While they have made tremendous strides in closing the income gap with men over the last three decades, women still face income disparities that translate into a 25 percent to 30 percent retirement savings shortfall, says a study released today by the Insured Retirement Institute.

One reason for the financial disparity, says the study, is that women are more likely than men to be caregivers, which often-results in lost or decreased wages. The time out of the work force combined with income disparities decreases Social Security and employer-provided retirement benefits.

The result: Women have less retirement savings and less retirement income from traditional resources, which are required to cover longer average retirement spans and higher lifetime health-care costs.

Other survey findings include that while half of baby boomer men have retirement savings of at least $200,000, only 35% of female boomers have reached that level of savings. Only a third of boomer women are highly confident that they will have enough money to cover their health-care expenses during retirement compared with 41% of boomer men.

More than 43% of boomer women expect to retire at age 65 or later and more than 34% do not know when they will retire. And nearly 53% of boomer women have not consulted a financial advisor.

When selecting a retirement investment product, the most important traits to boomer women are guaranteed monthly income, financial advisor recommendation and rate of return. Only four in ten women age 55 and older believe they have done a good job planning financially for retirement. One-quarter of women have little to no confidence that they are planning appropriately for retirement.

The Insured Retirement Institute is a not-for-profit organization that studies the insured retirement industry.