The survey comes out as wealth managers must provide service offerings to attract and retain an increasingly important number of HNW female clients, not just in the US but more broadly. This survey charts current attitudes toward financial management.

A study of 1,517 US women finds that they are more positive about managing their finances today than they were two years ago at the onset of the pandemic, narrowing a gap in this regard with men.

The data, conducted by US Bank from a total survey of 2,024 people – including 1,507 men – coincides with this week’s International Women’s Day program of events highlighting progress and the work that still needs to be done to advance women’s interests. 

“The most positive insight from this second Women and Wealth survey is the progress younger women have made in engaging with and managing their finances,” Gunjan Kedia, vice chair of wealth management and investment services at US Bank, said. “However, our survey also indicates a need for financial advisors to support Gen X women, who are the most vulnerable generation of women in terms of financial preparedness.”

In 2020, women associated positive words like pride (35 per cent), excitement (29 per cent) and happiness (28 per cent), and negative words like anxiety (33 per cent), inadequacy (13 per cent), fear (12 per cent) and dread (9 per cent) with financial planning. In the new survey, the number of women who associate positive words with their finances has jumped: pride (37 per cent), excitement (34 per cent) and happiness (31 per cent), and the number of women who associate negative words with financial planning has fallen: anxiety (27 per cent), inadequacy (11 per cent), fear (8 per cent) and dread (8 per cent).

However, overall men are more optimistic when it comes to managing their finances than women, although both younger women and men are the most optimistic, the Women and Wealth Insights Study found. Participants had at least $25,000 in investible assets.

While the March 2020 study showed that women were less confident and less engaged with managing money than men, generally started investing later than men and tended to associate negative emotions with financial planning, the most recent survey shows that many of these gaps are shrinking. 

Women and men are more confident now about their ability to fund future financial needs: In 2020, 23 per cent of women and 34 per cent of men felt they were sufficiently financially prepared to cover their future financial needs; in the new survey, both women and men felt more confident that they would be prepared: 36 per cent of women and 37 per cent of men said this. Not surprisingly, both Generation Z and Millennial women and men were the most confident of any generation. 

Both women and men are more confident that they will be able to afford retirement: In 2020, 48 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men said they were confident that they would be able to retire when they are ready – a gap of 23 points. In 2022, that gap has shrunk to 5 points, with 57 per cent of women now confident about retirement. 

In 2020, 56 per cent of women under 35, 50 per cent of women 35-54 and 41 per cent of women 55+ said they were confident in their ability to manage their finances. In 2022, those numbers went up across all generations surveyed, with 71 per cent of Gen Z/Millennial women, 53 per cent of Gen X women and 46 per cent of Boomer women saying this. However, men are more confident overall than women in their ability to manage their finances. 

This news service has been exploring women's relationship with wealth for years. See this research report back in 2017, for example. (In that report, it was found that many firms pay little heed to gender in their client strategies, but approaching two-thirds of participants think wealth managers should certainly take gender into account. Indeed, 34 per cent saw it as being of the utmost importance to an intelligent segmentation strategy. In this context, it was telling that 62 per cent of wealth management professionals believe that the industry does not cater well to the specific wants and needs of female clients, and just one in 10 sees women as very well served at present.)

Let’s get digital
The research also showed that “digitally savvy” men and women (defined as those who use personal finance and/or trading apps) of all generations are significantly more confident than non-digitally savvy investors that they will be able to afford to retire when they are ready. That’s true for 71 per cent of digitally savvy men and 65 per cent of digitally savvy women (vs. 55 per cent of non-digitally savvy men and 53 per cent of non-digitally savvy women). This group was also very likely to talk about money with their friends: 77 per cent of digitally engaged men and 71 per cent of women said they did this – for some a few times a week. 

Most Generation Z and Millennial women and men prioritize working with a financial provider who has a strong workplace equality/diversity rating, supports gender equality in the workplace, and supports international human rights – more so than women and men of older generations. And, both Boomer women (88 per cent) and men (81 per cent) highly value a financial advisor who takes the time to listen to them.