Women are less confident about retirement than men, save less for retirement, and often say they don't know what to do to improve retirement planning — but give them the right advice and their behaviors change.
That's according to a survey conducted by TIAA-CREF, which found that women's confidence concerning retirement increases substantially, and their behavior changes, when they've gotten financial advice.
While only 56 percent of women (compared with 63 percent of men) feel confident that they've saved enough for retirement, 63 percent of women who've gotten financial advice voice confidence on the matter. Among women who haven't received advice, only 45 percent say they're confident.
Recommended For You
Women don't only listen to financial advice, the survey found, they also act on it, with 87 percent making some change to improve their retirement savings situation. The most common action was a change in spending habits (64 percent), while 57 percent of women upped the amount they save for retirement each month. Fifty-three percent created a plan to manage debt and 51 percent set up an emergency fund.
The problem is that while the number of women who want financial advice is on the increase — 33 percent of respondents said they did, compared with only 24 percent in 2013 — they don't know where to go to get it.
One major reason that's an issue is trust. Two thirds (66 percent) said it was hard to find trustworthy sources, and that, too, is a big increase from last year, when nearly half of women (48 percent) said so.
Other increasing difficulties for women in finding advice are the time to look for it (39 percent in 2014, compared with 30 percent in 2013) and difficulty in knowing where to begin to look (34 percent in 2014 vs. 23 percent in 2013).
On the positive side, more women now use online tools and financial services providers' websites, with 41 percent doing so in 2014; that's a steady increase from 33 percent in 2013 and only 20 percent in 2012.
Still, the personal touch, even online, is welcome. "Nearly half (49 percent) of the women surveyed say the ability to interact with someone online with basic personal financial questions would be helpful," said Kathie Andrade, executive vice president and head of individual advisory services at TIAA-CREF, in a statement.
To that end, TIAA-CREF has launched the Woman2Woman Financial Living online community to serve as a hub where women can access planning tools and learn from experts.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
