Certainly, many women are preparing well for retirement. Others face a profound disconnect between concern and action.
One obstacle is that, for many women, traditional notions of retirement are, at best, foreign.
Women who own their businesses or who work as highly compensated professionals seldom seem to envision shifting to a life of margaritas on the beach, endless golf, or travel.
Instead, they often see themselves working later in life, even if only part time.
For these women, the idea of financial independence makes more sense than the idea of retirement, because independence translates into having more choices, including a choice about whether or not to continue working.
Many female business owners tell me they worry about retirement planning, yet only about 1 in 4 have designed a written retirement blueprint.
For example, according to business exit researchers, fewer than 9% of professional women and entrepreneurs have viable succession strategies or retirement income plans.
Even though these women know they must find ways to maximize their business valuations to help fund their retirement, most haven't acted.
So, how will those clients close the gap between their concerns about running out of money when they no longer work and the actions necessary to ensure that does not happen?
Here are some things I do for retirement income clients who face this kind of planning gap.
1. Reframe retirement as "achieving financial independence."
Tell clients that financial independence means getting rid of all the "have-tos" in their lives.
Eric M. Hutter is president of 
