(CBS) Forty-eight year old Michelle Sullivan has in a Ziploc bag a reminder of years spending - not saving, CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace reports.

"Lookie there, I had 40 credit cards," she said. "$30,000 of debt."

Kim Prince, 36, has two little reminders of why she hasn't been saving.

"For two years, I didn't make a salary. I paid myself with my savings account," she said. "And now that's gone."

Neither Sullivan nor Prince set aside much for retirement - neither thought about it.

"I pretty much stopped worrying about that when I met my husband because he was financially secure," Sullivan said.

"I guess I was in denial, it just, at that time, when I was like in my 30s, it was like, okay, you know, you think, naïve," Prince said.

A recent report found women - like Sullivan and Prince - are less prepared for retirement than men.

Women live three years longer in retirement than men on average, which means they actually need more money for retirement. But they actually start saving later by two to four years, invest less - 7.3 percent of pay in 401(k) versus 8.1 percent for men -- and invest more conservatively.

"Women are always multi-tasking. And so you are at your job, you're with your kids, you are worried about your parents, you're not thinking about retirement," said Beth Kobliner, author of "Get a Financial Life." "That's why this kind of report is a wake-up call."

Experts say: start early.

Saving $1,000 a year from age 24 through 65 would give you nearly $300,000 at retirement. But if you wait, and start at 35, you'd have $125,000 - half of what you would have if you had started earlier.

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Couric & Co. Blog: Kelly Wallace shares more important saving and investment advice for women.

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Two years ago, Sullivan, newly divorced, started attending workshops where she learned to cut back on spending and consolidate credit card debt.

Since then, she bought her dream house, has paid off most of that $30,000 credit card debt - and opened up a retirement account.

"I would tell my daughters that learn now to save, don't get a whole lot of credit cards like I did," she said. "Learn how to invest your money the smart way."

Prince is taking that advice. She's beginning to put some of her part-time income into her own retirement account.

"Now I think, 'what have I been doing wrong and how can I fix it?'" Prince said.

Making a financial correction now to ensure their golden years are as rich as a man's.

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