Women Need Help Planning for Family Financial and Retirement Goals

Vast majorities of women say they are prioritizing planning for their retirement (90%) and their family’s future (84%), yet more than seven in 10 feel they are not doing a very good job with either, according to data from Lincoln Financial’s Love and Responsibility Survey.

Seventy percent of women are worried they will run out of money in retirement—and among them, only 20% say they have put a plan in place to manage this concern.

Barriers to the financial planning process cited by women include:

• Current expenses make it hard to set aside money for the future (58%);
• Lack of time for financial planning (44%); and
• Feeling less educated about retirement planning (52%) and personal financial planning (55%) than they should be.

The study went on to show that women’s knowledge of certain financial products and solutions is lower than men’s in specific areas. For example, women acknowledged knowing very little or nothing about annuities (61% versus 45% men) and long-term care (50% versus 41% men).

Men and women vary when it comes to their top sources for financial information. While women rank their significant other or spouse (42%) as their number one source, men say financial professionals are their go-to (37%). Both women and men prefer not to discuss finances with others, but 72% are open to working with a financial adviser to help them plan for the future.

“Being educated and working with a professional adviser is the best route for many Americans in order to receive the support and advice they need to maintain their lifestyle in retirement,” says Kathy Kavanaugh, senior vice president of Distribution Marketing for Lincoln Financial.

Results for the 2018 Lincoln Love & Responsibility Survey are based on an online survey among 2,393 Americans ages 18 and older that was conducted by Whitman Insight Strategies on behalf of Lincoln Financial Group from June 28 to July 3, 2018.