Cooking The Books

OPINION: Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it’s the reasons women need to save more for retirement, and how to deal with it. Hosted by Frances Cook.Many of us aren’t prepared for retirement, but the deck is particularly stacked against women.Spend a moment thinking about it, and it becomes obvious why. Women earn less than men, on average about 12 percent less. So if you’re saving a percentage of your income, you’re already off to a bad start with less in the kitty.Then there’s the common reality of having a family. Right or wrong, it’s usually women who take time out from the workforce in order to raise the kids. When you stop earning, or shift on to part-time work, your retirement savings will obviously take a major hit.Earlier this year ANZ released information showing that the average woman would retire with almost $80,000 less in their KiwiSaver accounts than a man. When you look at the percentages, the average woman’s a