The financial picture for single baby boomer women is looking bleak. According to the latest research, single female baby boomers are the least-prepared to financially navigate their way through their senior years.
About 40 percent of female baby boomers are single now -- up from 30 percent in 1989. Nationally, there are about 17 million single females ages 46 to 64; about two-thirds of them are separated, divorced, or widowed.
Although many baby boomer women stayed home, at least for a time, to raise their children, the generation brought the first sizable number of women to the workforce. But those who joined the work force earned less than their male counterparts, nationally about 77 cents to the man's dollar.
And many who devoted their prime to motherhood find themselves divorced and returning to a work force that doesn't have space or patience for them. These women have less time to build up their Social Security savings or 401(k) plans.
The Federal Reserve Board found in 2001 that only a third of single women had any sort of retirement savings account; at the same time, fewer than 10 percent of single women had pensions through their jobs.
The AARP says boomer women are ill prepared for long-term-care needs. According to a survey of boomer women, more than half of female baby boomers do not have a long-term-care insurance policy, and two-thirds said they couldn't afford the premiums.
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