Is your 401(k) an important part of your retirement plan? Is your 401(k) something you intend to pass on to future generations through estate planning? Women are doing better than men in almost every single way except for their account balances when looking at 401(k) data across the board.

A recent study completed by Vanguard looked at the different ways that women and men treat their workplace retirement plan, exploring the experiences of more than 2.3 million employees in 2021.

Overall, women exhibited better saving habits, such as always enrolling in their plans at higher rates, except for those plan participants in the lowest income brackets. This means that women contributed a bigger portion of their paychecks. When compared with the overall balances in the accounts, however, men had 44% more savings in their accounts. Income inequality, according to Vanguard, is one of the biggest drivers of the substantial change.

If you’re looking to set aside your 401(k) or other retirement benefits for the support of your loved ones in the future, it’s essential to talk through how this fits into your estate planning picture. This may pass outside of your traditional probate estate, but it’s still worthwhile and part of the bigger context of your overall estate plan. Working with an attorney who understands how all of these facets work together and also help to support individual estate planning goals is key.

Work with our Pasadena estate planning law office to walk through every stage of your California plan.

Comments are closed.