Women and Financial Planning

The proposed research will examine for several socio-demographic factors (e.g., age, income level, emotional factors. sex role, occupation, education, and marital status) for association with whether women engage in financial planning. To add context to the research, the review of literature presented here examines the existing literature on women and financial planning.

The presented review of literature is divided into three major categories: (1) Literature related to the importance of financial planning for women; (2) Literature related to factors associated with motivation for or reluctance to engage in financial planning including attitudinal and cognitive contributors, emotional contributors, and sociodemographic contributors; and (3) Literature related to programs that can be used to assist women with financial planning. Based on the reviewed literature, the chapter ends with a series of conclusions about women and factors that affect their decision to become actively involved in financial planning.

The Importance of Financial Planning For Women

According to Almond (1998), the importance of financial planning for women is highlighted by the sobering statistic that 80 to 90 percent of women will be solely responsible for all of their financial decisions at some point in their lives. Almond attributes two major reasons for these statistics: life expectancy and divorce.

Regarding life expectancy, Almond (1998) re

nancially prepared for retirement. Based on the findings of their study, The Dreyfus Corporation (1998) concluded that the observed financial attitudes can significantly impact the financial future of Americans, both positively and negatively. It is noted that by conquering math anxiety early in life, Americans in general and American women in particular may be more likely to invest intelligently later on, increase their financial knowledge and worth, and establish a more secure retirement. Another conclusion of the study concerned a finding showing that those with low math comfort put off financial decisions until later in life for fear of making a mistake. Based on this observance, it was concluded that one of the primary needs of these individuals (most of whom were women) was to be provided with the knowledge and guidance they need to feel more comfortable with investing and with their ability to make smart financial decisions. Sagaria (1985) noted that existing research suggests that men more frequently engage in financial planning than women; moreover, when compared to women who have financial plans, men's plans are often better. In an effort to determine possible causes of these differences, Sagaria conducted a c

Category: Economics - W