If you had to use one word to describe the Trump administration, that word would be “unpredictable”. Many older Americans are starting to feel the same about their impending retirement.
Trump seems to find enemies at will and won’t hesitate to attack them on Twitter. When the President of the United States goes after someone, the world notices. Stock prices drop. Whole industries have changed their priorities just to stay within his good graces.
While Trump’s policies mean a lot of good things for workers, he’s also come out swinging on spending. He has been working on cutting the benefits the Obama administration gave to college students so they wouldn’t be burdened.
Many have also lamented the proposals that set out to significantly cut other programs too. PBS funding and Meals on Wheels has been on the chopping block.
What cuts are going to come next? No one knows, and that leaves a lot of retirees (especially women) worried about their benefits.
A New Retirement Survey
According to a survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute, 62% of women near or at retirement age plan to use Social Security in their golden years. 58% of them have a strong belief that Trump will cut their benefits in a push to roll back entitlements.
This is only a small part of the many challenges women face in retirement, especially this generation of women.
The American College of Financial Services recently conducted a survey of their own. They wanted to test the financial literacy of men and women. 80% of the women who took the test failed. Many do not know their options. They rely on their spouse to be the breadwinners and always trusted things were in order.
The problem with that is, women live longer than men. This makes it extremely important that they take better charge over their financial future and understand their options.
Knowing Your Retirement Options
Roberta Eckert, the Vice President of Nationwide Retirement, believes women should understand their options.
“Too many women retirees have no retirement income outside of Social Security. And even for women that do, the fact that they live longer, makes considering maximizing Social Security benefits extremely important,” she said.
The majority of women nearing retirement age believes that Social Security will be enough only adds to their nervousness. Men tend to be investors and have different types of income flows ready. If Social Security is cut, they aren’t ready.
Women have different challenges and need to be even more aggressive about this issue. They should take the time to improve their financial literacy and know all their options. If not, they might end up finding themselves working past retirement age.
