Australian women are more confident than their Asia Pacific counterparts in their ability to manage their own money, according to research by Fidelity International.
Despite the increase in confidence (60 per cent domestically versus 49 per cent internationally) the findings contain some areas of concern about how financially independent Australian women feel.
Seventy-four per cent of Australian women are more concerned about the effect of the cost of living on their financial situation compared to the APAC average of 52 per cent. Forty-five per cent are also more likely to have debts they are worried about compared to the APAC average of 33 per cent.
Australian women are also less likely to agree that they have a personal income that covers everyday expenses and bills than their APAC counterparts.
Additionally, there are significant gaps between how Australian men and women feel about their financial situation.
Gender stereotypes around investor confidence may be a factor in this, but women are also less likely to say they feel very or fairly financially independent, which impacts their ability to see themselves as investors.
Only half of Australian women said they felt very or fairly financially independent, with 54 per cent defining financial independence as having a personal income covering everyday expenses and bills. This compared to 65 per cent of men who said they felt very or fairly financially independent.
Regarding retirement, the statistics show that just 35 per cent of women ‘probably or definitely’ have enough superannuation for retirement, compared to 65 per cent of men.
The research found that women are also much more conservative regarding their expected personal income in retirement, and are anticipating an average income of $66,874 compared to $82,456 for men.
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