According to a new study by BMO, it appears that men are better savers, on average, than women. Last year each Canadian men saved $10.5K on average, while the ladies saved about $7K each. That’s a difference of 50%. 😯 These results are interesting because last year another study showed that young men are more likely to stay at home with their parents, but young women move out sooner and are more independent. Maybe guys can save more money because we tend to mooch off our parents more. 😛 But on a more serious note I believe the income gender gap has something to do with this. Women are still making less than men in many professions and the less you make the less you have to save. 🙁
The good news is both genders in the BMO study say they plan to save more this year in 2014. 🙂 $11.2K for the men and $8K says the women. Good luck everyone. 😀 The report also revealed saving differences across different regions in Canada. 🙂
Some what we can learn from this information.
- It’s easier to reach our goals if we are around like minded people, so if you are young and looking for work consider moving to Alberta or B.C. if you aren’t already here. 🙂 We have low unemployment, financially responsible government, and high wages – what’s not to like? 🙂
- Try to save at least the 2014 amount for the province that you live in. This is because money is relative and in order to get ahead we must be better than average. 😀 Even if we managed to save $100,000 this year, it still wouldn’t feel very much if everyone else managed to save $1,000,000 during the same time. I happen to live in B.C. so I will personally aim to save at least $15,117 this year to make sure I don’t get left behind. 🙂 For benchmarking purpose, last year I managed to save about $18K.
- Invest our savings with tax efficiency in mind. For most people this means maxing out the contribution room for our TFSAs and RRSPs, etc. before investing in a non-registered account.
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Random useless fact: The RCMP was formed in 1920 but it wasn’t until 1974 that women were allowed to become members.
Women have more to spend on in general than men like cosmetics, spa services, so on. Why is the savings rate so high for BC? That’s crazy our housing prices through the roof, yet our incomes can not keep up. I don’t know how they get that figure, I think it’s skewed.
Lotsa mama’s boys out there eh? LOL.
But men might have more to spend on in general than women like cigarettes, alcohol, electronics, cars, so on… see what I did there? 😛
Haven’t seen the report yet, but I suspect the costs of child care might be rolled in there too. Women tend to carry most of the child care responsibilities. There tends to be more single mothers than single fathers. Very interesting though. It would be interesting to see these stats normalized for income level….to see which regions and gender have the highest propensity to save.
I would like to see an income adjusted comparison as well. It’s also hard to compare the numbers in these kinds of studies because the wage discrepancy in every job industry is different.
According to another research, women are better investors than men!
Better investors or better savers? These two things aren’t really the same thing. I could see women being better investors – for the same reason they make good politicians (if you happen to believe in such things). As the theory goes, women are less motivated by ego and hubris. Asking more questions and considering all the facts is a distinct advantage when investing. So many of my male friends talk about their stock picks like they talk about their picks for the Stanley Cup. Full of opinion, misunderstood theories and parroted quotes from TV commentators. 🙂
The issue with these surveys/studies is that they neglect to take into account that there is still a major wage disparity between men and women. What they also do not realize is that it is more expensive to be a woman…clothing, beauty regime, etc all cost more. I hope they also took into consideration the cost of living in each province…BC and Ontario are one of the most expensive.
Yeah, location is a big factor. The cost of living can vary greatly across the country. I’d be interested to see a local study where they only look at Vancouver, and Mississauga, separately, and account for the wage disparity.
What does saving mean? Is that having more money on hand? What about if I have a goal to save and pay, like paying down a debt or mortgage… Is that saving? I am saving money for a trip, but the money will eventually be spent… is/was that classed as saving. I save lots of money, but I also spend lots of my saved money… I saved on not buying a car last year, so does that mean I saved $40K because I did not spend it last year? Now our RRSP & TFSA investments made $100+K, which we reinvested… does that mean that money is saved or was it saved in the past and now invested as we did not really add much this past year to the principle, which is somehow judged different? I hate the media and how they present things… All that said, because I am married, I guess we should be saving ~$20K to be average? For us we look at growth of our net-worth. Any growth is what we considered as being saved as it was not spent, which suggests that if I were an average saver, which I consider myself to be, this… Read more »
Savings is a pretty loose term I guess 🙂 Personal finances can be so convoluted haha. It’s like if you borrowed $1000 from a line of credit to purchase some stocks for investment purposes in a trading account, and then borrowed another $1000 from the same line of credit account to buy food and booze for a party. Then you pay back $1000 the following day. So is the remaining $1000 balance on the line of credit an investment loan or consumer debt? lol
Although I am female, based on the study from BMO, it looks like I have a guy mentality when it comes to saving. I came in at about saving almost $10.4K last year. Now that I know how much I saved last year, I hope to make it $12-$15K, which I think is doable. It is true that being a woman can be a bit more expensive, but I’m not really into clothes, jewellery or makeup. 😛
Good luck with your saving target this year 🙂 I will aim for $15K myself too. I also find that a lot of women who spend a lot of money on jewellery and makeup when they are young, stop doing so once they get married, have babies, and start a family.