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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Financial Burdens Higher for MN's Female Baby Boomers

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Wednesday, October 2, 2013   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - As Minnesota's population grows older than it's ever been, a new push is under way to improve financial security for women in the baby boomer generation.

There's a great need, said Amy McDonough, advocacy director for AARP Minnesota, because women typically have fewer sources of income in retirement than do men.

"In fact, about half of older women in Minnesota rely on Social Security for at least half of their income," she said. "So, it's a very important program for women, and we want to make sure that we recognize the unique challenges that boomer women face as they grow older."

Without Social Security, McDonough said, more than 40 percent of older women in Minnesota would be living in poverty, compared with about 33 percent of older men.

It's also true that women collect less Social Security then men on average, and McDonough said that's partly because women more often take time off during their careers to act as family caregivers.

"So, as young mothers, they might take time out of the workforce to care for children, and that impacts their retirement," she said. "And then later in life, they often are the folks who have to take time off of work to care for their elderly parents."

With women also living longer, McDonough said, there's a need for more resources to help them save for retirement during their working years. One such possibility would be a type of state-sponsored savings plan.

"So, instead of a 401(k), which is a private account," she said, "we would be looking at something where a woman who doesn't have access to a 401(k) account at work could still access retirement savings and get those benefits."

Other strategies include improving access to capital for women entrepreneurs and expanding business and government support for family caregivers.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was among the panelists this week at a national AARP seminar about the financial challenges of women in their 50s and 60s.

More information is online at states.aarp.org.


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