Last fall we released a financial-planning survey with consultant Holly Buchanan. In that survey, Boomer women told us:
- Their primary feelings about their financial future are fear and uncertainty
- Women respond strongly to terms like “feeling financially secure” and “having a comprehensive plan in place” more than statements about stellar investment performance.
- 80% feel that financial service firms ignore or insult them in their advertising
I’ve often said that marketing successfully to Boomer women will often win business from men. Even if that were not the case, financial service firms should listen to what Boomer women want, now that two new studies suggest that the all Baby Boomers (men and women) may be looking for the same thing.
Allianz Life Study
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has surveyed more than 3,200 people aged 44-75 and announced a few major findings new in 2011:
- Boomers value financial stability in investing over the possibility of greater returns with more volatility. Almost 80% of respondents would choose a financial product with a guaranteed 4% return versus one that might earn 8% but lose value in a down market. Women investors (more interested in avoiding losses than making big gains) have long favored this approach with great results, which Allianz says represents the “new normal” for all Boomer investors.
- According to the Allianz survey, what all Boomers seek from financial advisors are the things that female Boomers have sought all along. 37% of respondents (up 9% from last year) said they want to “understand the big picture for me financially” and another 31% (up 6% from last year) said they are looking to “create more safety and guarantees in my nest egg.”
When Allianz CEO Gary Bhojwani says that Boomers “are not interested in going back to return-chasing behaviors,” he is more likely speaking about Boomer men than women. But the Recession has made Boomer men appreciate the value of the female perspective, and that may be what it finally took for financial firms to follow.
Maybe that’s why another recent study reminds us that Boomer women have long felt spurned by those same firms, which talked to them as though they cared only about big returns.
Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group recently completed a survey of 24,000 people in 21 countries. While the study didn’t focus on Boomers exclusively, BCG’s Senior Partner Michael Silverstein (co-author of the book Women Want More) discussed a few other findings about Boomer women and finances. “Women dominate the consumer landscape,” according to Silverstein. And “in financial services, healthcare and consumer durables, women of every range fundamentally reject the current suppliers. They say, ‘They don’t listen to me, they don’t understand my needs.’ In these three categories, there is a lot of untapped opportunity. And it’s especially true for women over 55, who are still going to outlive their husbands.”
While BCG and Silverstein confirm what women have been telling VibrantNation.com for years now, Allianz’s survey also suggests that the opportunity to gain business from women over 55 will remain untapped until something like a Recession makes men want what women have wanted all along. Only then, unfortunately, will marketers begin to value the interests of women they have too long ignored.
Kudo's to you Alicia! Wow you've accomplished quite a lot in your life and you will with dating too at some point. Hang in there! Hugs back! Lisa
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My parents divorced when I was ten and I always felt like my lack of self esteem most have something to do with my Dad's absence but then one day when I was in my firths my mother said or did something that made me realize she was emotionally abusive
Holy crap! What a sad story. Congrats on overcoming that hurdle. Wow.
How I would handle it. FIrst, I would get into therapy; that could go a long way to helping you and your difficulties.
Second (boundaries are necessary in life)..when your kids call for advice, I would FIRST ask them what their thoughts are an
I have experienced the double standards of financial institutions for many years. It began with ‘you’re too young for a pension’ when I asked at the age of 21 years! To last year asking for a separate retirement plan from my husband (aged 52yrs) – it never stops unfortunately. Male dominated companies will continue to lose out on a large potential customer base until they realise women live longer therefore spend longer!