At 24, Diane Kasler was young, in love and carefree.

Years later, she's had two children, one divorce and remarried.

She doesn't regret much, but one thing Kasler does rue is taking money out of her retirement when she was young.

Kasler told her story to peers at an AIG Valic-sponsored event last week at the Wyoming Medical Center's Support Services Building.

Financial adviser Harriet Chase of AIG Valic, which provides WMC with its retirement program, told attendees that unique challenges face women planning for retirement.

Women face lower average earnings than men, along with fewer years in the work force and longer life expectancies than men.

More than one-third of women baby boomers will be single when they retire, and seven out of every 10 married women will outlive their husbands by 15 to 20 years, she said.

Many women also fall into what Chase called the "sandwich dilemma," financially supporting both their parents and their children.

"Sometimes we need to be a bit self-centered," Chase said. "We want to give our kids the best, but we don't have scholarships, loans or grants to pay for our retirement."

Chase listed four steps for helping women prepare for retirement.

* Identify the cost of retirement.

Only about 20 percent of retirement money comes from Social Security, and younger people can expect even less, she said. The majority of retirement money must come from earnings, pension plans, personal savings and investments.

* It's never to early to start planning.

Younger people starting out in a career don't need to put as much money into retirement plans as someone starting later, because they have time to let the money accumulate. At the same time, though, young people may have fewer responsibilities, such as children or house payments, and might want to consider putting extra money away while they have it, Chase said.

* Use tax-qualified plans.

People save more by taking part in tax-qualified plans, because money put into retirement funds aren't taxed. For example, if a person earns a gross income of $3,000 and takes out $200 for long-term savings, the net take-home pay is only $2,050. However, a person who has a pre-tax contribution, such as a 401K, takes home $2,100.

* Manage investments

Chase recommends meeting with a financial adviser to identify a "risk tolerance." That will help people decide if they want to stay in fixed-rate investments or jump into more high-risk ventures.

Reporter Lesley Lipska can be reached at Lesley.Lipska@casperstartribune.net.