In my experience, women sabotage their future financial security because they're more concerned with running out of money in the short term than running out of money later in life. Day-to-day financial matters come first, such as paying for their children's school expenses and activities, as opposed to saving for their own retirement.

When it does come to retirement saving and planning, women ask me, "Am I saving enough for retirement?" Often my answer is, "No, not enough." This happens for a variety of reasons, and I've heard every excuse in the book as to why women haven't saved or planned for their retirement. They feel they can't afford to. Other outstanding debts are more important, such as paying off student loans or credit card debts. They have a mortgage to pay down and a couple of car payments. They've been busy raising kids and not working; thus, not contributing to a 401k plan or accumulating a pension plan. Their spouses deal with their finances, and they are out of touch with what they have in assets.

The No. 1 trend I've seen more and more of is happening when women go through a divorce. A large number of women will give up their half of the couple's retirement funding in order to keep their house and children. These women, of course, are only looking at the immediate future and not their long-term financial future.