It’s often thought that the man is the primary decision-maker in the household when it comes to investments and financial planning.
This perception is particularly true when applied to older generations.
New research from CoreData-brandmanagement, to be published in June but reported this week on the CoreData website, looks at the differing life expectancy between men and women to suggest that women will start to rule the roost when it comes to money management.
Because women can typically be expected to live for longer than men, they are likely to have a growing influence in matters of household personal financial planning in the future.
The CoreData report uses life expectancy figures from Australia, where women are forecast to live until just under 85 years old. This compares to less than 80 years for males.
That five year gap is significant when it comes to financial decision-making and planning.
Over the years, we have experienced numerous examples of the husband dying and leaving his bereaved widow to manage the household finances for the first time in her life.
In many cases, this involves substantial amounts of wealth and a series of decisions to make about complicated arrangements.
Our approach to working with clients through these often difficult decisions involves taking it slowly.
We often find there is a dramatic improvement in financial and investment knowledge over a relatively short period of time, usually about year.
Whilst some decisions need to be made quickly following a death, many of the biggest decisions about issues such as managing large investment portfolios can simply be deferred until a later date.
Until this right time arises, any investment portfolio can be managed with a more cautious approach. Most importantly, decisions to invest in any products with penalties for surrender can be avoided, in case circumstances change – as they undoubtedly will.
Photo credit: Flickr/Borya
