••• financial services research
Millennial women savvier about financial terms
Millennial women, despite their own uncertainty, outperform Millennial men in their knowledge of financial and insurance terms, according to findings from Cambridge, Mass., research firm Market Strategies International. When asked to match financial and insurance- related terms with definitions, Millennial women selected the correct answer more frequently than Millennial men did (33 percent vs. 24 percent, respectively).
To gauge self-reported knowledge in financial services, Market Strategies asked survey respondents how well they felt they understood financial and insurance-related terms. Only 17 percent of Millennial women reported that they “completely understand” financial and insurance terms while 2.4 times as many Millennial men (34 percent) claimed complete understanding.
“Men typically have higher confidence in their knowledge in general. It’s unsurprising that double the percentage of Millennial men than women reported they ‘completely understand,’” says Christopher Barnes, managing director of the financial services division at Market Strategies. “What is interesting, however, is that when asked to demonstrate that knowledge, Millennial women perform better.
“Historically, women have scored lower than men in terms of financial knowledge,” Barnes says, “but as Millennials are delaying marriage and making major financial decisions solo, like buying houses and managing student loan debt, it’s clear Millennial women are getting proactive about their financial knowledge.”
The study also revealed interesting gender differences in the sources Millennials use to learn and understand investments. Thirty-eight percent of Millennial women look to friends, family and colleagues while that same percentage of Millennial men are flocking to YouTube.
••• lifestyle research
Bed-making leads to more lovemaking
Apparently, you can learn a lot about someone if you can find out if they make their own bed each morning. Sleep-industry Web site Sleepopolis commissioned a survey (conducted by OnePoll) of 2,000 Americans to see what making (or not making) your bed might say about other aspects of your personality.
From the survey, researchers identified some common qualities. People who make their bed are more likely to: be a morning person; wake up without an alarm; have sex three times per week; nap for 43 minutes on average; work in health or technology fields; enjoy jazz music, watch “House Hunters” and romantic movies; and be adventurous, confident, sociable and high-maintenance.
People who don’t make their bed are more likely to: be a night person; snooze the alarm clock in the morning; have sex two times per week; work in business or financial fields; enjoy rock music and watch “Seinfeld” and comedy movies; and be shy, moody, curious and sarcastic.