Millennial women are confident when it comes to investing their money, but this interest drops off as they get older. However, with over a quarter of newborn girls predicted to live until at least 100 years old1, there is a mounting need to sustain risk appetites into later life given the potential uplift in investment returns and our increased need to secure a longer lasting retirement income.
Women, aged between 18 and 34, many at the start of their careers, said they were both confident (15%) and ambitious (11%) when describing their investment approach. Findings from Fidelity International’s report,
‘The Financial Power of Women’ also found that young women tended to be more adventurous when it comes to their choice of investment product. Over a quarter (26%) are willing to invest in a stocks and shares ISA and more than one in ten (11%) said they would invest in peer-to-peer lending.
Risk appetite among women, however, tended to decline with age, with almost half of women aged 55 and over describing themselves as ‘cautious’, choosing to minimise loss over potential gains.
Worryingly the research found that women’s understanding of investing as a means to improve their financial situation fell among older ages. Over a third (37%) of millennial women recognise investment could improve their financial situation, however this falls to 31% for those aged 35-54 and 14% for those aged 55 and over.
