Female investors often face unique challenges on their paths to financial freedom. By addressing these challenges, financial
professionals play a crucial role in helping them pursue financial independence and security.
Policy Review—A $12 Trillion1 Opportunity
Using the Life Insurance Policy Review to Help Grow Your Business
Five Challenges Women Face in Financial Planning
Motherhood Career Shifts
Full-time working mothers could stand to lose as much as $510,000 in wages over a 30-year career.2 Many working mothers and fathers also experience disparities in pay, which may be due to mothers shifting to part-time work or choosing full-time parenthood.
Gender Pay Gap
Women earn an average of 83 cents for every dollar earned by men.3 This often is connected to the motherhood career shifts, as taking time off work can limit a woman's total lifetime earnings.
Increased Longevity
According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, U.S. women are projected to live about six years longer than U.S. men.4 This means women need to save more and make their money last longer.
Retirement Savings Gender Gap
Women save about 30% less for retirement than men due to factors such as motherhood career breaks and the gender pay gap,5 leading to income loss, reduced contributions to retirement plans, and diminished Social Security retirement benefits.
Widow's Tax Changes
The death of a spouse can result in income and filing changes for women. Widows may file "married jointly" in the year a partner passes, but if/when she files as "single" thereafter, she will incur a lower standard deduction and higher tax bracket.
Strategies to Help Every Woman Thrive
Financial literacy and investment education is essential for every woman. By recognizing and addressing the specific challenges faced by women in financial planning, you can tailor your services to better support your female clients as they plan for the retirement they envision.
- Widows
- Primary Breadwinners
- Divorcees
Are you prepared to help widows navigate the widow's tax changes and other complex financial situations after the loss of a spouse? After a spouse passes, a woman may need help managing estates, understanding pensions and Social Security retirement benefits, and planning for long-term financial security for herself and her family.
Advise female breadwinners about planning strategies to address pay disparity, career interruptions, and balancing family responsibilities.
Through financial planning, help divorcees navigate the complexities of the division of assets, income changes, and a new financial reality, among other things.
Take the Next Step
Are you a financial planner looking to expand your client base and make a meaningful impact? Connect with us to learn how we can help your clients achieve financial security.
Encouraging Financial Wellness Amid Grief: How to Help Your Newly Widowed Clients
A guide for financial professionals seeking to better support the financial needs of their widowed clients.
Engage and Retain Female Clients—Prospecting Tips to Help Grow Your Practice
Women can often require a different approach to financial planning. Discover how to attract female clients to your business and adjust your style to retain their business.
Financial Wellness Amid Grief
A checklist that helps widows understand and prioritize important financial and record-keeping tasks following the death of a spouse.
Life Insurance for the Blended Family
This client brochure is about life insurance for blended families. It may be emailed, printed, and available for download from password protected site.
Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples
This brochure highlights how estate planning using life insurance can be especially important for unmarried couples, whose unique circumstances often call for a more personalized approach.
1 Ballentine, Claire. "Massive wealth transfer will give women US $34 trillion by 2030." BNN Bloomberg. December 9, 2024.
2 Gailey, Alex and Rubloff, Tori. "Study: Women can miss out on over $500,000 in career earnings—just by being mothers." Bankrate. June 26, 2024.
3 Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Labour force participation rate for people ages 24 to 54 in May 2023 highest since January 2007.” TED: The Economics Daily. June 7, 2023.
4 Payscale. “2024 Gender Pay Gap report.” January 2024.
5 Salmon, Jacqueline. “How the 'Motherhood Penalty' Widens Retirment Gender Gap.” AARP. May 11, 2023.