03.06.19
The Female Force: How Women Control or Influence Retirement Investment Dollars
by: Christine Kehrer and Tim Kehrer, Kehrer Bielan Research & Consulting
Retirement investor households in the United States have $29 trillion in financial assets — 78 percent of all the household financial assets in the country. A new research study by Global Atlantic Financial Group and Kehrer Bielan has found that women control or influence $16 trillion of those assets.
Using data from the highly regarded MacroMonitor consumer database (a nationally representative sample of 4,230 households), the study divided households into those where a male makes the retirement decisions and those where a female is the decision maker or the partners share financial decisions (two-headed households).
The study compares the key behaviors and attitudes among male decision-maker households and female/shared decision-maker households to help advisors take into account the gender dynamics of financial decision making to better serve their clients.
The researchers identified retirement investor households by their life stage cohorts — beyond the first home-buying stage and saving for college years — and whether they have at least $150,000 in financial assets. In other words, the “sweet spot” for advisors.
The study is available from Global Atlantic and Kehrer Bielan. The study results will be presented at the 2019 BISA Annual Convention on March 7 in Hollywood, Florida.