Via Forbes:
Women in their 50s who are at the most financial risk in retirement are those who are married and in two-income households. That’s the surprising news from a recent report on women and retirement from Prudential Financial. The finding is based on research of women ages 50 to 59 from the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College. According to CRR’s National Retirement Risk Index, 46% of married women in their 50s in two-income households are at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement vs. 32% of married women that age in one-income households and 39% of women in their 50s who’ve never been married. Why? “Two-income households typically make more, but save less,” says Cindy Hounsell, president of the Washington D.C.-based Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) nonprofit and a Next Avenue Influencer In Aging. “They are living a two-income standard of living and spend more on expenses — two cars and a bigger house, for instance — so I’m not that surprised. They’re having a nicer life while it is going, rather than saving for retirement. There’s a bit of denial when it comes to retirement planning.”