Sep. 7--More women than men outlive their savings, partly because they tend to live longer. But women's work histories also set the stage for financially pinched retirement years.

As a group, U.S. women work fewer years than men, and they're more likely to work in part-time or lower-paying jobs. Many women, therefore, build up fewer Social Security credits for retirement benefits.

And, because women are more likely to cycle in and out of the labor force for family care-giving reasons, they're less likely to accumulate sizable employer-sponsored pensions, assuming they even work in jobs that offer pensions. Thus, they end up with less pension income to supplement Social Security.

Financial advisers emphasize that Social Security alone won't be enough to maintain one's pre-retirement standard of living -- which means that women, like men, need to build personal retirement savings, starting as early in their work lives as they can.

That's not easy advice to follow, especially for single heads of households in lower-paying jobs who need all their income to pay bills. Even so, financial advisers have one response to women who say they can't afford to save any money for retirement:

You can't afford not to.

Here are the stories of women from several walks of life who have heard that warning.

Pay yourself first

Sharon Holmes, 32, took that message to heart last year. When she moved to a new job, she immediately put the amount of her raise into her employer's profit sharing plan.

"Instead of pocketing it, I said I'm going to ignore the fact that I got this extra money," Holmes said. "I didn't have to give up anything because I never saw it. You can't miss what you didn't have."

In just one year, by investing the added income from her promotion and a 5 percent raise, Holmes has put several thousand dollars toward her retirement. The feat is noteworthy in that she and her husband, married five years, have a blended family of six children, ages 12 to 19.

"I've been at the place of not having anything at all," said Holmes, who received job and financial counseling through the Women's Employment Network in Kansas City. "Gradually, I've become more financially sound and learned to make better decisions."

Holmes, who recently became an assistant vice president at Solutions Bank, acknowledges that at her age and with her family circumstances, "it's very difficult to focus on retirement when living in the here and now and dealing with everyday activities and needs."

But Holmes' exposure to financial planning caused her to drink the retirement savings Kool-Aid: She is a believer in paying yourself first.

Banking a million

Robin Coleman, a credit manager for Bushnell Corp., is another pay-yourself-first disciple.