Yes, it is true, women live too long. The numbers say that the average life expectancy of women is 79, while that of men is 72. Why do I say that women live too long? It is due to the very real risk of a reduced standard of living in your later years.

Consider the following facts. On average, women still earn less than men. Women have lower pensions and social security benefits than men. The average age of widowhood is 56 years. About 75% of women are eventually widowed. 87% of adults living in poverty are women. (Statistics from WIFE, the Women’s Institute for Financial Education)

On the other hand, there is good news. Women tend to be better investors than men, and this fact could be of great help throughout your life. Hmm, could it have something to do with women finding it easier than men asking for directions?

In my 26 years as an investment adviser, and with a large number of single women as clients, my observation is that it is also because women tend to be more security conscious than men. This safety awareness starts early and is valid for a lifetime. Additionally, women tend to focus on the long term and make fewer investment mistakes than men.

So where does this leave us? Based on the longevity of women, indeed, both women and men, it certainly pays us to provide enough sources of income to carry us comfortably throughout the seventies, eighties, nineties, and even beyond. The question is, how?

Social security will be a part of the answer for most, although we may have to face the likelihood of a decline in benefits at some point in the future. Pensions are an additional part of the equation, although pensions are rapidly disappearing for much of the workforce. This leaves you in the third stage of the income puzzle, our own investment.

One solution that we have used for many years on behalf of our clients is to divide investment savings into several parts, based on people’s age, financial needs, amount of assets available, etc.

The next step is to determine the amount of supplemental income needed to fund your desired lifestyle. Then put enough savings into a monthly income annuity, designed to pay the required amount over your lifetime and that of spouses for life, if applicable. Why an income annuity? Because it is the only investment I know of that will pay an income for life, no matter how long the recipient lives.

But what about inflation? To respond to that challenge, we put the rest of the savings in an investment portfolio made up of what we call “All Weather” mutual funds, the term All Weather means lower volatility funds that have a long-term history of consistent performance year after year. anus. , and that declining markets hold up exceptionally well. Such funds are rare, but they can be found. Why mutual funds? Because they can be a simple, low-cost, yet effective way to manage your portfolio.

When the need for additional income arises, as it surely will, we take a portion of the mutual fund portfolio, which has presumably been growing in value for a period of time, we put this into another income annuity for life, and the process is repeated.

We can divide and cut this process in many ways, but the above is an overview of the challenge and potential solution to living long and living well.