Women: Take Charge of Your Retirement Savings

Perhaps a silver lining to the recession is that women now are as likely as men to contribute to a workplace retirement savings plan. That wasn't the case two years ago before the economic downturn began. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey, 65% of women and 63% of men said they contribute to a retirement plan at work. In EBRI's 2007 survey, just 38% of women said they participated in a workplace retirement plan compared with 45% of men.

However, most women still aren't as confident as men that they will have enough money in retirement to cover basic expenses, according to the 2009 survey. In fact, only 12% of the women surveyed said they're very confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably through their retirement years.

That's bad news, considering women have a longer life expectantcy and will have to provide for themselves more years in retirement than men. But there's plenty women can do to beef up their retirement kitty, says Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine and author of Money Smart Women. Use her checklist of 12 Retirement Strategies for Women to help and watch the video below for tips.

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