How Financial Advisors Can Understand Women’s Financial Fears and Unmet Needs in the Financial Arena (Part 3) 

By Dr. Jack Singer

We’ve talked about the opportunities that exist in the female market for financial advisors and effective key strategies that help you find success when dealing with the female market. This week, in part three of this four part series, we are going to discuss how you can address women’s financial fears and their unmet needs in the financial arena.

You’ve probably heard that money problems are one the most significant factors that lead to divorce. Dr. Sonya Britt, an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Financial Planning at Kansas State University collected interview data from 4500 couples who had gone through divorce and the data showed definitively that the #1 factor in causing the divorce was money issues.  Many couples exist with money issues as a taboo subject, with women leaving financial decisions to the males in their lives, in order to avoid controversy. 

Recently, Allianz Life reported the results of an eye-opening study (The 2013 Women, Money & Power Study) they conducted, where they surveyed more than 2200 women between the ages of 25 and 75, with a minimum household income of $30,000 per year. There were several remarkable discoveries.

  • Large percentages of these women feel uncomfortable and little confidence dealing with financial issues, but at the same time feel that they needed to do so.
  • Two thirds of married women are concerned about leaving all of the financial decisions to their spouses and 57% of all the women say that they handle major investment decisions and retirement planning themselves.
  • Women across all of the demographics exhibit a surprising irrational fear regarding finances: Almost 50 % of all of the women surveyed fear losing all of their money and becoming homeless!  Even a third of the highest earners ($200,000+) have the same fear.  The authors suggest that this points to a deeply held type of financial insecurity that is not an issue with males, in general.
  • 57% of married women say that fear of their spouse dying is a primary fear keeping them up at night, but fear of running out of money is a close second.

Perhaps because of their fears and unmet needs regarding financial security, women in general perceive that the financial advising industry is oriented more toward serving men.  Large percentages of these respondents feel alienated by this industry and 62% of the women express an interest in learning more about finances and retirement planning, yet the same percentage of women do not have a financial advisor.  Many view the Internet as the most reliable source for making financial decisions. So, a huge opportunity is presenting itself to educate and help women, who command a such a large percentage of the wealth in this Country.

Stay tuned for my next installment, where I will show you how you can capitalize on this lucrative niche.

 

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