By ANGELA BARNES
Toronto Globe and Mail
24-OCT-05
Women approach financial decision making quite differently than do men, according to a new study by Ipsos-Reid.
"Women respondents are less confident about their financial situation, less comfortable carrying debt but are more likely to be more impulsive spenders than men," the study said.
Conversely, men are relatively more risk tolerant when it comes to their investments.
When asked their degree of agreement with the statement "I don't like to invest in the stock market because it is too risky," men were more likely to disagree than women.
Men were also considerably more likely to agree with the statements "I find banking and personal finance interesting and know quite a lot about it," and "It is important for me to keep well informed about financial issues."
Similarly, when it came to questions about being confident that they have enough money to retire comfortably, being satisfied about their household's current financial situation and enjoying taking care of their financial affairs, male respondents to the survey again held the lead.
The study also showed that men were relatively more price conscious than women and more comfortable with the idea of negotiating for better prices.
Men and women were also quizzed about their preference for using cash or debit cards. More women than men indicated they always try to pay using cash or debit card.
Ipsos-Reid's Canadian Financial Monitor Group surveyed 2,000 people.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)
