More than 60% of women in the U.S. tell Fidelity Investments that they are optimistic about their financial wellness in 2025, saying they will be better off this year than in 2024.
That confidence comes from their ability to plan: 68% of women say that have a strategy to reach their financial goals and 80% are in the process of building up their emergency savings. Their top financial resolutions for 2025 include saving more money, paying down debt and spending less, Fidelity’s 2025 Financial Resolutions Study found.
“In recognition of Women’s History Month, Fidelity is bringing together various accomplished female leaders for a free, month-long event series to help inspire women to take the next step with their money and achieve their financial goals,” Fidelity said in a post on its website.
“Conversations will focus on how to make the most of unexpected changes, women’s health needs and the costs associated with them, and how to create and achieve life and career goals.”
Fidelity’s focus on women extends beyond history month. The company’s Women Talk Money community offers a forum year-round for real talk about money, investing, careers and other topics top of mind for women, through live events, on demand content, and other actionable resources to help members take their next best steps with their finances. It’s free to join for everyone.
Here are some of major trend affecting women and their finances detailed in the study:
Rethinking retirement
- 50% of women who retired in 2024 took a phased approach to retirement by working part-time, taking on less responsibility or transitioning to more flexible work, compared to only 19% of women 20 years ago. Similar to men, this signals a shift of more women easing into their retirement years.
- While most women are focused on short-term financial goals this year, younger generations in particular plan to increase their annual retirement savings contribution in 2025 (48% of Gen Z, 45% of Millennials).
- Among women retirees, nearly half are currently working, have worked or are thinking about working in retirement. Women are also significantly more likely than men to transition to retirement by working reduced hours or days.
Health-care costs
- Women can expect to spend an average of $175,000 on health-care costs and medical expenses throughout retirement, which is more than 10% higher than what men can expect to pay and up nearly 17% since 2019.
- Among women who feel worse about their finances today than they did five years ago, encountering unexpected health-care costs was one of the top contributing factors. It’s no surprise, then, that a quarter of women say rising health-care costs is one of their top financial concerns going into 2025.
- For those with a high deductible health plan, a health savings account can be a helpful savings vehicle to cover health-care costs in retirement. While Fidelity customer data shows the number of women contributing to an HSA is on the rise, women are less likely than men to invest those funds. Among women who do invest their HSA funds, their top reason is to help grow a medical fund for retirement.
Caregiving needs
- Women caregivers continue to report higher levels of financial turmoil, with 41% describing their relationship with money as “stressful.” Their top concerns going into 2025 are unexpected expenses (41%), inflation’s impact on day-to-day expenses and savings (40%), and economic uncertainty/recession (32%).
- Caregiving responsibilities impact women into retirement as well – recent research shows women retirees are three times more likely than men to say they left the workforce to help care for loved ones.
- Despite these challenges, most women caregivers are looking to the future, with 81% planning to build up their emergency savings, aligning with the top resolution for all women who say they plan to save more money in 2025.
Employee benefits
- Women are more likely than men to say their benefits don’t meet their needs mostly due to cost, inadequate coverage, difficulty understanding their benefits, and difficulty getting specialty care.
- While better pay is the most important factor women caregivers in particular say they look for in a new job, better work/life balance (30%) and remote working opportunities (27%) also score high, pointing to the need for greater flexibility from employers.
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