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Frugally Female: Retired Women Do 'Little Things' to Save Money

Posted on: Monday, 16 June 2008, 09:00 CDT

Are retired American females more frugal than their male counterparts? "Yes," says a recent national survey of 800 American adults age 60 to 74.

The poll, conducted for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, found that retired females are more likely than their male counterparts to take practical steps to save money compared to their pre-retirement lifestyles:

-- Forty-four percent of retired females said they are giving fewer or smaller gifts to family members in retirement compared to 29 percent of males.

-- Forty-two percent of retired females said they are shopping more with coupons or at sales in retirement compared to 28 percent of retired males.

-- Thirty-five percent of retired females said they are eating out less often or at less expensive restaurants in retirement compared to 29 percent of retired males.

-- Twenty percent of retired females said they are living in a smaller house in retirement compared to 16 percent of retired males.

Retired males and females share statistically similar support for three retirement money-saving activities. Thirty-seven percent of males and 36 percent of females said they are traveling less or closer to home compared to their pre-retirement lifestyle. Fifteen percent of both genders said they are walking, bicycling or taking public transportation instead of driving, and three percent of women and two percent of men said they had moved in with their children to save money.

Thirty-six percent of retired males said they were unwilling to take any money-saving steps in retirement, compared with 28 percent of females.

The higher the income of a respondent, the less likely he or she was to take money-saving steps compared to their pre-retirement lifestyles. For example, nearly half (49 percent) of retirees with lower incomes (less than $40,000) reported giving fewer or smaller gifts to family members compared to 17 percent of those with higher incomes ($80,000 or more).

Similarly, 43 percent of those with lower incomes reported they shopped with coupons or at sales compared to 15 percent of those having higher incomes.

"It's good to be frugal as long as fear and worry aren't driving one's decision-making," said Mark Anema, vice president of accumulation and retirement income solutions for Thrivent Financial. "One key to a satisfying retirement for both males and females is knowing how to appropriately align one's assets, income and spending to one's circumstances and goals."

About the Thrivent Financial Retirement Income Survey

Data for this survey were collected via telephone between Dec. 1 and 13, 2007, among a nationwide cross section of 800 U.S. adults age 60 to 74 of whom 397 were men and 403 were women. Sixty-four percent of respondents indicated that they are retired, 16 percent identified themselves as partly retired and 20 percent considered themselves not retired.

About Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping nearly 3 million members achieve their financial goals and give back to their communities.

Source: Business Wire

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