As many financial advisors have found out over the years, women think differently than men when it comes to money and retirement.
New research from Lincoln Financial Group found that emotions such as hope and fear influence women more than men when it comes to saving for retirement. Women also are more concerned than optimistic about retirement issues such as being able to pay day-to-day expenses, converting savings to retirement income, maintaining their current lifestyle in retirement and saving enough to retire on.
Both men and women avoid making financial decisions, but women in particular fall into this group, according to Lincoln Financial. The group's research also found that 73 percent of women are not fully engaged in making financial decisions, possibly because they rely on their partners to do it for them.
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One main finding that can help planning? If financial advisors want to engage women, they need to communicate with them in person.
"Relationships and interpersonal dialogue may help women overcome the hesitation that's holding them back from taking action in their retirement plans," the report found.
Lincoln Financial Group recommends that advisors who work with women need to offer in-person guidance when possible and focus more on personal elements in the discussion rather than mechanical or technical information.
"Help participants define where they want to go and how to get there, rather than overwhelming them with details about glide paths and investment boxes," the report stated.
Also, provide straightforward choices. Help women group the available investments into meaningful categories to narrow down the universe of options to the funds or strategies that best suit them.
For the "Lincoln Retirement Power Participant Engagement Study," Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc. surveyed 2,530 participants in late 2012.
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