Should Women Save More Money Than Men?

I sincerely think that it would not be fair if I were to help you answer this question, after all it is your money we are talking about. So I’ll give you a quick quiz,ok? More than 3 “yesses” means you really need to start thinking about your retirement plan, girl!

Q1. Do you run out money way before your next paycheck each month? Yes/ No

Q2. Do you subscribe to the idea of impulse buying, on the basis that you-only-live-once? Yes/No

Q3. Do you have a huge credit card debt but you keep repaying the minimum repayment? Yes/ No

Q4. Do you live beyond your means i.e. earning 3K per month but yearns for a Prada? Yes/ No

Q5. Do you choose not to answer my simple quiz and live in your own lalaland instead? Yes/no

More than three “yesses”, well read on darling. We are basically in the same boat.

We live in a society that is so constrained by gender stereotype, that a man will always be expected to be the breadwinner, and a woman’s place is no more than 5 metres away from the kitchen. The quick rising cost of living begs to differ, forcing us to wear the pants and work alongside our man now that the price of the same packet of nasi lemak costs twice as much as it used to.

But I am not here to talk about nasi lemak.

Look at your bank accounts, did you saved enough for come-what-mays when you are in your retirement years? Common rule of thumb is that you need at least 70% of your yearly salary to live comfortably when you retired (quoted from CNN Money, I did not make that up). But if you are planning on a second honeymoon, glob trot or pursue your lifelong passion of being a restauranteur, be mighty sure that you have a really big piggy bank.

Sometimes women get it into their head that their man will pay for everything.

Well, to those women, good for you.

But for us independent women, who live by Beyonce’s Run The World, saving enough money equivalents to a hassle free golden years. “Of course, women should save, but why should we save more than men?”, so you asked.

Women live longer. Need I say more?  Studies show that women generally live up to 5-10 years longer than their male counterparts, and that is why you see more grannies at the park rather than old grandpas. It is both a bless and a curse, you get to live life a little longer, but on hind sight, you need to save more, so you can err, live a little longer. Let me give you a very simple example, at 30 years old, say you live on Rm50 per day, and you live up to 70 years old, while your husband live up to celebrate his 60^th birthday.

Cost of living for female = Rm50 X 365 X 40 years=Rm730,000

Cost of living for male = Rm50 X365 X 30 years= Rm547,500

And that amount is assuming inflation at 0%, a flat inflation of 2% each year would require you to be a millionaire before you even can consider retiring!

Women spend less time at work. Less time at work= less salary, given. Women are such fragile delicate creatures that we take a day off over menstrual cramps, 3 months off post labor, and forever off when we  decided to switch career to full on housewife. While it can be true that sacrificing work for the sake of your family brings utmost happiness, having a safety net while you do so is never going hurt you, not one bit. Considering the fact that women ultimately do spend less time at work than men, should we not save more to make up for what we lose?

Gender Pay Gap. Truth that we women will always need to grapple with. Having the same degree, the same skill sets and even the same height and size as your male counterparts may not necessarily translates into fair figures on your paycheck. For various reasons, employers will discount your capability, touting you as incompetent if compared to ______________(put male colleague's name here). Needless to say, you need to sacrifice more of your paycheck and put it into saving in order for you to live a comfy life.

Wait, should I also tell you that the cost of women’s medical fees can surely give you a heart attack if you don’t have proper savings plan?