Aegon’s latest research into financial wellbeing¹, carried out in December 2019, found that money worries are a key cause for concern for 76% of women compared to 72% of men. Worryingly, 33% of female respondents said they feel under prepared for a financial emergency compared to just 26% of men, while 32% of women also reported they just get by financially compared to 27% of men.

Financial uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic has put an enormous amount of pressure on people and their finances and is likely to have exacerbated gender gaps across the board. Financial resilience and money worries will be central to this impact. The expected growth in money worries among people is a huge cause for concern.

Interestingly, women showed a greater appetite for support to help with their money worries, than their male peers. In the current environment, everyone is likely to benefit from some financial education or support on how best to manage their money and to plan for a financially secure future.

With a growing number of people living on a financial cliff edge carrying the burden of financial obligations and commitments, the importance of understanding and protecting your clients’ finances has never been clearer. What’s more, financial wellbeing and mental health are heavily interlinked, and both have a stigma attached to them.

Financial advice is key to improving financial wellbeing. In fact, recent research by the Capgemini Research Institute² found that consumer demand for health, life and general insurance is increasing following the coronavirus pandemic, presenting an opportunity for you to help improve your clients’ financial wellbeing.

At Aegon we offer a wide range of protection solutions to help your clients prepare for the unexpected and help them achieve a lifetime of financial security. As well as offering financial support, all our protection products include Policy Plus – our range of support services – at no extra cost for your clients and their immediate family to use from the start of their policy. Find out more at aegon.co.uk/protection

¹Aegon/YouGov financial wellbeing research. Fieldwork undertaken 5-16 December 2019. Total sample size was 2,000 employees. The figures have been weighted and are representative of British business size.

²Capgemini Research Institute, COVID-19 and the financial services consumer: supporting customers and driving engagement through the pandemic and beyond, April 2020