Transamerica Institute Announces "Improving Women's Retirement Security"

LOS ANGELES, March 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Women face unique challenges and circumstances that put them at an even greater risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement, compared to men. A special one-hour edition of ClearPath – Your Roadmap to Health & Wealth will offer insights into the particular risks women face and clear-cut steps they can take to improve their retirement outlook:  Sunday, March 26 at 7 p.m. EDT on WYPR (88.1 FM), Baltimore's NPR news station. The broadcast is able to be streamed live at: wypr.org and can be replayed and downloaded immediately following at: www.transamericainstitute.org. It will also be available as a podcast on iTunes.

Despite significant strides in educational advancement and career opportunities by women in recent decades, they have not yet overcome factors that threaten their prospects for achieving retirement security. These pertain to the persistent gender pay gap and the effects of taking time out of the workforce for parenting and/or caregiving. Taken together, these factors can lead to both lower lifetime earnings and lower retirement savings. Statistically speaking, women on average can expect to live more than 3 years longer than men, requiring an even larger pool of savings to sustain a longer retirement. A 2016 survey of working women by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies® found that only 10 percent are "very confident" that they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.

In addition to regular program hosts Greg Tucker and Catherine Collinson (President of the Transamerica Institute® and Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies®, special guest experts Cindy Hounsell and Mary Beth Franklin will share their expertise on women's financial well-being, retirement planning and preparations, and Social Security.

Cindy Hounsell is founder and president of WISER, the Women`s Institute for a Secure Retirement, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the opportunities for women to secure retirement income and to educate the public about the inequities that disadvantage women in retirement. An attorney and retirement expert, Ms. Hounsell has been widely quoted in major news outlets across the country. She has testified before Congress, served as a delegate for a number of White House Summits and conferences including the last two White House Conferences on Aging, the White House Social Security Conference and each of the National Retirement Saver Summits. She also provides technical assistance to several national organizations as well as training to leaders and grassroots advocates around the country as part of her role as director of the National Resource Center for Women and Retirement Planning, funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging. In 2015, Ms. Hounsell was named an Influencer in Aging by Next Avenue.

Mary Beth Franklin is a preeminent personal finance expert on critical retirement topics such as income security, tax-efficient withdrawals, Social Security claiming strategies, career transitions, retiree health costs and long-term care issues. She is an award-winning journalist and a Certified Financial Planner who joined InvestmentNews as a Contributing Editor in January 2012. She writes the Focus on Retirement column for financial advisers and the Retirement 2.0 for its digital edition. She is the author of the book Maximizing Your Social Security Retirement Benefits. Follow her on Twitter @MBFretirepro.

ClearPath – Your Roadmap to Health & Wealth is underwritten by the Transamerica Institute – a nonprofit, private foundation dedicated to identifying, researching and educating the public about retirement, health coverage, and other relevant financial issues facing Americans today. 

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About Transamerica Institute®
The Transamerica Institute is a nonprofit, private foundation dedicated to identifying, researching and educating the public about retirement, health coverage, and other relevant financial issues facing Americans today. Transamerica Institute is funded by contributions from Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates and may receive funds from unaffiliated third parties. For more information, please refer to www.transamericainstitute.org.

Transamerica Institute®
1150 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015-2211
Contact: Katie Fitzpatrick
[email protected] 
952-346-6011

TCRS 1350-0317

SOURCE Transamerica Institute