Historically, it was common for the husband to take control of the family finances, form the relationship with their financial advisor, and make the financial and investment decisions. However, times are changing, and a different approach to financial planning is needed. Women now make up a much larger portion of the labor force and are taking on more influential roles. Even if women aren’t involved in their own finances now, studies continue to show that many will outlive their husbands, so chances are that responsibility will eventually fall on them.

Sound financial guidance should be gender-neutral yet still retain perspective. Increasingly, a woman’s perspective is gender-specific and incorporates her needs and investment goals. Financial decisions are personal, but for women, in particular, trust is at the core of the financial advisory relationship.

At the Kletschke Wealth Management Group, we’ve noticed that …

Women like to invest according to their individual perspectives. Women may have lower earnings during their working years or leave the workforce to raise children or take care of other family members. Reduced retirement savings and lack of guidance due to not working with a financial advisor are important factors that require special consideration when creating a financial plan.

Women may also face unique challenges when it comes to planning and saving for retirement. Although investment returns are important to women, returns typically are not the driving factor when it comes to making investment decisions. When investing, women are more likely to think about other considerations, such as how their investment decisions could impact their families and legacy.

Women like to invest for the big picture. Women tend to prefer a more holistic approach and oftentimes focus on long-term, non-monetary goals. This describes our ideal client and is one of the many reasons we love working with female investors. We believe every investor should have a financial plan and that their investments should be driven by a needs-based, goal-oriented approach.

In general, women investors are more risk-conscious and tend to prefer a less aggressive investment approach than men. The first step when working with a client is to customize an investment strategy centered on their needs. We then work with them over time to try to prevent emotion-driven decisions from negatively impacting their portfolio. Incorporating a defined risk management strategy to address market volatility and potential loss may help women investors adhere to their defined investment strategy, as well as provide them the opportunity to feel more comfortable as we assist them in pursuing their long-term financial goals.

Fidelity Investments published a study in 2024 that outlined some interesting statistics we thought were worth sharing:

• Over 70% of women wish they had started investing their extra savings earlier.
• 67% of women create a financial plan to reach their short- and long-term goals.
• More than 50% of women say their financial situation keeps them up at night at least once per month.
• 65% of women plan to increase their general understanding of financial planning and investing.
• 58% of women say investing intimidates them.
• 55% of women are overwhelmed when it comes to their finances.
• 48% of women are embarrassed they don’t know more about investing.