Savvy Senior: Retirement Planning Tips for Single Women

Dear Savvy Senior,

What retirement planning tips can you recommend to single women? I’m 54 and divorced with a teenage daughter and very little saved for retirement.

--Financially Behind

Dear Behind,

It’s an unfortunate reality, but most single women – whether they’re divorced, widowed or never married – face much greater financial challenges in retirement than men. Why?

Because women earn less money – about 80 cents for every dollar that men make, on average, and they have shorter working careers than men due to raising children and/or caring for aging parents. And less money earned usually t...