A quarter of women are on the 'wrong track' for retirement

Women continue to struggle more than men with their financial stability, and it's affecting their attitudes about retirement. 

According to the Nationwide Retirement Institute, 23% of women feel they're on the wrong track for retirement, compared to 15% of men. Issues like not being able to save enough and the impact of inflation have led 41% of women to have a negative view of their retirement planning process. 

"There's inequity in the market today, and women also tend to spend more time out of the workforce," says Cathy Marasco, Nationwide's leader for protected retirement. "They might not be likely to have the same trajectory in their careers and then in their savings as men." 

Read more: Why women can't afford to retire 

By the time women retire, they have 30% less income saved than their male counterparts, according to research from TIAA. Yet women actually need more money than men, as they typically live around seven years longer, and as such, will have higher healthcare expenses and living costs. It's estimated women need an additional $280,000 to cover their healthcare costs alone for those extra years, TIAA found. 

But career gaps for caregiving, along with being paid less than men on average, leave women with a life-long challenge of attaining financial stability. By the time they reach retirement, they're unsure if their money will last and have less understanding of how to allot that savings, Marasco says. 

An in-plan decumulation solution is one way to help women receive lifetime income and plan in advance: Nationwide's survey found that 75% of women would be interested in an option like this to be included in their retirement plan.

"Protected retirement solutions are those lifetime income solutions that are available in the plan," Marasco says. "They act like pensions, so they give you that guaranteed income that you can't outlive, while also helping with market volatility."  

Read more: Could a return to pensions solve the impending retirement crisis? 

While not common yet, Marasco is hopeful more employers and plan sponsors will adopt these solutions to help employees manage the decumulation phase of their savings. Ninety percent of women said they would move their current 401(k) into one that had this kind of option, the survey found. 

"Protected retirement solutions and in-plan lifetime guarantee solutions are fairly new, but we've seen significant growth," she said. "Nationwide has a protected retirement suite, and we've seen a 600% year-over-year growth of plan adoptions." 

Research from EY found that participants with a lifetime income option were more likely to retire on time, saving employers an average of $26,000 per employee per year in salary and benefit costs. It's a win-win solution for employers and their female employees, and one they should seriously consider to help women feel more secure in the future. 

"We're still learning, and we're still working on how to educate," Marasco says. "But participants are looking for this education from their record keepers and their employers and their financial advisers."