Our mission New study on women and finances

UBS, in association with the opinion research institute Sotomo, surveyed women in Switzerland on the subject of finances. Most results confirm the findings of the 2019 UBS Investor Watch study. Financial issues are definitely seen as relevant. Women mention financial security in old age as one of their biggest concerns, for example. Overall, however, they often still pay little attention to long-term financial issues, despite having every reason to do so. The most important findings from the survey can be found in this article.

Women are much more concerned than men about their financial security in old age. In Switzerland, women live four years longer than men on average. At the same time, women are more likely to have pension gaps, mostly due to career breaks and part-time work as a result of maternity. This makes financial security in old age a challenge for many women.

As already shown by the UBS Investor Watch study conducted in 2019, three out of four women consider retirement planning to be their most important long-term financial need. Not much has changed since then.
For example, one in two of the women surveyed said that money plays an important role in closing gaps in their retirement provision and in ensuring coverage in the event of illness or a need for long-term care.

Despite their concern about their financial future, few of the women surveyed address long-term financial issues: only one in five women said she was interested in the subject of asset accumulation, and even fewer (15%) follow the development of the financial and stock markets.

More than half of wealthy women are nonetheless aware that they should be more involved in financial issues. Finally, the need for transparency about their own financial situation with regard to their partner is very high at 91%, and 87% of women state that financial decisions should be made together.

In addition, wealthy women want to actively discuss their financial affairs, be it with their partner (78%), an appropriate professional (76%) or their own children (49%). Nevertheless, only half of wealthy women make long-term financial decisions with their partner.

Overall, however, there is a clear trend in relation to the Investor Watch study. The survey conducted in 2019 showed that in seven out of ten couples, the male partner assumed responsibility for long-term financial decisions. And 81% of women said that their husband could make better decisions about finances because he had a better grasp of the subject. Many women – unlike men – still believe that they know less about investments and financial products. The reason remains the same.

This is also the case among younger women, although 18- to 34-year-olds are even more in favor of joint financial decision-making and are more aware of the need to take a greater interest in investments and financial products than older women.

What would wealthy women advise their younger selves to do? Seven out of ten wealthy women surveyed wished they had been proactive about their retirement planning when they were younger. In addition, 53% of the women surveyed believe they should have started long-term financial planning earlier, and 58% advise their younger selves to create a budget plan.

Unlike men, women still very often suffer financial disadvantages due to part-time work or career breaks as a result of maternity. This specifically affects their retirement planning and makes it all the more important for women to address the issue at an early stage and to take their finances into their own hands.

The Women’s Wealth Academy can help you to increase your financial knowledge and improve financial literacy. Carefully targeted expansion of knowledge about topics such as retirement planning, wealth planning and the transmission of assets, sustainability or even philanthropy will enable you to plan and utilize your assets in line with your needs.

The survey also showed that women who participate actively in long-term financial decisions enjoy more financial security and subsequently worry less about their financial future.