Advisers can help women build financial confidence, new study shows

According to research by Fidelity International, 60 per cent of Australian women are confident in their ability to manage their money, compared with 49 per cent for their Asia-Pacific counterparts.

The Fidelity Global Thought Leadership Asia Sustainability Study surveyed 2,086 men and women in Australia and looked at their attitudes towards their finances and retirement. It also surveyed people in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, China, and Japan.

The survey found that only 50 per cent of Australian women feel financially independent, with 54 per cent defining financial independence as having adequate personal income to manage everyday expenses and bills.

Commenting on the findings, Lauren Jackson, business manager at Fidelity International, said that while Australian women are more likely to feel they are actively managing their finances compared to their APAC peers, they are also more concerned about the effect of the cost of living on their financial situation.

Namely, according to Fidelity, 74 per cent of Australian women have concerns about the effects of the cost of living compared to the APAC average of 52 per cent. Moreover, Australian women were also found to be more likely to have debts they are worried about (45 per cent compared to the APAC average of 33 per cent).

“Australian women are also less likely to agree that they have a personal income which covers everyday expenses and bills than their APAC counterparts,” said Ms Jackson.

She also noted that there are some significant gaps between how Australian men and women feel about their financial situations.

“Some of the biggest differences in attitudes towards money were in response to queries where respondents were asked to agree or disagree with statements like ‘investing is for people like me’,” Ms Jackson said.

“While more than half of the Australian men surveyed, at 57 per cent, agreed with that statement, just 34 per cent of Australian women did.

“Gender stereotypes around investor confidence may be a factor in these responses, but women are also less likely to say they feel very or fairly financially independent, which impacts their ability to see themselves as investors.”

Interestingly, Ms Jackson noted that women in Australia are more inclined to demand additional assistance, such as childcare for individuals with children, compared to women in other regions. Moreover, Australian women expressed a significant desire for the government to take more concrete steps towards bridging the gender pay gap.

According to Ms Jackson, financial advice can help alleviate some of the uncertainties faced by Australian women, particularly when it comes to superannuation. 

Namely, Fidelity found that only around 35 per cent of Australian women feel they have enough funds for retirement, compared with 65 per cent of men.

This came as no surprise to Ms Jackson, who cited data from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) indicating that the average superannuation balance for women aged between 60 to 64 was just $289,180 in June 2019, compared to $359,870 for men.

“Financial advice can also help women on all income levels build their financial confidence. A previous study by Fidelity, The Pathway to Financial Independence, found that one in five advised women say they rarely or never worry about money, compared to one in seven unadvised women,” Ms Jackson said.

The Pathway to Financial Independence study was conducted online in January 2022 and involved 2,017 adult Australians. It also found that advised pre-retiree women are about five times more likely than unadvised women to rate their knowledge of financial matters as very good.

“Financial advisers can help women build their confidence but can also educate them around how best to utilise many of the strategies available to assist in boosting their superannuation balances,” Ms Jackson concluded.