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Women want a comfortable retirement but often get less pension income than men. In a world where such gender gaps persist, women can benefit from a sound investment approach. Explore how you could build a strong investment strategy and portfolio to help achieve your lifetime goals.

You need to be aware of the impact that reduced employment or career gaps may have on your financial well-being, and how investing appropriately may enable a comfortable life and a high probability of you meeting your lifetime goals.

In the latest report from our Chief Investment Office, Women and Investing: Achieving lifetime goals, we start by looking at some of the wealth accumulation challenges and what they may mean for the likelihood of you meeting your objectives – in particular your retirement objectives.

Key observations

  • A notable discrepancy in pay appears around and after childbearing years.
  • Women are not necessarily risk averse, but they are often more-calculated risk takers.
  • Increasing women’s financial confidence will help them achieve their lifetime goals.
  • When women make investments, they tend to achieve better returns than men.
Confident business women

The retirement gender gap in numbers

Research shows a notable discrepancy in pay between women and men appears around and after childbearing years. And girls entering the workforce may already have lower salary expectations than boys. Your employment choices – for example working part-time or taking career breaks – may impact your ability to achieve your lifetime goals.

Women also have a higher probability of retiring early, live longer than men, and may need to set aside more to cover medical bills in later life. All these factors highlight the need for a solid financial plan and investments.

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additional investment capital globally if women invested at the same rate as men (BNY)

less income is received from the pension system by women than men in OECD countries (OECD)

of women believe they can outperform the investments of their male counterparts (Fidelity)

of women see their retirement savings and income as insufficient (Alliance for Lifetime Income)

Reducing the gap

Impact of income and pension gaps

The impact of income and pension gaps and longer lifespans on women's wealth can be reduced by

  • Accounting for individual circumstances in their lives, including their financial goals,
  • Defining and recommending portfolios that maximize the likelihood of them achieving their goals, and
  • Helping women feel more confident about investing and understanding the relationship between risk and return.

Constructing your wealth plan

Wealth Way advisory approach

How can you invest to boost the probability of you comfortably meeting your retirement objectives? For starters, it’s important to develop a wealth strategy that’s in line with your goals and financial situation.

UBS Wealth Way looks at wealth through three lenses: liquidity for short-term expenses, longevity for lifetime goals and legacy for goals that go beyond.

Women: empowered

We understand how women want to invest. Find out more about how to take control of your financial future.

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