There is a gender gap when it comes to financial planning. Many people are reluctant to seek out financial advice, despite the fact that 85% of women manage their family’s finances. However, women will be responsible for more than 60% of the UK’s wealth by 2025.

Hence, why don’t more women take control?

Women could be at high risk of not having a financial safety net or a cash-strapped retirement.

Women are often not in control of their financial affairs. They are missing opportunities to make their money work harder and they could lose a financial safety net in the event of a bad outcome (divorce redundancy), bereavement, or a cash-strapped future.

The Office of National Statistics predicts that women will live longer than men. This is the new age at which women will be eligible for State Pensions. It’s a double win for women. If they are unable to work or have no other income, many people will be in serious financial trouble when they reach their 60s.

What’s more, as the latest projections from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people over State Pension age in the UK is expected to grow from 12.4 million in 2017 to 16.9 million in 2042, the government has announced plans to bring this timetable forward to age 68 between 2037 and 2039.

Women are generally more financially vulnerable than men across the board

As it stands, women are more likely to be financially vulnerable than men due to a variety of factors.

A Global Women and Money Study 2021 found that women have 51% less retirement savings. pension provider Nest has calculated that an average woman working full time in the UK might have a PS41,000 gap in her retirement pension. 

A study found that more than half (58%) of global women rely on their spouses for long-term, critical decisions. There are many reasons for this, from “my spouse never encouraged” to “my spouse knows much more” on the subject.

Although some of the problems women face, such as a longer life expectancy and changes in the State Pension rules, are beyond their control, women should take proactive steps to manage their finances.

Three-quarters (75%) of women over 60 are either widowed, single, or divorced. This means that they can be left at a disadvantage if they rely too heavily on their partner.

Women are unable to take an active role in managing money because they lack confidence

What are the causes of this low satisfaction? The results of the Financial Lives survey by the FCA show that both men and women are satisfied with their financial situation. There are however clear differences in their financial confidence and risk aversion.

• Financial services are more familiar to men than they are to women.
• Higher proportions of women report low confidence in financial management or knowledge.
• Women are more cautious about managing their finances.

According to the FCA, women who are not confident in managing money or have low financial knowledge and don’t see themselves as smart consumers may be unable to take an active role in managing their finances.

Women tend to prioritize cash savings because they lack confidence. Statistics from HM Revenue & Customs show that women prefer low-return cash ISAs to shares and stocks ISAs – Only 13% of women have stocks or shares ISA, compared with 21% for men. YouGov also found that 55% of UK women had never invested, while 37% of men said the same. Women can start monitoring their assets and debts using the Prillionaires wealth tracker with a net worth calculator that allows you to link, sync, and monitor your multiple assets and liabilities across borders.

Statisticians show that women are good investors

Statistics show that women are unable to invest in any other than cash savings, which means they miss out on serious money.

Warwick Business School carried out a study on 2,800 UK women and men investing with Smart Investor. The results were tracked over three years. The women who were studied outperformed the FTSE 100 in the same time period. They also had better returns than their male counterparts. Warwick’s men had an average annual return of 0.14% more than the FTSE 100. However, women performed better than the benchmark by 1.94% and beat men by 1.8 percentage points.

This is not a chance for a lucky break. Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s largest investment platform, found that women investors have the advantage, with an average return of 0.81% higher than men over a 3-year period. Surprisingly, if this trend continued for 30 years, an average woman’s portfolio would be 25% larger than that of a man.

It is time for women in financial control

It seems that women need to have faith in their financial abilities and forget about any preconceptions about investing as something only for brokers and bankers.

First, find a trustworthy financial advisor with the right expertise to help you create your financial plans. Get a financial advisor to help secure your financial future.

Financial advisers can help you protect your financial future

Women will have more financial power than ever by 2025 as more than 60% of the UK’s wealth is expected to be owned by women. The message is clear: women have never had a better opportunity to take control of their finances, plan their financial future and make decisions that will benefit them.