We’ve all heard about the importance of securing our finances for the future. But statistics surrounding Social Security during women’s retirement can be an eye opener. Education is the key that will assist women to steer clear of a declining economic outlook and trend often found during retirement.

Current and potential retirement plan participants need to know the facts — 25 percent of widows will deplete their spouses’ death benefits in less than two months. Given this statistic, it seems likely women could find themselves poor and struggling during later years, especially if they do nothing now to avert that result.

Here are some other facts contributing to the trend:

• Women are half as likely as men to have a private pension, and if they do have a pension, it’s worth half as much as the average man’s pension.
• Social Security represents the only source of income for one of every four unmarried women retirees.
• Social Security makes up just 37 percent of the average single man’s support, but it makes up 55 percent of the average single woman’s support.

Where can participants learn more about planning a secure future?
The Social Security Administration has a Web page for women at www.ssa.gov/women. The goal is simple: get women to save, because if they don’t, the resulting dependence on Social Security income may leave them poor in their later years. This is especially true for women who are divorced, widows and all lower-and moderate-income women, especially those without a pension or substantial savings.

NACo offers several ways for counties to help their employees — both male and female — save for retirement. Through its deferred compensation and defined contribution programs, NACo provides county employees with voluntary retirement savings programs. Through the programs’ administrator, Nationwide Retirement Solutions, employees can learn about the importance of investing for retirement and how to calculate how much they should be contributing into a tax-deferred retirement account.

NACo also presents a free retirement training workshop, Grow Your Nest Egg, to state associations of counties and for sale to individual counties. The Grow Your Nest Egg workshop provides county employees with needed tools and information to help secure their financial futures.

(This article was written jointly by the staffs of NACo Enterprise Services department and Nationwide. For more information, current and prospective participants may talk with a Nationwide Direct Access Retirement Specialist by calling toll-free at (877) 677-3678 or call Lisa Cole, NACo services operations director at ( 202) 942-4270.)