Survey Says Women Are Leaving Money and Influence On the Table
March 05 2020 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Women under-engage with their finances,
although they control more than $20 trillion in wealth*
When it comes to managing their money, women across the U.S.
have a lot in common, according to the U.S. Bank Women and Wealth
Insights Study:
- They value financial security and worry about having
enough money for retirement;
- Nearly half associate negative emotions with financial
planning - much more than men;
- They are less engaged with personal finance than men:
Fewer women than men listen to money-related podcasts, watch
money-related TV shows or enjoy spending time on their financial
affairs;
- They start later than men: Fewer women than men younger
than 35 use a financial advisor;
- They say they are less confident about managing money,
but data shows they may be less challenged than men by basics such
as paying bills and making ends meet;
- The “digital divide” is more generational than
gender-specific: Younger people say it’s important that their
bank has a good mobile app, use personal finance apps and access
investment information via a mobile app; both women and men older
than 55 find all of these features to be less important. However,
data suggests digital engagement is a key point of distinction
between those who are confident about their ability to manage their
finances compared to less confident respondents.
The new data is from a proprietary survey conducted online among
3,000 women and men across the United States. The survey, which the
bank created to better understand women’s relationship with money,
asked 1,514 women and 1,486 men of all ages key questions about
their hopes and fears around money, how they manage their money and
from whom they seek advice, how they engage (including digitally),
and how confident they are about managing their personal
finances.
“We have heard anecdotes from women across the country about
their relationship with money,” said Gunjan Kedia, vice chair of
Wealth Management and Investment Services at U.S. Bank. “With this
survey, we sought to understand more about how they think about
their finances. While we know that women have more money and power
than ever before, the survey results tell us they aren’t getting
the most out of it.”
Among the findings:
- Women value financial security: When asked what they
enjoy most about money, 46% of women chose security and well-being
(vs. 36% of men). Just 14% of women valued spending/saving money on
lifestyle and status items vs. 21% of men. Women of all ages value
security and well-being more than men; that belief increases as
women get older (as it does among men). Women of all ages also
worry more about retirement than men do (49% fear they won’t have
enough vs. 32% of men). Women older than 55 also worry about a
significant market decline (51%), whereas women younger than 35
worry about overspending (27%) and losing their jobs (26%).
- Nearly half associate negative words with financial
planning: More women (47%) than men (31%) associate negative
words like fear, anxiety, inadequacy and dread with financial
planning; 53% of women associate positive words like happiness,
excitement and pride with managing money vs. 69% of men.
- They are less engaged with personal finance than men:
52% of women talk about money with their friends (61% of men do);
37% use a personal financial or budgeting app (vs. 48% of
men).
“Our survey data shows what we have believed all along: both
women and men who engage early with their finances – whether it’s
with a financial advisor, using a digital app, or just watching
shows and listening to podcasts about money – will be more
confident about their finances,” Kedia said.
- They start later than men: Although a large percentage
of women younger than 35 use a financial advisor (72%), that’s
significantly less than the 83% of men of the same age who work
with financial professionals. When asked why they don’t use a
financial advisor, 33% of women said they can do it themselves (vs.
42% of men). Women under 35 who use a financial advisor have an
average of $120,000 (median assets) vs. $61,500 for women under 35
who do not use an advisor. Men under 35 who use an advisor have an
average of $140,000 vs. $99,000 for men under 35 who do not use an
advisor. Among men and women of all age groups, those who worked
with advisors had saved more money than those who did not work with
an advisor.
- They appear to be less confident about managing money:
Just 23% of women say they feel very financially prepared (vs. 34%
of men), 19% consider themselves financially savvy (vs. 33% of
men), and 47% say they feel confident in their ability to manage
their finances (vs. 61% of men). However, while they appear less
confident in managing their money, the reality is that they worry
less about making ends meet or struggle to pay their bills as much
as men do. For example, 19% of men said they struggle to make
payments on their bills vs. just 12% of women, and 22% of men said
they are worried about how to make ends meet (vs. 16% of
women).
- The “digital divide” is more specific to generations than
gender: 62% of women younger than 35 and 68% of men feel it’s
important that their bank has a good mobile app (vs. 29% of women
55 and older and 24% of men 55 and older). Sixty-seven percent of
women under 35 and 76% of men of the same age group access their
investment information on a mobile app (vs. 23% of women older than
55 and 22% of men of the same age). Among all respondents who said
they were confident in their ability to manage their finances,
nearly 50% use a personal finance or budgeting app. In addition,
both men and women who use digital tools such as websites, online
tools and apps are more confident than those who access information
via paper statements or over the phone.
- And, more than 50% of men under 35 and 40% of women in the same
age group said they are better at managing their finances than
their parents were.
“Women have come such a long way in a short amount of time.
Women couldn’t even get credit cards on their own until 1974, and
now, we control more than an estimated $20 trillion in assets* in
the United States,” Kedia said. “Women today have unprecedented
power to use money to influence our society, and by taking a few
simple steps to engage more and earlier with money, we can get
there.”
* The Economist: “Women’s wealth is rising”, 2018
About U.S. Bank
U.S. Bancorp, with 74,000 employees and $495 billion in assets
as of Dec. 31, 2019, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National
Association, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United
States. The Minneapolis-based bank blends its relationship teams,
branches and ATM network with mobile and online tools that allow
customers to bank how, when and where they prefer. U.S. Bank is
committed to serving its millions of retail, business, wealth
management, payment, commercial and corporate, and investment
services customers across the country and around the world as a
trusted financial partner, a commitment recognized by the
Ethisphere Institute naming the bank a 2019 World’s Most Ethical
Company. Visit U.S. Bank at usbank.com or follow on social media to
stay up to date with company news.
About the Survey
The U.S. Bank Women and Wealth Insights Study was conducted
online by Aon’s Client Insight solutions (formerly Scorpio
Partnership) among 3,000 male and female investors with minimum
investable assets of $25,000 with the survey fielded between
10/23/2019 and 11/15/2019.
Aon’s Client Insight practice
Our Client Insight team specializes in understanding ultra/high
net worth individuals and the financial institutions with which
they interact. Using quantitative and qualitative research
methodologies, our solutions cover Client Experience, Brand
Tracking, Thought Leadership, and Strategic Advisory and Research,
all designed to help drive business growth and performance.
Together with our colleagues across Aon’s Human Capital
Solutions Wealth Management practice, we use our market data and
analytics to optimize the relationship between delivering value to
your clients, employee rewards, and shareholder returns.
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Leslie Ingberg leslie.ingberg@usbank.com 612.303.2374
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