(music). Do you consider yourself money savvy?
I know the basics of it. I don't know how to keep it. I can make it.
I had a good job making some good money, and I'm young. I don't really have much to pay
for. A single woman. I own two homes. I worked
hard my whole life. Do you consider your self money savvy?
No. How ready are you for retirement?
Um, I hope I'm not ready for retirement. I'm a little bit young for that.
I am retired. I am retired for two years now. It's wonderful. It's the best thing I ever
did for myself is being retired. It's better than working?
Absolutely better than working. It's something you probably don't think about
on a regular basis, but it can keep you up at night. We're talking finances and retirement
planning. So, do you consider yourself money savvy and ready for retirement? If not, we're
going to work on that with the help of our guest, Aimee Tesoro, a Certified Financial
Planner from the Financial Services Firm, Transamerica. Good morning.
Good morning. Thanks for being here.
Thank you. So, I was reading. Transamerica has been helping
people achieve financial security for more than 100 years?
100 years. Well that's amazing. Well, let's be honest,
everyone recognizes your pyramid building. Yes.
And it's very obvious. But really making a difference for a long time.
Yes. More than 100 years, and the iconic building has really been changing the skyline of San
Francisco for many years as well. And as one of the world's leading Financial Services
Firms, Transamerica is truly dedicated to helping families improve their lives by saving
and investing for the future. Which is really important to do because back
in the day, like for example when I was growing up, I remember my grandfather doing the books
and the old fashion way of writing the checks, and even my dad for that matter. But today,
I mean the tide has turned. Let's be honest. I mean, I'm the one who writes the checks.
I'm the one who takes care of the finances. I'm the one who deposits, and I am the one
who withdrawls. Okay? Yes.
So, women have really taken control of that at home, and I don't think it's going to change.
I can't imagine so. I mean, women's role in society has really evolved at home and in
the workplace. When you look at recent decades, women have made great strides in careers and
in education, and we're still continuing to be caretakers and mothers. Yet despite these
great strides, women are still at more risk than men for not establishing a financial
secure retirement. And it's because we have so much on our plate.
And I can even use me as an example. When I had my girls, I took a sabbatical, and you
know I was concerned because I wasn't making money. I was thinking to myself, "Oh my gosh,
I'm not putting any money in my 401K", but a lot of women find themselves doing that
as well. Absolutely. Women really are more likely than
men to take time out of the workforce, whether that's the care for their children, to care
for elderly parents, whether that be to take care of anyone. They tend to be those caretakers,
and when you look at those things as well as women tend to be single parents more, they
tend to still have a income disparity. Yet, we're living longer. So, all of those things
make it so important for women to really consider how are they saving for retirement.
And I know there's some startling statistics on, let's say, retirement readiness when it
comes to women. You have some. Yes. And in recent studies, they were talking
about asking women how they were calculating their retirement needs, and more than 60%
of them said, "They just guessed." Really?
That is so scary for me. I mean, it's such a critical component. And when you're asking
women how many of them were very confident that they would live a comfortable retirement
lifestyle, it was really only about 12%. That's it?
12%. Really concerning. And you're asking in the same survey, asking women how many
of them really would like to find out easier to access more retirement planning educational
materials. More than half of them said they would really be interested in that.
So let's get on track here and let's get to that readiness when it comes to retirement
because it really doesn't matter when. I don't care if you're single, married, widowed, or
anything for that matter. Yes.
You can always start, never too late. Right. Absolutely. This is one of those things
where small steps can really make huge leaps in your retirement preparedness. It's something
that whether you're 40s, whether you're 50s, does not matter. Those things are important
to do today. And how is Transamerica helping women today
get ready for that future? Well, Transamerica has created a Your Financial
Life website. There's educational tools, financial planning resources on there that can really
help you guide you toward what do you have today and what do you need for the future.
There are articles on there. There's ideas and answers to a lot of questions that women
have about "Is my financial planning on track?". And when you're looking at it, there's also
a very simple retirement calculator that will help you understand the savings you have today,
how long will that take you into your retirement? And are you getting feedback from women that
go there and realize, "Hey, this is important to me?"
We are getting feedback, and that is really one of the reasons why Transamerica said we
want to provide this website. We also want to provide we have retirement counselors.
There's no cost, there's no obligation. You can speak with people around your journey
to and through retirement to really help you to understand how do you take that next step.
So for someone out there that maybe hasn't thought about this and is saying "Gosh, I
should." What would you say? I would say the first thing is develop a strategy,
write it down. If you don't write it down, it's not a plan. Calculate what do you have
as your retirement savings today, what kind of income would you need, and if you don't
know how to do that, use some of the tools available to you. You have tools available
on websites. You have tools available with retirement counselors. All of those things
are great ways to reach out for that first step.
Tell my viewers where they can go to get information on Transamerica.
They can go to Transamerica.com/YourLife for great information.
Thank you so much. Important to take control. Good peace of mind.
Yes. Aimee, thank you so much. And to talk to a
retirement planning expert or to learn more about insurance and retirement planning, visit
Transamerica.com/YourLife. Take control. Or visit our website, TheBalancingAct.com.
(music).