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PAGE 4A
I FORSYTH county NEWS Sunday, February 15,2004
Older women must prepare better for retirement years
Men and women hoping
to retire within the next five
to 10 years are being forced
to face a cold truth they
may not be financially pre
pared to retire. And women
are especially vulnerable.
Consider these facts
about older women from the
Administration on Aging:
• In 2001, women
accounted for nearly 60 per
cent of the population age 60
and older, and 70 percent of
the population 85 and older.
• Seven out of 10 baby
boom women will outlive
their husbands.
• Older women are twice
as likely as older men to live
in poverty, and half of the
elderly widows living in
poverty were not living in
poverty before their hus
bands died.
• Older women are three
times as likely as older men
to live alone.
• Most older women
depend primarily on Social
Security for their retirement
income, and are half as like
ly to receive employer pen
sion benefits as men.
• According to the Census
Bureau, retirement income
for women over age 65 is
just over half of the retire
ment income received by
men in the same age group.
The reasons older women
find themselves in this finan
cially precarious position are
many, ranging from working
fewer years in lower-paying
jobs than men, to saving less
for retirement. But the ques
tion now is, how can older
women approaching retire
ment make up for lost time?
Make retirement a priori
ty. It’s common for women
to make financial sacrifices
during their working years,
such as staying at home to
raise children or care for eld
erly relatives. And many tend
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BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
STOCK MARKET UPDATE
market in brief stocks of local interest
At the close of sj gn Stock Last Change
Feb. 13,2004 ATG AGL Resources 28.68 -0.17
BLS BellSouth Corp. 29.55 -0.54
DOW -66.22 DELL Dell Computer 34.50 +0.87
DAL Delta Air Lines 9.79 -0.26
F Ford Motor Company 14.36 -0.19
10°67?85 GP Georgia Pacific 30.10 +0.24
GM General Motors 48.88 -0.67
HD Home Depot 36.17 -0.40
INTC Intel Corp. 30.13 -0.61
KO Coca-Cola Company 51.14 -0.40
MCD McDonalds Corp. 26.63 -0.05
S&P 500 -6 30 MSFT Microsoft 26.58 -0.37
PEP Pepsico Inc. 50.52 -0.40
RF Regions Financial 37.03 -0.03
Volume: SFA Scientific Atlanta 32.98 -0.50
1,145.81 SGMS Scientific Games 16.82 -0.25
SO Southern Company 29.50 -0.08
T AT&T 20.00 -0.06
TSN Tyson Foods 16.38 -0.15
UPS United Parcel Service 70.82 -0.29
NASDAQ -20 05 WB Wachovia Cor P- 47.52 -0.03
hhouhu WMT Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 56.32 -0.66
Volume: John M. Weaver
2.053.56 Senior Vice President, Investment Officer
21 c u D :X e G a A S ’" Wachovia
(678)455-0016 SECURITIES
to rely on their husbands for
their principal financial sup
port. But the problem is,
women outlive men by an
average of five years, and
thus have more years in
retirement to fund.
Their husband’s income
from Social Security and
employer pensions will drop
significantly if the husband
dies first, which is why wid
ows commonly fall into
poverty unless they have
some of their own retirement
resources.
Beef up savings. A
woman in her fifties or six
ties can’t make up for
decades of lost retirement
income and tax-deferred
compounding, but she can at
least make up some of the
shortfall by beefing up sav
ings.
First, establish one or
more retirement accounts if
you don’t already have one,
such as joining a retirement
plan at work or opening an
individual retirement account
(IRA).
Even a nonworking
spouse can put up to $3,000
a year into an IRA, and an
additional SSOO if she is age
50 or older.
Next, pay your retirement
accounts just as you would
any critical monthly bill
before it is frittered away in
discretionary spending.
Direct deposits make it easi
er and less painful.
Contribute the most you
can afford to contribute and
that rules allow at least
enough to earn the entire
match an employer might
make into a 401(k) plan if
that’s available, and ideally
up to the maximum allowed
by the plan.
For many types of retire
ment plans and IRAs, work
ers over age 50 can kick in
an extra “catch up” contribu
tion above what younger
workers are allowed.
Beef up Social Security
benefits. Returning to work
can beef up a woman’s
Social Security benefits ulti
mately earned in her name.
Social Security bases its
payments on a 35-year
employment history, and
even part-time work may
earn more in a year than
what she might have been
making three decades ago.
Know your retirement
rights. For example, women
are guaranteed to continue to
receive a portion of their
husband’s company pension
if their husband dies before
they do-unless they sign
away that right.
Women sometimes do
that out of ignorance or
because the couple decides
to take the “single lifetime”
payout because it provides a
higher income stream than
the “joint and survivor” pay
out.
But those single-lifetime
payouts stop when the bene
ficiary dies, and women are
more likely to outlive their
husbands.
Older women also should
educate themselves about
what Social Security benefits
they might receive because
they are married-and what
benefits they might still
receive in the event of
divorce.
Long-term care insur-
ance. While many men and
women should investigate
long-term care insurance, it
can be especially important
for women.
Women are twice as like
ly as men to live in a nursing
home, and they’re less likely
to be able to stay at home
because they will have out
lived their husbands who
might care for them.
This column is produced
by the Financial Planning
Association, the membership
organization for the financial
planning community, and is
provided by John M. Weaver,
Sr. Vice President-Investment
Officer,Murphy Office
Center, 210 Dahlonega St.,
Suite 103-A, Cumming, GA
30041, with Wachovia
Securities, LLC, member
NYSE and SIPC, and a bro
ker/dealer member in good
standing of the FPA. Call
John Weaver at 678-455-
0016.
Wachovia Securities does
not provide tax or legal
advice. Please consult with
your own tax and legal advi
sors before taking any action
that would have tax conse
quences.
Insurance products are
available through insurance
subsidiaries of Wachovia
Corporation and other
underwriters. Not available
in all states.
Wachovia Securities is the
trade name used by two sep
arate, registered broker
dealers and non-bank affili
ates of Wachovia
Corporation providing cer
tain retail securities broker
age services: Wachovia
Securities, LLC, member
NYSE/SIPC, and Wachovia
Securities Financial
Network, LLC, member
NASD/SIPC.