In a calendar already chock full of special days and commemorative months, next week we’ll add another: Women’s Retirement Security Day.
If this one has snuck up on you — well, it’s a first. July 14 this year, the second Tuesday in July thereafter. A national day of action dedicated to raising awareness, sharing resources, and improving retirement outcomes for women.
For much of this country’s history, women were largely expected to derive retirement security through someone else’s employment — a husband’s pension, survivor benefits, or eventually Social Security spousal benefits. The retirement system itself was largely designed around a traditional, uninterrupted male career model: one worker, one employer, one pension, one primary breadwinner.
But many women’s lives — including my mother’s — never really fit that model.
Mom, a schoolteacher, had a career of her own, but took a fairly significant (and unpaid) “sabbatical” so that she could stay at home with her four kids until the youngest was ready to head off to school. When she returned to work, she was covered by a state pension plan, albeit one that required from her paycheck a much more significant contribution than most defer into 401(k)s.
On top of that she saved diligently to buy back the service credits she had forgone during the years she worked in our home without a paycheck — and then set aside money in her 403(b) account (over Dad’s objections, I might add — he didn’t think they could afford it).
Indeed, generally speaking, women face many more challenges regarding retirement preparation than men. They live longer (and thus are likely to have longer retirements to fund), tend to have less saved for retirement (because of lower incomes and more workforce interruptions), and in addition to longer retirements, those longer lives mean they are also more likely to face what can be the catastrophic financial burden of long-term care expenses.
And their caregiving responsibilities often extend to aging parents, even after their own children have left the “nest.”
Women are also less likely to work for an employer that offers a retirement plan at work, and more likely to work part time — which historically has often meant being excluded from plan participation altogether. Only about 1 in 3 women use a professional financial advisor to help manage retirement savings and investments.[i]
Oh, and like my mother, they tend to outlive their spouses — often by far more than the variance in average life expectancy tables might suggest.
Let’s face it, one of the enduring realities for many women is that the very responsibilities that strengthen families can weaken long-term financial security. Women remain more likely to interrupt careers, reduce hours, or work part time because of caregiving responsibilities — decisions that can ripple through retirement outcomes for decades.
The “magic” of compounding only works when there is something to compound.
Retirement preparedness isn’t merely about accumulating assets. It’s about preserving dignity, independence, and choice.
For everyone.
That’s what the inaugural Women’s Retirement Security Day should remind us.
Not simply that women face different retirement challenges — though they clearly do.
But that a retirement system designed around real life needs to consider the people who actually live it.
Once again, though — this is not a day for flowers, cards, and social media posts. This is a day for action.
Let’s get to it.
- Nevin E. Adams, JD
More information is available at: https://www.usaretirement.org/get-involved/wir/womens-retirement-security-day/
[i] See 25 Facts About Women's Retirement Outlook | 25th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey 2025.
