Working women's retirement savings is significantly lower than men's,regardless of individual and household similarities, according to anew LIMRA study.

"Women's average defined contribution plan balances are only 60 percent of men'saverage balances," said Cecilia Shiner, senior analyst of LIMRA'sretirement research. "This is especially concerning because womenlive longer than men and thus need more retirement savings. Inaddition to a longer average lifespan, women are more likely tohave work disruptions for care giving that hinder their capacity tosave. Therefore, they need to capitalize on savings opportunitieswhile they are working."

The Gender Matters: Retirement Savings of Working Men and Womenreport studied men's and women's retirement savings habits anddiscovered working women 50 years and older have lower definedcontribution plan balances by nearly $63,000 than men of the sameage and employment status. Though the typical defined contributionplan deferral rate is higher for women aged 50 or older, they are53 percent more likely to earn less than men of the same age.