In a survey of over 3,700 respondents by US firm Fidelity Investments, it was found that 55 per cent of women preferred to learn more about money from other women. This was particularly true for younger generations, specifically Gen Z and millennials (66 per cent).
According to Fidelity’s Women’s History Month 2023 Survey, female solidarity extended to various other avenues, including job recommendations or references, helping to meet work demands by providing childcare or transportation, and pay transparency.
The research showed that while women remained concerned with inflation and the cost of living (85 per cent) and savings in case of emergencies (76 per cent), they were working towards tackling financial stress head-on.
Some 90 per cent of women said they had made money moves recently or were planning to do so within the next six months.
Interestingly, the importance of financial literacy among women extended to the family level, with 69 per cent of teenagers, regardless of gender, most likely to look up to their mothers as their financial role models.
The research drew attention to the larger issue of fewer female advisers in the space, with just 22 per cent of the current adviser space in Australia being women.
According to Dawn Thomas, senior financial adviser at The Wealth Designers, generally speaking, “female advisers understand firsthand the financial challenges women face”.
“For female advisers in particular, there is an opportunity to build collaborative, trusted relationships with female clients who may not have felt confident accessing financial advice in the past, empowering them to better understand and navigate their own financial journeys.”
To realise this potential, however, it was critical to improve the representation of women in advice from its current level of just 22 per cent.
Thomas added: “I have helped my female clients to change the mindset that makes them feel they are ‘not good with money’, and to take a more proactive role in money and advice relationships.
“Recent research from Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) shows lower rates of financial literacy and financial confidence in women compared with men, and, as female advisers, we can be leaders in encouraging other women to take the driver’s seat on their own personal finance journey.”
