Forbes.com features the expertise of SeniorBridge's Claudia Fine about the challenges women face when planning retirement

Forbes.com - February 9, 2011 - Ten years ago, the average life expectancy for a woman retiring at 65 stretched to her 84th birthday. With the right planning and investments, all financial concerns would be good and paid for.

The problem is, that isn't happening. According to the Wells Fargo Retirement Fitness Survey, released in December, Americans have less than 7% of their required retirement nest eggs saved. And with women's life expectancy going up each year, the task of managing retirement funds so as not to outlive her assets is increasingly becoming a woman's problem.

A recent barrage of reports - from Ameriprise, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo and more - have brought the female issue to the forefront as the first of the Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age. Claudia Fine, chief professional officer at SeniorBridge, a geriatric care management firm, pinpoints the trend: "People are talking about the fact that women need to be better educated, take our heads out of the sand. That we need to grow up and take responsibility for our financial lives."

...The financial impact of the loss of a spouse and the healthcare costs associated with aging took center stage in the study. "The reality of women living longer than their spouses, and the likelihood of spending their latter years in a debilitated state of multiple chronic illnesses, may not be things we like to talk about, but they are often the biggest challenges that face women in retirement," says Fine.

THE ADVICE: Buy long term care insurance as a part of retirement planning....Fine's stance on long term care insurance is most convincing: "I don't want to pay for fire insurance either," she says, "but I do, and I hope I never need it. The truth is that I'm much less likely to have my house burn down than I am to need long term care."

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