Men vs. Women in Questions of Personal Finance

who manages finance better

People understand that men and women have the inclination to think differently about lots of things in life. A recent study made by LIMRA, worldwide learning, research, and development organization, showed some of those differences including financial decisions.

To nobody’s surprise, this study highlighted that men differ from women in both financial planning and in the decision-making process.

Difference in Budgeting

You may read top personal finance books, but it’s sort of obvious that men prefer to be in charge and take responsibility, especially older men. Just imagine that about 46 percent of men surveyed (aged 50 or more) said that they usually shared financial decisions with their wife, while 67 percent of the women of the same age said that they shared the decision-making process with their spouse.

Probably it would be better to leave the women at the head, and the richer you are, the more you should take into consideration this advice. Although only 30 percent of surveyed women were the initial decision-makers in terms of personal finance, they are usually more likely to take basic retirement planning actions.

Who Manages Money Better?

According to the LIMRA study, women were more decisive in terms of their:

  • Social Security benefits (76 percent of women to 73 percent of men), designated their retirement expenses (57 percent of women to 55 percent of men)
  • estimated health care coverage they will need once they retire (44 percent of women to 37 percent of men)
  • determined the number of years their funds will last (41 percent of women to 38 percent of men)
  • designed a certain strategy to make income flowing from their savings once they retire (41 percent of women to 34 percent of men).
how to manage money

Did men surpass at anything? Men completed two types of financial retirement planning more often than women.

They could better define what their retirement income will be (55 percent of men to 53 percent of women).

Also, they could better estimate the amount of investment income they would be able to spend once they retire (60 percent of men to 44 percent of women).

This survey comes to the conclusion that men concentrate on the revenue, while women tend to concentrate on expenses.

That’s why cooperation and teamwork between spouses can result in better financial planning – the use of additional skills.

The Best Financial Outcome

If spouses don’t cooperate in this process, it may lead to unpleasant changes during retirement. Another survey from Allianz Life Insurance showed that 70 percent of women usually replace financial advisors after their husbands pass away, which is pretty compatible with men being disinclined to share in the process of decision-making.

In the same time, the women haven’t set up the same trust relationship with the financial advisor.

The retirement planning process can be facilitated by the formal plan, which can help both advisors and spouses stay on the same track. Unfortunately, only 25 percent of research participants had a formal retirement plan.

Those who did have this formal plan reported better contentment with their financial advisors and stated better relationships. Forty-two percent of respondents who had a formal plan showed better advisor satisfaction.

Learn how to save $1 000 000 for retirement.

The bottom line: With the help of complementary skills spouses should make a formal retirement plan together and share their financial decisions. Following these easy tips will increase your satisfaction with your financial advisor, as well as confidence in your future retirement plans.

All you need is to admit that it will be better for you to use some matrimonial assistance because you can’t control everything.