It is never too early or too late to plan for retirement security, Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman told women's groups in Nashville, Tenn.
Ms. Herman, who was on a five-city Labor Day tour, told a group of Girl Scouts they should start planning for their future now, by opening bank savings accounts, learning about investing and starting youth investment clubs.
She told members of the National Association of Women Business Owners they should take advantage of recently enacted legislation to offer retirement plans ranging from payroll-deductible individual retirement accounts, which require very little employer involvement, to Savings Incentive Match Plans and 401(k) retirement plans for workers.
And she pointed to Labor Department statistics to prove her point that the need for women to invest is pressing.
According to these statistics, women are at greater risk for retirement security because they live longer than men, often hold low-paying jobs in service industries, earn only 75 cents on the dollar earned by men holding comparable jobs, and often don't vest in pensions because they move in and out of the work force.
