National Center on Women & Aging
2002 National Poll on Women 50+
Issue Brief Series Issue No. 4Savers & Non-Savers: Different Expectations, Different Destinies
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Who Saves?
A majority of the women interviewed for the poll are actively saving money (66%). There are “savers” of every description. However, women with certain characteristics — those who are younger,1 married, more educated, have higher household incomes, and/or are still working — are more likely to save than are their counterparts. Savings rates drop as we move up the age spectrum, but well over half of the women in every age group report that they are currently saving money.
Marital status, education, and work status make a difference...so does income.
Generally speaking, NCWA poll data suggest that women who feel better about themselves and their lives also tend to be savers. Significantly more savers than non-savers report good physical and mental health.2 Those who save find aging better than they expected (56% vs. 41% of non-savers) and they feel better about their financial future. Their positive attitude is understandable: savers are significantly more likely to find it easy to pay for every item about which we asked, ranging from prescription medications to property taxes. Women who are saving money also are more likely than those who are not to offer the advice “women need to watch their spending/be frugal”.
Saving is a way of planning for and taking some control over one’s future. In other areas, in addition to financial planning, savers act with their future in mind. Women who are not saving may be missing opportunities to take charge of their lives today and tomorrow. For example, we asked: If you woke up tomorrow and found you were suddenly unable to take care of yourself, is there someone you could count on to take care of your needs or help arrange for your proper care? Savers are significantly more likely than non-savers to say that they have someone in mind to provide this care (95% vs. 86%, respectively).
When asked about what worries them, a higher proportion of savers expressed concern over global and political issues and family, children, and grandchildren as compared to non-savers. Importantly, non-savers are more likely to be concerned about personal finances (24% vs. 15%). Interestingly, women who are saving money are more likely than those not saving to say that their financial future will be better because their needs will be reduced or that the economy will improve (14% vs. 7%). Savers are four times as likely as non-savers to project a better financial future for themselves because they have planned ahead (12% vs. 3%).3
The NCWA poll suggests that savers and non-savers have some different opinions about public policy priorities. Indeed, non-savers are significantly more likely than savers to rate three of ten public policy issues as being “important” for government attention: eliminating poverty among older women, improving affordability and availability of elder and child care, and developing more affordable housing options.
[I worry about] the unfair things in society, such as crime, politics, war in other parts of the world. — Maryland, 74My children and grandchildren’s future...What could happen with the turmoil overseas. — Indiana, 58
Being able to pay my bills. It is easy to get credit cards and hard to pay them off when you have a fixed income. I am on the verge of bankruptcy and they still want to send me credit cards. — California, 68
That I have enough money at the end of each month. — Wisconsin, 72
1 Mean age of savers is 65 years, significantly younger than non-savers at 67 years.
2 There was a significant difference between savers and non-savers on self-reported physical health (more savers report good or better physical health compared to non-savers: 79% vs. 53%, respectively). Similarly, significantly more savers (85%) report good or better mental health than do non-savers (75%). Savers are also significantly less likely to report a limiting health condition (27% compared to 42% of non-savers).
3 Percentages in this paragraph represent coded open-ended responses and should not be considered strictly quantitative data.
Issue #4 pages: