When it comes to planning for their futures, women face distinct challenges. 

On average, women in the U.S. live longer and have higher health care costs than men. At the same time, women tend to earn less, under-invest, accumulate less, and incur more debt over the course of their lives. Further, women often face the daunting task of caring for loved ones at the expense of their own energy and resources.With our experience in working with individuals and families we know the impact these challenges can have on your future. Our goal is to work with you to identify how these challenges may impact you, and, more importantly, the opportunities to plan for these challenges. These issues are complex and interconnected, and together contribute to the startling “wealth deficit” that women of all backgrounds, education levels, and vocations encounter throughout their lives. These challenges can be addressed through a combination of planning, education, and thoughtful decision-making—paving the way for greater financial stability, flexibility, and freedom.

 Women currently outlive men by an average of 5.3 years¹ with U.S. female life expectancy at 81.1 years compared to men at 75.8 years. In addition, from age 67 onward, women are 40% more likely than men to live to age 90.

Living longer means more years to fund living expenses, which in turn puts pressure on your portfolio to generate strong returns for a longer duration. For any individual factoring in longevity, it is vital to address the likelihood of outliving one’s assets and make appropriate adjustments in the planning process.

Without considering the reality of longevity, women — or anyone facing a longer time horizon — are at risk of misallocating investments and trading long-term growth in favor of short-term stability.

Women earn 83.6 cents for every dollar a man earns,² despite earning over half of the bachelor’s degrees in the U.S. 

While women are paid less than men at every level, data shows that women with advanced degrees are paid less per hour, on average, than men with college degrees. Women’s salaries generally start at close to parity with men, but lag in earning power further along in their careers.

In addition to earning lower wages, women are more likely to advance more slowly and face more interruptions in their careers. For every one hundred men promoted to manager, only eighty-one women achieve the same level, a gap that continues to widen at higher levels of seniority.

Women are more likely to experience prolonged interruptions in their careers; women consistently report taking time off from working, compared to men, to care for children or other family members. Women are also more likely to work part-time, comprising 60% of U.S. part-time workers. In more drastic instances, women report leaving their jobs altogether for caregiving responsibilities, doing so at a higher rate than men.

The financial consequences of taking time out of the labor force are severe, with women experiencing measurable impact with just one or two years out of the workforce. On average, women accumulate 8.6 years of work for every 10 years worked by men, contributing to a cumulative $500,000 income loss over a 30-year career.

Women report having less financial literacy confidence than men,³ and may have to overcome a knowledge gap in order to protect and grow their wealth. 

In a recent study of divorced and widowed women, 40% of widowed women and 30% of divorced women expressed feeling less confident in handling investing and retirement planning decisions after the loss of a spouse or divorce from their spouse. For various reasons, women may find themselves more financially dependent. The greater the dependency, the greater the exposure to loss of income or support. Lack of access to education around financial matters is often the first significant barrier to gaining financial independence. It creates a host of other issues that cannot be easily resolved without first addressing the underlying issue: access to good information to build a solid financial foundation.

Women have approximately 32% less saved for retirement than men,⁴ reinforcing the idea of saving early and saving often.

Women are more likely to be single at some point in their lives than men, whether planned or unplanned. A number of studies provide evidence that divorce creates a costlier economic fallout for women than for men, where a woman’s household income fell by an average of 41% following a divorce, while a man’s household income fell by only 23%. Additionally, in divorces among older adults (50 and older), women experience a 45% decline in standard of living, compared to a 21% drop for men. When women find themselves alone as a result of the death of a spouse, these effects can be even more severe.

Finding oneself living alone presents clear financial challenges, including loss of income both during working years and in retirement (from Social Security, e.g.), while costs may remain relatively unchanged or only slightly reduced.

The availability of health care and the cost of care are major concerns in planning for women. 

Women’s health care spending is roughly 20% higher than men’s,⁵ and women may need a savings and investment approach that accounts for accelerated costs. As of 2023, roughly 90.5% of adult women (ages 19-64) have health insurance; nearly 1 in 10 remains uninsured.¹⁸ However, coverage varies significantly by state: only 2.6% of women are uninsured in Massachusetts, versus 22% in Texas.

On average, a healthy 65-year-old woman retiring in 2024 could expect to spend approximately $147,000 to $320,000 on healthcare over her remaining lifetime, depending on coverage. Strikingly, for working adults (ages 19-64), women spend approximately 70% more per capita on healthcare, compared to men in the same age group, possibly attributable to maternity care costs.

Health care costs affect many financial planning factors, including future spending projections and your ability to save towards long-term investments. Higher medical costs today impede cash flow tomorrow, and make it more difficult to save and invest for retirement on a regular basis.

Women represent 61% of caregivers,⁶ and not only need to save more to cover the costs of care, but also be prepared for the increased mental and physical toll. 

Globally, women are the predominant providers of unpaid care for family members with disabilities or chronic medical conditions. Estimates indicate that the share of female caregivers was 60% in the U.S. and 81% globally. This is a multi-faceted issue:

The physical and mental toll: Studies have shown that women experience greater mental and physical strain while providing care. Compared to male caregivers, women are more likely to report higher levels of depression and emotional burden, and they take on more caregiving tasks. This strain often manifests in personal health issues that arise after the initial caregiving phase is over, and also jeopardizes their ability to achieve their own goals.

Financial impact: Caregivers may be responsible for shouldering all or part of the financial burden of providing care. National median cost for a private room in a U.S. nursing home is $361 per day, or about $10,965 per month. This is yet another contributing factor to stunted career advancement for women, who may compromise their highest earning years while providing a disproportionate amount of care. The financial aftermath of providing care may extend far beyond the years of actual caregiving.

1. Murphy, Sherry L., et al. “Mortality in the United States, 2023.” NCHS Data Brief, vol. 521, Dec. 2024.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Economics Daily. “Women’s earnings were 83.6 percent of men’s in 2023.” Mar. 2024.
3. Yakoboski, Paul J., et al. “Financial literacy and retirement fluency in America.” 2025 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index.
4. “Retirement Planning for Women: Why the Stakes Are Higher.” Morgan Stanley At Work, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC., Mar. 2025.
5. “National health expenditure data (NHE) Fact Sheet.” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dec. 2024.
6. AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving. Caregiving in the United States 2020. Washington, DC: AARP. May 2020.