Gender, Generation, and Financial Knowledge: A Six-Year Perspective

Society for Financial Education and Professional Development

September 14, 2018

Gary R. Mottola, Ph.D.

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Always?

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A Bit of Hope

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Gender and Investing—It’s Complicated

How do you tease apart thethe relationship betweengender and investing wheninvestment decisions are often made at the household level?

21%24%

0%

30%

Unmarried Women Unmarried Men

Own Taxable Investments

Unmarried women and unmarried men invest at about thesame rate, but unmarried women have lower risk tolerance and are slightly more likely to use a financial advisor relative to unmarried men.

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How About Day-to-Day Finances?

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A Bit More Hope

If you remove the “Don’t Knows,” the gender gapdecreases.

And is almost eliminatedfor Millennials.

Women are much more likely to say they “Don’t Know” the answer to a question.

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What Do Women Say?

Who is the most financially knowledgeable person in your household?

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Again, Generations Differ …

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So What’s Going On?

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About the Data—The National Financial Capability Study

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www.FINRA.org/Investors