Article by Christina
The demand for financial advice for women specifically is on the rise.
It’s estimated that women will be in control of 60% of the all the wealth in the UK in the next three years.
HMRC data showed that of the estates settled in 2021, almost 75% went to women. That was worth over £15 billion. It’s not just death of a partner causing the transfer. Divorce is also a contributing factor. Over 30% of divorces involve women over 50. The divorce rate in the over 65’s has also increased by over 50% in the last 10 years as well.
But is financial advice for women, different from financial advice for men? The answer seems to be yes according to a recent survey by Schroders. They found, amongst other things that:
- Less than 10% of women questioned said that they would struggle to deal with their finances.
- Two thirds of women would change their current financial adviser once they controlled the family finances.
- 70% of women didn’t think that their existing adviser knew and understood what their goals were.
- 75% didn’t think that they were getting value for money.
- Sadly, almost 50% weren’t sure they trusted their current advisor.
- 75% didn’t care whether their financial adviser was a man or a woman. Gender was unimportant.
Maybe some of the issues stem from the fact that only 20% of financial advisers said that they always dealt with both partners when giving financial advice. The majority said they usual dealt with the man.
This is certainly not the cases with us. In fact, quite the opposite. We will only provide advice if both partners are willing to be involved. So, we always provide our financial advice for women and men equally. It just makes sense to us to do it together.
MP Caroline Noakes is concerned about financial advice for women and says that she is “terrified” by the gender pension gap. Noakes believes that advisors have a duty to improve the way they advise women to make it more relevant and accessible. However, beyond that no real detail of how to do it better has been put forward.
In research conducted by Investec Wealth, they found that:
- Over 60% said that they thought it was important to have investment advice later in life.
- But over 50% already have plans in place to pass their assets to loved ones, which is encouraging.
- Although 30% had no idea how to pass on their wealth.
Having said all that, Hargreaves Lansdown report that there are 3,794 millionaires with SIPP’s held with them. Of those 90% are men with an average age of 63. Hargreaves Lansdown say that this is down to the historic gender pay gap and more part time working due to family commitments. This is likely to change but will take a generation or more to take effect.
RiseUp (financial and wellbeing App) also found that women saved almost £1,000 a year less than men, on average. Again, down to women feeling more pressure of handling the family finances. This is reflected in how women feel, with 64% of women feeling stressed and anxious about their finances, compared to only 43% of men. Nearly 40% of women say that financial pressures have affected their relationships and 50% say that it also affects their eating habits.
