More Women Seek Retirement Plans.

American women are sending the message that they need help planning for retirement yet don't know how to go about it, according to a recent Prudential Financial study examining women's financial literacy. The company surveyed 1,134 women between the ages of 25 and 68 who are either sole or joint heads of their households.

This is the third time the Newark, N.J.-based company has conducted its bi-annual "Study on the Financial Experience and Behaviors Among Women," which it began in 2000 and repeated in 2002. Many of the questions are the same, giving Prudential the opportunity to see how women's behaviors and attitudes have changed.

Notably, more of the female baby boomers (88%) are assuming a role in financial decisions than in either 2000 or 2002. Watching …