Women face retirement challenges as they still, on average, outlive men omen face significant retirement challenges according to Canadian census data released last week. Some of the challenges are generic and apply to men as well. How long will you live? How much money will you actually need to maintain your lifestyle and pay for unanticipated emergencies? How will your investments perform? We already know from previously released Statistics Canada information that we are living longer and that trend towards longevity is increasing. Women outlive men and are often a few years younger than their husbands, so women could potentially live alone for the last decade of their life. Last week, we received the third release of census data that was collected in May 2011. There are now more singleoccupied residences than traditional households with two parents living with children. That trend has been growing steadily since the 1961 census when slightly more than nine per cent of households were occupied by a single person. Now, the number of one-person households is more than 27 per cent. For those over the age of 65, single households are more than twice as often occupied by women. This trend has implications. For women, it is the reality upon which their retirement planning should be based. The implications for women facing challenges during retirement are further magnified by our current fundamental problems in planning for retirement. The retirement age is accepted to be 65 and that has been the case for 100 years. Life 21 · Thursday, September 27, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com W expectancy has increased over that time period but the retirement age for many has not. For every decade since the 1940s, life expectancy has increased by two years per decade. The problem with this is that people have too much life left at age 65 to stop working and attempt to financially coast through their retirement years. Women are more at risk than men of running out of money during their lifetime. Women over the age of 65 will find the cost of living alone more expensive than cohabiting. Factor in an extended life expectancy and the eroding effect of inflation on purchasing power and the strain on cash flow can be significant. Women living with their husbands or common lawspouses face the likelihood that they will be living alone at some point in their lives. The Canadian census reveals that close to one in three women above the age of 65 lives alone. This should be accounted for in retirement planning. The key to retirement planning is reviewing retirement cash flow projections Dollars & Sense By Peter Watson and considering various possibilities. During retirement, it is all about cash flow and the ability to support a desired lifestyle. What does it cost to maintain your own residence? Is this affordable? For women now living with a spouse, what changes occur to your cash flow if you are suddenly on your own? Which retirement benefits will stop or be reduced? Will you have the added costs of doing some household chores your spouse had performed over the years? The Canadian census shows that many women over the age of 65 are or will be living alone. The question that you need to ask yourself is whether you are prepared for that possibility. The emotional side of it is hard enough; but add in the extra living costs and things can be even more problematic. Given the higher probability of women living several years beyond their spouse, it is very important for women to have an active interest in the family finances, if they don't already, before they are forced to do it. -- Submitted by Peter Watson, MBA, CFP, R.F.P., CIM, FCSI. Pl Plus, we price match. FreshCo.com