Such pre-retirement planning as currently exists is primarily geared toward men and couples. Yet it is women who will have the longest and hardest road ahead, because it is women who will most lkely end their lives without a mate and in poverty.
Women are the most frequent candidates for chronic debilitating disease and for nursing homes.
A realistic view of the dangers of growing older as a female is a starting place. O ne reality often overlooked by women is the likelihood of needing some form of long-term care during the later years. Among older women, there is an increasing prevalence of long-term chronic diseases, such as arthritis, diabetes, visual impairment, osteoporosis and hypertension. W omen have a greater risk than men of needing nursing home services. Women are more often single during their later years and their life expectancy is greater than men s by about seven years.