Why Canadian Women Need to Save More Money than Men for Retirement

Financial experts estimate that you need to save approximately 10% of your net (after-tax) income for retirement. Many employers offer this for their employees, setting up workplace pension plans, and there are also Canadian government plans in place, such as CPP and OAS. While these retirement plans help women achieve their retirement goals, these gender-neutral saving strategies give the illusion of fairness, hiding the inequities that most females face.

RELATED: Find out how this Toronto flight attendant set up her long-term financial planning.

The reality is, there’s a gender retirement gap. The amount women save for retirement cannot be the same as men. A recent study published by The Broadbent Institute found 28% of Canadian senior women are living below the poverty line and predict that the situation is just going to get worse in the future. But why is there a gender retirement gap in the first place?

RELATED: 10 things you need to know about RRSPs.

One good reason women need to save more moolah: they tend to live longer than men. According to Statistics Canada, the average life expectancy for the total Canadian population is projected to be 79 years for men and 83 years for women. This means saving for four more years, which may not seem like a big deal at first. But do the math: if a woman retires at the age 65, that means she’s living in retirement for 28% longer than her male counterpart. Next, calculate all the extra expenses that she may need in her elderly years: food, health care, housing, home care, dental, and so forth. It’s a sobering fact.

It may be 2019, but a gender wage gap still exists. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian women earned 87 cents an hour for every dollar made by men in 2015. With less moolah in our wallets, it’s even harder for women than men to save for the future.

Another stark reality? Whether it’s for maternity leave or to care for elderly parents, women are more likely than men to leave the workforce at some point in their careers. As a result, studies estimate that, on average, women work 28 years in their lifetime, whereas men work 38 years. That's a 10-year gap where women aren't making money – vastly reducing their capacity to stash the cash. For some women, it may also mean that they qualify for lower pension benefits.

Check out thesehighest paying in-demand jobs in Canada for 2019.

When it comes to investments, women tend to err on the side of caution, putting their savings into more conservative, guaranteed investment return products, such as GICs and high-interest savings accounts. While there is certainly value to holding these products, it doesn’t represent a balanced, diversified portfolio – which can seriously hold you back from achieving your retirement goals.

New to investing? Learnhow to start investing in Canada.

So how much exactly should women save to bridge the gender gap? A recent study found that women should be putting away almost 18 percent of their after-tax income if they want to enjoy the same quality of life in retirement as their male counterparts.

For women who leave the workforce, one way to bridge the gap is to have a working partner (if they have one) contribute to a Spousal RRSP, which will ensure that their retirement savings are covered. Plus, the working partner will get a tax-free return on their contribution to the Spousal RRSP (at least, until it is withdrawn).

Unless you’re psychic, trying to “beat the market” is pointless. Your best bet is to take a passive investing strategy, aka the “Couch Potato Strategy.” How it works: couch potato investors attempt to match total market performance by investing in low-fee funds (e.g. index funds, exchange-traded funds). They potato investors don’t pick and choose “winning” stocks or obsessively watch market fluctuations. Instead, couch potato investors focus on building a balanced portfolio made up of all the things in the market. Then, just “set it and forget it” – meaning that they check in once a year to rebalance their portfolio.

It may sound almost too easy, but historically, this long-term investment strategy can help you achieve your financial goals. For once, being “lazy” has a payoff.

For “actively managed” mutual funds, Canadians pay some of the highest fees in the world (approximately 2% to 3% of their total portfolio annually). That’s a fortune over a lifetime, and women can particularly benefit from cutting costs. Rather than pay a pricey fund manager, consider moving to a robo advisor. Or if you’re comfortable with DIY online investing, move to an online brokerage. The management fees are much lower (under 1%) and can save you thousands of dollars over your lifetime.

Obviously, the sooner you start investing, the better. But even if you’re late to the game, don’t stress. The important thing is that you’re taking steps to achieve your retirement goals. While it’s true there’s a gender retirement gap, historically, women have never let a few hurdles stop them from achieving their dreams. Take a “can do attitude,” save what you can, and soon you’ll have a healthy nest egg waiting for you in your golden years.

RELATED: 15 Retirement tax tips that will help save your nest egg.