Women face many unique retirement challenges — longer lifespans, gaps in savings years and higher health care costs — and this is reflected in how they feel about their retirement preparedness. According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2024 Planning & Progress Study, women have high levels of financial uncertainty — only 36% know how much they’ll need to retire comfortably.
However, our study also found the youngest generation of working women is setting ambitious financial goals, and their rising incomes could provide the financial fuel they need to reach their retirement targets. Gen Z women also feel the most confident about their money, with 60% saying they’ll be financially prepared for retirement compared to just 40% of Gen X women. This generation of women in their 40s and 50s believe they’ll need more than $2 million to retire comfortably — the highest amount reported by any generation and $500,000 more than the average American woman.
