The New Working Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning: Saving and Investing Now for a Secure Future [Paperback]

Martha Priddy Patterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 24, 1999

For those who believe money is money, whether you are male or female, The New Working Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning shows why saving for retirement is different—and difficult—for women. Martha Priddy Patterson offers practical advice and usable solutions to the retirement planning obstacles women have to overcome.

Although women are gaining equal pension coverage with men and women's wages are ever slowly increasing, the need for retirement saving and planning, for both women and men, has never been greater. Through her professional and personal experiences, Patterson—an attorney who has spent 15 years specializing in employee benefits law—found that women were not paying attention to their financial retirement future. Case studies of four women at different stages of their lives, with a variety of careers and career patterns, demonstrate how retirement benefits grow—or disappear.

This new edition contains current up-to-the-minute information on new retirement planning options such as Roth IRAs, cash balance plans, SIMPLE plans, enhanced coverage of 401(k) plans, and the future of Social Security.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wake-up call for women."—USA Today

"Every woman should read this book."—Olivia S. Mitchell, Executive Director, Pension Research Council, The Wharton School

Praise for the first edition:

"Patterson supplies readers with the tools to help move beyond 'pension envy' and build retirement income more nearly equal to what their male coworkers will receive. . . . Patterson clearly yearns to send a message to women about how important it is to act now to ensure their retirement income. She persuaded me. . . . Now I think I'll go grab friends and colleagues by the lapels and urge them to read it."—Martha Hamilton, Washington Post

From the Publisher

This is a completely revised and updated edition of the most important book on retirement planning for women. The need for this book is best explained by the following facts: Only twenty-one percent of working women over 40 expect to receive, or are receiving, retirement benefits; Of those women who do receive benefits, most will receive only one third of those received by their male colleagues; Many more women than men work for firms that do not provide any retirement benefits;

Small variations in the work pattern--those typical of women's careers--can have very large impact on retirement income. Although women are gaining equal pension coverage with men and women's wages are ever slowly increasing, the need for retirement saving and planning, for both women and men, has never been greater. Through her professional and personal experiences, Patterson--an attorney who has spent 15 years specializing in employee benefits law--found that women were not paying attention to their financial retirement future.

Case studies of four women at different stages of their lives, with a variety of careers and career patterns, demonstrate how retirement benefits grow--or disappear. This new edition contains current up-to-the-minute information on new retirement planning options such as Roth IRAs, cash balance plans, SIMPLE plans, enhanced coverage of 401(k) plans, and the future of Social Security.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press; 2 Sub edition (January 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812217039
• ISBN-13: 978-0812217032
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,809,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Planning now to make the most of the years after the 9-to-5, December 17, 1999

By 

Lyn Camire (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Working Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning: Saving and Investing Now for a Secure Future (Paperback)

The tone of this book is both frank and positive in discussing the reasons working women may have a harder time saving adequately for retirement than men do and showing how women can make the choices now to take this matter into their own hands and solve it. I wanted to skim the book and summarize its high points, but the details were too good and I can only say, if you are a working woman, you will want to read this book now.

Lyn Camire Senior Editor, Pensions and Benefits Thompson Publishing Group

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of meat!, May 4, 2000

By 

Margaret Downey "Chocolate and wine lover" (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New Working Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning: Saving and Investing Now for a Secure Future (Paperback)

As a financial advisor who specializes in working with women, I am so happy to see something for the general consumer that has a lot of meat to it. Usually most of the retirement information gets briefly mentioned and then brushed aside with a note that it's important stuff and you need to understand it--but there's usually no help given on how to understand it! This book provides the help in an easy to read and understand format. Love it!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tops in My Book!, June 2, 2000

By 

Sondra Nelson (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Working Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning: Saving and Investing Now for a Secure Future (Paperback)

I read "The Working Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning" several years ago and was surprised to learn of the many reasons why women need to save for retirement differently from men. I put together my own retirement plan after reading it and now I'm retiring and taking my RV on the road for the next few years. I've read the updated version, "The New Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning," and hope many other women get as much out of it as I did the first one.