Women Becoming More Successful Than Men
Women Becoming More Successful Than Men
Women are passing men in their abilities to get a degree, handle families and garner success at work. As men are falling behind, women are making huge strides. CNN reported that, “For the first time in history, women are better educated, more ambitious and arguably more successful than men.”
Over half of college degrees are now being awarded to women. “In 1970, men earned 60% of all college degrees. In 1980, the figure fell to 50%, by 2006 it was 43%. Women now surpass men in college degrees by almost three to two. Women’s earnings grew 44% in real dollars from 1970 to 2007, compared with 6% growth for men.”
Women are becoming stronger entrepreneurs as well. Forbes recently reported: “As of 2011, it is estimated that there are over 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States. Overall, women-owned firms have done better than their male counterparts over the past 14 years. The number of men-owned firms (which represent 51% of all U.S. firms) grew by only 25% between 1997 and 2011—half the rate of women-owned firms.”
A study by Barclays Wealth and Ledbury Research may have some of the answers to why women are surpassing men. One of the reasons they found is that women are less likely to take unnecessary risks or make rash decisions. The Huffington Post backed up this point stating, “A 2005 study by Merrill Lynch found that 35% of women held an investment too long, compared with 47% of men. More recently, in 2009, a study by the mutual fund company Vanguard involving 2.7 million personal investors concluded that during the recent financial crisis, men were more likely than women to sell shares of stocks at all-time lows, leading to bigger losses among male traders.”
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401K Reinrollment: Why Your Money May Be Put Into Target-Dated Funds
Target-dated funds are mutual funds that automatically adjust the asset mix of stocks, bonds and cash usually based on the investor’s future retirement date. Companies have been offering these options for their employees for many years. Some companies are now even having employees have to acknowledge if they don’t want to have their money put into target-dated funds.
In the hope of helping employees keep their money safe, companies are stepping in and trying to control where they hold their retirement funds. Employees can continue to choose from their company’s listed fund choices, but if they don’t opt out of the target-dated funds, their money may just be moved for them.
For those people who don’t want to hassle with choices and watching their funds, this may be a good choice. For those who are more financially savvy, the target-dated funds may not appeal to them; they may prefer to have control over their investments.
There are pros and cons to using target-dated funds based on gender, age and risk tolerance. For more information about target-dated funds and employers utilizing them, check out a recent article by the Wall Street Journal by clicking here.