Women and Finance: 5 Surprising Results from Fidelity’s Recent Survey

Last month, Fidelity released the results of their Women’s History Month 2024 Survey.

The survey results give us a surprising amount to work with in terms of marketing insurance to women. Here are a few of the highlights:

• 93% of women are stressed about managing their money. 57% use the word “stressed” to describe how they currently feel about money (compared to 41% of men). Education level and income level had little to no effect on reducing stress. Women who made over $100,000 felt just as stressed as those making under $50,000.
• 34% want to save enough to retire or work less.
• 29% want to achieve financial independence.
• 28% of women surveyed want to provide for a family or loved one.
• 30% said they regretted not making finances a priority early enough in their lives.

No time to read? Watch our video overview:

Marketing Ideas Based on Fidelity’s Survey Results

38% of women are planning to save more for retirement in the next 6 months.

The bright spot in this survey? The number one thing that helped reduce women’s stress over money was taking action. In the next six months, 38% of women planned to save more for retirement. Of the women who said they felt more financially confident, 15% of them had started working with a financial professional. 20% had invested in something new or changed their investment strategy. That’s good news for us!

Here are three marketing concepts you can use with clients and prospects to frame your products and services in ways that resonate based on these survey responses.

Idea #1: Provide for Your Family

More than a quarter of the women surveyed said they want to provide for a family or loved one. And most of them probably envision doing so with their paychecks. But this gives us a great opportunity to ask a simple question: what happens if those paychecks stop? Your clients and prospects might not realize that there are more ways to provide for a family than with a paycheck. It’s what happens when those paychecks stop that you really need to plan for. That means disability coverage as well as life insurance.

Idea #2: MYGAs for the Win

Of the women surveyed, those who invest or save outside of their retirement accounts (44%) are most likely to save cash in a checking or savings account. Only 11% reported saving money in CDs. This means a lot of women are missing out on easy gains right now thanks to the high interest rates available with MYGAs. Emphasize features like the 10-day free look, partial liquidity, tax-deferred growth, and guaranteed interest rate. For more on MYGAs, click here.

Idea #3: Financial Independence & Retirement Planning

16% of women don't invest (or don't invest outside of their retirement account) because they need professional help.

29% of the women surveyed said achieving financial independence was their #1 long-term goal. The highest-ranking answers in that part of the survey also reflect financial independence: feeling secure and not worrying about money (58%), living the lifestyle they want (36%), and saving enough to retire or work less (34%). It all boils down to financial independence: security, lifestyle, retirement.

Permanent policies and annuities can give them the independence they’re looking for. But they may not realize just how many benefits cash value policies provide. Let’s map features to the specific goals these survey respondents provided:

•  Not worrying about money: Combine an annuity with a permanent policy that offers living benefits and an LTC rider, and you’ve got guaranteed income in retirement, protection for your loved ones, protection against the spiraling cost of long-term care, and the ability to dip into your death benefit if you have a severe health problem but don’t want to deplete your savings. It safeguards everything you’ve worked so hard to build.
• The lifestyle you want: The younger you buy, the less your policy will cost. If you take action now, you’ll actually be paying less per month than if you put this off. Lock in the lowest rate possible now and avoid a surprise price hike. Lower rates means more money in your pocket, which you can allocate to other needs.
• Saving enough for retirement: Cash value can provide supplemental income and stretch your retirement dollars. A long-term care rider can make sure your policy pays for LTC if you need it...without the need to pay for an additional policy if you don’t need it.

That’s our quick look at 5 surprising results from Fidelity’s recent survey!

Did any of these stats surprise you? Tell us in the comments!