Lack of confidence keeping women from investing

By Special to MoneySense on March 7, 2016
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

78% of women identified themselves as savers

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OTTAWA – A new report by investment firm BlackRock suggests most women lack confidence when it comes to making decisions on investing. “We are seeing more and more women categorize themselves as savers versus investors and they’re sitting on the sidelines in cash,” says Karrie Van Belle, managing director at BlackRock Canada. “Over time, cash is likely not going to get you where you need to get to for your retirement.” The BlackRock survey found that of those polled who have started saving, men have saved nearly double what women have. Why women lag in retirement planning » “What we need to be helping women do is have a bit more confidence to take those first steps, ask those questions, get invested and understand the priority they need to put behind it,” she said. The poll found 44 per cent of women reported confidence in their financial decision-making, compared to 55 per cent of men. As women get older, however, they gain confidence in their financial savvy and close the gap with men. By the time are in the 65-74 bracket, 67 per cent of women are confident in their investing decisions while 68 per cent of men are. The survey found 78 per cent of women identified themselves as savers compared with 22 per cent who thought of themselves as investors. It also found that 63 per cent of women stated they are “not knowledgeable about investments.” Women were also more likely than men to agree with the statement that they needed more information before they were willing to invest. The results were based on BlackRock’s Global Investor Pulse online survey that interviewed more than 31,100 respondents around the world, including 2,000 in Canada between July and August 2015. The polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.