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“ It ’ s important to recognise and consider the unique retirement challenges facing women ,” said Ann Bair , Senior Vice President of Financial Services Marketing for Nationwide . “ We live longer and typically need to fund more years in retirement than men . Women also tend to have lower savings due to historical wage gaps and more time out of the workforce . The current economic environment has women feeling stressed about their future , but I ’ m encouraged to see many are taking proactive steps to seek guidance and create a plan .”
Making adjustments
Amid ongoing uncertainty , non-retired women are adjusting their approaches to saving for retirement to weather a potential financial storm . One-third ( 31 %) of non-retired women investors say they will avoid unnecessary expenses over the next 12 months to prioritise saving more for retirement ; while a quarter ( 28 %) say they will manage their investments more conservatively .
If they retired in the next 12 months , more than eight in 10 ( 82 %) non-retired women said they would not take money out of their retirement savings prematurely to afford the growing cost of living , choosing to hold on to their assets for the long-term despite rising expenses .
In addition to changing savings habits , women are uprooting their lives to ease the financial pressures of planning for retirement . A sizeable portion of nonretired women ( 12 %) plan to move to a new location with a lower cost of living this year – a relatively high number given only 8.4 % of Americans moved in 2021 . �
Less than half ( 45 %) of women say they have a strategy in place to protect their assets against market risk in 2023 .
28 %
Managing their investments more conservatively
12 %
Planning to move to a new location with a lower cost of living
Financial professionals help women feel more confident .
Women investors are increasingly turning to financial professionals to help improve the resilience of their portfolios . More than half ( 52 %) of women investors are working with a financial professional and the overwhelming majority ( 97 %) said their financial professional helped them feel more confident in their ability to make good financial decisions , even amid market uncertainty .
Within holistic retirement plans , financial professionals are prioritizing protective solutions against their clients outliving their savings such as ...
87 % Annuities
48 % Social Security
44 % Fixed income investments and bonds
43 % Dividend yield stocks
As a trusted financial professional , you are in a great position to help your female clients navigate market volatility as they plan for their financial futures and retirement .
Nationwide can help with insights and solutions that can help your clients feel more confident about their financial futures .
See how you can help clients feel more confident about saving for retirement by visiting https :// nationwidefinancial . com / nationwide-retirement-institute / diverse-markets
Survey methodology : The research was conducted online within the U . S . by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide from January 4-13 , 2023 , among 511 advisors and financial professionals and 789 investors ages 18 + with investable assets ( IA ) of $ 10K +. Advisors and financial professionals included 266 RIAs , 146 broker-dealers , 128 wirehouse and 55 other financial professionals . Among the investors , there were 203 Mass Affluent ( IA of $ 100K- $ 499K ), 167 Emerging High Net Worth ( IA of $ 500K- $ 999K ), 106 High Net Worth ( IA of $ 1M- $ 4.99M ) and 104 Ultra High Net Worth ( IA of $ 5M +), and 209 investors with $ 10K to less than $ 100K investable assets ( less affluent ). Investors included a subset of 224 “ pre-retirees ” age 55-65 who are not retired .
This material is not a recommendation to buy or sell a financial product or to adopt an investment strategy . Investors should discuss their specific situation with their financial professional .
This information is general in nature and is not intended to be tax , legal , accounting or other professional advice . The information provided is based on current laws , which are subject to change at any time , and has not been endorsed by any government agency .
Nationwide Investment Services Corporation ( NISC ), member FINRA , Columbus , OH . Nationwide Retirement Institute is a division of NISC .
Nationwide , the Nationwide N and Eagle , Nationwide is on your side and Nationwide Retirement Institute are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company © Nationwide 2023
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