Wealth Insights

How women are changing the world of investing

As a growing financial force, women are influencing the markets now more than ever.

Key takeaways: Women and investing

• Women’s financial influence is rapidly expanding. Women currently control about one third of retail financial assets with that share projected to rise.
• Women tend to have a strong performance when investing but may have a lower participation rate than their male counterparts.
• Confidence and financial education contribute to the gaps in investment participation from women.
• A written retirement plan is an important part of the overall preparation process.

According to a 2025 McKinsey report women currently control about one-third of all retail financial assets in the U.S. and the European Union. This report projects that figure will rise to between 40% and 45% by 2030. Driven by complementary social, economic, demographic, and cultural trends, the results reflect that the share of investable wealth controlled by women continues to rise.

“Whether outliving their spouses, living single, financially independent, inheriting wealth, or acting as their family’s breadwinner, women are becoming a greater financial force,” says Stephanie Stanfield, Senior Vice President and Area Wealth Executive for Regions Private Wealth Management.

Many financial institutions now offer programs, symposiums, and events designed with women in mind. Regions hosts Women + Wealth events across the bank’s 15-state footprint with financial education, money management and planning, networking, and collaboration in mind.

Women and investing: Relationship matters

Regions Wealth Management team is growing as it continues to serve the growing market of financially savvy women. “We are growing our team with an emphasis on relationships, cultivating experienced advisors who listen to our clients, ask the important questions, understand personal and financial experiences and goals to provide tailored guidance designed to meet each individual’s unique objectives,” says Stanfield. “We understand the importance in developing a deep, trusting relationship.”

Stanfield notes the increased need to build awareness of the nuances in how women, who tend to outperform men in the market, invest their time and money.

“We’re teaching our wealth partners how to ask better questions, build trust, and to not assume that when couples sit down with an advisor who the primary decision maker is,” she says.

Women and investing: The needs of women investors

Even though women are staking a larger claim in the financial marketplace, some still lack financial confidence. The 26th Annual Transamerica Institute Retirement Survey shows that 68% of respondents indicated that they have a lot of or some working knowledge about personal finance (such as managing money, investments, debt, risk, taxes). Only 37% reported actively managing savings and/or investments.

And according to a recent financial literacy survey, 55% of women surveyed want to improve their financial literacy, with just 15% of women small business owners feeling very confident in their financial knowledge before launching a business. There is good news as the survey notes that women are taking their financial education into their own hands. Nearly 20% cited personal research as providing their biggest financial lessons with 47% of women entrepreneurs noting they turn to social media platforms for financial advice.

“The rise of AI is making access to financial advice even easier, but there are still questions about the accuracy. It is important to verify what you learn through AI searches with verified sources, such as your advisor or other trusted professional,” says Stanfield who emphasizes that a personal conversation is far more reliable than a generated response that is based solely on a few keywords.

Women and investing: Addressing the gender gap

Many women may face a gender investment gap which may lead to a shortfall in retirement savings. According to a study by the Transamerica Institute for Retirement, working women’s total savings in household retirement accounts is almost half of their male counterparts at $56,000 versus $92,000, respectively as of late 2024. Women (approximately a quarter) are significantly less likely than men (more than one-third) to have saved $250,000 or more in total household retirement accounts.

A persistent disparity where women invest less of their income than men is fueling this gap. Despite studies showing women often achieve better investment returns, research reveals that women may be shortchanging themselves on investments. Driving this trend are the gender pay gap, longer life expectancies, career breaks for caregiving, and lower confidence.

“Bridging this gap is crucial, as equal investment rates could unlock over $3 trillion in assets,” notes Stanfield.

Women and investing: Planning for the future

Regions Wealth Advisors use a long-term planning approach, based on the complete understanding of an individual’s experience, goals and money mindset. “To me, it seems that women don’t like to be told what to do with their money,” Stanfield says. “It is important to collaborate when designing a financial plan. When we approach recommendations with a customized plan, we’re able to illustrate the potential future buying power and a look at the financial horizon.”

This contingency planning approach means using “what-if” scenarios that clearly demonstrate how investing, saving, and planning today may have life-altering effects on a woman and her legacy.

“You can’t just pitch a product and say choose yes or no,” shares Stanfield. “Collaborating on these decisions is empowering and allows our clients to make informed decisions.”

Women and investing: Retirement planning

The Transamerica survey shows that less than one in four Americans, regardless of gender, have a financial strategy for retirement in the form of a written plan. The remaining respondents either have a plan, but not in writing, or have no plan at all. Additionally, only 71% are engaging in conversations about their retirement savings and investments with family and close friends.

Working with a financial professional can help spur conversations and increased engagement in retirement planning. For women who may not be taking full advantage of their retirement savings opportunities, regular reviews of financial and retirement plans may highlight additional ways to save and invest.

Below are a few potential ways to boost your knowledge, confidence and investment strategy:

• Engage with a wealth advisor to gain a full understanding of your financial situation. Create a budget, prioritize expenses, set short- and long-term goals, build emergency savings, contribute to health savings accounts (HSAs), learn about investing, develop plans, and keep good records.
• Calculate retirement savings needs, develop a retirement strategy, and write it down. Some factors to consider: living expenses, health care, government benefits, inflation, investment returns, years in retirement, potential long-term care needs, and of course funds for your retirement dreams.
• Learn about professionally-managed accounts, model portfolios, target date funds, and strategic allocation funds.
• Participate in your employer-sponsored retirement plan, if available, or contribute to a tax-advantaged account. If offered a 401(k) or similar plan in the workplace, take advantage of matching employer contributions and defer as much as financially possible (individuals 50+ can take advantage of the ‘super catch-up’ contributions for even more savings).
• If you do not have access to an employer plan, explore options to contribute to a Traditional or Roth IRA. If self-employed, learn about additional tax-advantaged options for saving.
• Regularly review your retirement savings to ensure investments are consistent with your risk profile and retirement timing.