most expensive years.

Things Women Need To Know

• 80% of men die married, while 80% of women die single. 75% of women living in poverty today were not poor before they were widowed.
• In 2005, women earned 84 cents for each dollar earned by men.
• The average income of a married woman is less than that of single women because the former take on more family responsibilities.
• Many women either stop working or work less hours when they have young children. This means they are not contributing to a company pension plan or an RRSP.
• Women tend to either be self-employed, have part-time jobs or work for a flat rate, all of which influence the savings.

So How Has This Really Impacted Us?

Let’s see - we need the same monthly income to live on as men but continue to earn less. Our broken work patterns or part time jobs have drastically impacted our ability to save and hence, the future value of our RRSP’s and pension plans are affected. And due to the increasing divorce rates we have found ourselves not only to be the primary caregivers for our families but in many cases the sole or main financial source. What money or time is left
over to put towards planning our retirement?

As compelling as each of our stories is, the fact remains the same; older women who are single or widowed are most at risk for poverty. Although one would think that the likelihood of spending our Golden Years in a state of financial hardship would be more than enough of a motivation to get us into serious planning mode, less than 35% of women today actually do so. So if you take anything away from my words let it be this, it does not matter whether you are single, married, widowed, a business woman or a stay at home mom; take charge of your retirement planning today. Regardless of income, you will be the one who decides your level of financial security in retirement.