Fewer than Half of Households with Women age 70 and Older Reported a High Level of Confidence in Their Retirement Security. Retirement Security: Older Women Report Facing a Financially Uncertain Future. GAO-20-718T: Published: Sep 24, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 24, 2020. We testified about our recent report on the perspectives of women retirees on their financial security. We held 14 focus groups across the country. Every group was concerned about rising health care costs and each group discussed how a lack of personal finance education hurt their retirement security. Women in all groups also equated financial security in retirement with being able to maintain their independence.”

• We also analyzed data on the retirement security of older women and found:
• Median household wealth was $250,000
• Liquidity and traditional pensions were important at all levels of wealth
• A large portion of women over 70 are widows