In my last column I talked about the gender gap between men and womenin their knowledge and confidence of key financial concepts and therisks this gap poses for employers in delayed retirement and healthcare costs. I also promised to provide some best practices foravoiding these risks and potentially saving employers hundreds ofthousands of dollars.

Since then, we’ve published our Q2 2011 research on Employee Financial Trends and continue tosee women picking up the pace in improving their financialsituations and focusing on longer-term goals like retirement. Thisis encouraging considering that there are more women working todayand therefore more women at high risk of not being able to retireon time.

Though they are saving more—91 percent of women indicatethey save in their employer retirement plan—they have moreobstacles in retirement and throughout their lives that hindertheir ability to meet their financial needs. On average, women livelonger in retirement than men, receive less pension and SocialSecurity benefits, and earn less throughout their lifetime.