Fear of risk, unequal salaries, the feeling of not understanding the world of finance and the burdens of family life mean that women arrive at retirement less wealthy than men, according to a study .
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Nearly one in three Quebec women have not started planning for retirement and say they do not have enough income to save for this period of their life. This is much higher than among men, one in five of whom find themselves in this same situation.
In general, 69% of women surveyed indicated that they feared lacking income in retirement, a higher percentage than men (56%).
A model
Karman Kong stands out at this level. Like everyone else, this lawyer in her early thirties “wasted” her paychecks when she was young. “I didn’t really have any concept of personal finances, I wasn’t taught that at home and even less at school,” she says.
But at 28, everything changed for the woman who wrote the book She invests: Building your wealth through the stock market. “I received an amount of money as an inheritance and it forced me to take an interest in finances. I had to know how to manage that money. I started reading a lot on the subject and listening to podcasts. One thing led to another, and I fell in love with personal finances. I really made a discovery, as if I had found the cure for cancer!”
The young woman began to run simulations to find out how much money she would need for her retirement. “I realized that I could be financially free if I took matters into my own hands, and that’s what I’m working towards now,” she says.
- Listen to the interview with Karman Kong, creator of the Instagram page @Elleinvestit and author, on Sophie Durocher’s show via QUB :
But unlike Karman, most women struggle to save enough for retirement. This is what the study published by the Chamber of Financial Security (CSF) and ÉducÉpargne, in collaboration with Léger and the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS), shows.
Debt repayment, insufficient income, health problems, marital separation, caring for dependents, job loss and reduced income due to parental leave are among the various obstacles limiting the ability to savings of women.
Salary gaps
Nearly 60% of Quebec women declared that they received a lower salary than their spouse. For equal pay, 21% of women are unable to save compared to 16% of men.
“The pay gap between women and men is no surprise to anyone. However, what is more worrying is that many couples do not take this gap into account in daily management and even less in planning their retirement,” underlines Hélène Belleau, professor at INRS and holder of the Silver Chair, inequality and society.
Fear of risk
Another possible explanation lies in fear, or misunderstanding of the concept of risk in finance, says Marie Elaine Farley, president and CEO of the Chamber of Financial Security.
“In our surveys, women say they are more sensitive to risk. It doesn’t matter what their income level is. And they also feel less competent than men in managing their finances. There would be more education to be done to make women aware of what is a risk, what is long-term investment and to give more importance to these aspects,” she says.
Women take fewer risks in most aspects of life, she adds. “This is also a reason why women entrepreneurs go bankrupt less often. But the other side of the coin is that when it comes to investing, it pays less to be too cautious. So by explaining this, it will perhaps raise awareness,” she says.