One in four (24%) of women with partners make the financial decisions in their relationship, and only 7% of the women questioned said their men took control with financial issues.
When it came to consulting an adviser the research revealed:
- The most popular choice for financial advice is family (36%) closely followed by a financial adviser (30%).
- Only 12% would visit their bank manager and less than one in ten would go to friends (9%).
- Single women are far more likely to seek financial advice from family (48%) while married women (36%) see financial advisers as the top choice.
- One in ten women questioned (10%) would prefer to speak to a female IFA but the vast majority (80%) said they had no gender preference.
- Only 8% would prefer to speak to a male IFA. Younger women (aged 18-29) were far more likely to rely on family (62%) for financial guidance, whereas 30-50 yr old women (who probably have the biggest financial decisions to make) place their faith in financial advisers (36%).
Anna Bennett, Marketing Manager at GMAC-RFC commented: “Traditionally financial decisions were seen as the man’s domain, but this research shows that women are three times more likely to be holding the financial reins. Women are also more likely to speak to a professional for financial advice rather than relying on friends and family and would choose prefer an independent financial adviser who can offer them a range of products, rather than their bank with its limited choice.”
Further information on who makes the decisions on different financial matters shows:
- Twice as many women (10%) made the decision when choosing a mortgage or remortgaging. Among the rest the vast majority made a joint decision.
- One in three women (35%) made the final decision when choosing savings
- A fifth (22%) of women made decisions about the couple’s financial future by deciding which pension to invest in
- One in five (20%) makes the investment decisions
Vivienne Starkey, Managing Director of Equal Partners “Women are increasingly takingresponsibility for their own finances and choosing to seekprofessional financial advice.They also want the advice to be truly independent,not only without bias towards any one companybut alsoindependent of their family and friends.”
