For women heading toward retirement, theres good news and bad news. The good news is theyre likely to be blessed with long life. The bad news: They may not be able to afford it.

SEE ALSO: 12 Retirement Strategies for Women

That, in effect, is the conclusion of a recent study by the U.S. General Accounting Office. Despite the increase in womens workforce-participation rates over the past two decades, the poverty rate in 2010 for women 65 and older was 9% -- nearly twice the rate for men, at 5%. And while 6% of widowers lived in poverty, 12% of widows were poor.

According to the GAO report, women have a tougher time saving for retirement in part because they take time out from the workforce to care for family members, and when they do work they have lower earnings than men. Other studies bear this out: Women who are 50 to 69 have about 20% less in retirement savings than men in that age group, according to a recent report by the ING Retirement Research Institute. Another report notes that while half of baby-boomer men have retirement savings of at least $200,000, only 35% of female boomers have that level of savings.

Women who are five to ten years from retirement can take some steps to improve their financial readiness. Many of these moves can apply to women of all ages.

Maximize your own retirement benefits. If youre looking for a new job, make sure it has a good retirement plan. Its unlikely these days that you will find a job with a pension plan that guarantees a stream of income in retirement. But you can seek out employers that will match all or part of your contributions to a 401(k) or a similar employer-based plan. A company match is free money.

Even when married women are working, women tend to set aside a smaller amount of their income than men, says Suzanna de Baca, vice-president of retirement and wealth strategies at Ameriprise Financial Services. The couple may decide that the womans income is more discretionary, she says. But any woman who is working should contribute as much as possible to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. If her employer doesnt offer a retirement plan, de Baca says, she should set up an IRA.

Indeed, Kelly O'Donnell, vice-president at Financial Engines, which provides asset management for 401(k) plans, told the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging at a recent hearing that men tend to save nearly twice as much as women. "Among our clients, the median 401(k) account balance for men age 60 and older is $82,000 and only $46,000 for women age 60 and older," O'Donnell said.

In 2012, you can set aside up to $17,000 (plus up to $5,500 in catch-up contributions if youre 50 or older) in a 401(k). If youre self-employed, you can make deductible contributions to a retirement plan, too, such as an individual 401(k). If you dont have access to an employment-based retirement plan, you can make $5,000 ($6,000 if youre 50 or older) in deductible contributions to a traditional IRA, or you make the same amount of after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA, which grows tax-free.

Working longer can help maximize your Social Security benefits. The Social Security Administration uses your highest 35 years of earnings to calculate your benefit. Any zeros -- perhaps for years you left the workforce to care for children -- will pull down the average. If you keep working, youll be able to raise your benefit -- and maybe knock out a zero or two.

Go here to read the rest:
The Rules of Retirement for Women