A RECENTLY released survey on women and retirement says that today's young women and their mothers have different ideas about savings. The report goes by the snappy title of "It's Not Your Mother's Retirement: The MetLife Study of Women and Generational Differences".The study asked mothers and daughters to assess their own and each other's retirement prospects. Retirement for women, the report says, will be redefined by the younger generations, who expect to have a more active retirement with varied pursuits, including travel, social interaction with family and friends and an extended work life. However, daughters are entering retirement with considerably higher levels of debt than their mothers and are expected to have to make a greater financial adjustment than their mothers.

Daughters (22 percent) are almost twice as likely as their mothers (12 percent) to have $25,000 or more in consumer debt (not counting home mortgages). Mothers, not surprisingly, are concerned about the younger group's ability to adjust to living on a fixed income, even though (or perhaps because) they themselves have achieved it. Each generation is reportedly worried about being derailed by poor health and rising health care costs.

"Today's younger women clearly do not see themselves staying home, caring for the house and relaxing — and their mothers agree," said Dr. Sandra Timmermann, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. "These findings point the way to lifestyle changes for tomorrow's older women and may influence the growth and direction of the education sector and the travel industry.

"We'll find more people travelling, taking courses and volunteering. There will also be an increased number of older people in the workplace, unless the younger generations' predictions for themselves are overly ambitious."

Mothers advise their daughters to save more money and not to live beyond their means, Dr. Timmermann said. "Daughters, when asked how they would have advised their mothers, say, 'don't forget your dreams' and be 'willing to spend money if it will make you happy'. It will be interesting to see if daughters, as they approach traditional retirement age and are faced with the financial realities of a long life, are more open to their mothers' advice."

The study also found:

* Daughters expect to work longer — or forever. Three quarters of mothers retired before the traditional retirement age of 65, yet only 37 percent of their daughters predict they will retire before that age. Some 17 percent of daughters think they will retire at 70 or older, and six percent said they may never retire. Married women in both age groups believe they are more likely to retire earlier than unmarried women.

* Daughters believe their retirement will be better and more interesting. Two thirds of mothers believe the quality of their retirement has been excellent or very good, while only half of daughters say that about their mothers. More than half of daughters (56 percent) believe their own retirement will be better than their mothers' and four in ten mothers agree. Mothers and daughters agree that daughters are more likely to spend their retirement time on active pursuits and less time relaxing and "doing nothing".

Daughters are more likely to face financial adjustments. A third of daughters say their biggest financial adjustment at retirement will be living on a reduced income or budget, a concern shared by 28 percent of mothers. Almost a third of mothers say they did not have to make any financial adjustment when they retired.

* Daughters expect different sources of retirement income. Nine in ten mothers, but just three in four daughters report Social Security as a current or future source of retirement income. By contrast, 77 percent of daughters, compared with 46 percent of mothers, indicate their retirement will be funded by an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Regular">gdings-Regular">l<$><$>Husbands and wives play equal financial roles. Nearly half of married women say they share responsibility for retirement planning (daughters) or managing fines (mothers).

l<$><$>Mothers and daughters may not be communicating on retirement. Half of mothers say they spend some or a great deal of time discussing retirement and/or retirement planning with their daughters. Unfortunately, daughters may not be listening. Fewer than one third of daughters report having those conversations with their mothers. Likewise, daughters say they speak with their mothers more often than mothers report speaking with their daughters.