It’s not all that surprising, though.
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For many people, saving money was off the table in 2022. We can thank inflation for that. In fact, a lot of folks had to take money out of their savings last year just to cover their basic bills.
In spite of that, U.S. consumers managed to add to their savings on a whole in 2022. New York Life’s latest Wealth Watch survey reveals that Americans saved $5,011 on average. But when we break the numbers down between men and women, we can see that there’s a huge divide.
Men saved a lot more than women in 2022
Last year, men saved an average of $7,007. Women, on the other hand, only saved an average of $3,146. Clearly, that’s a major difference, with men saving more than twice what women did.
Why is that the case? Well, it’s hard to say exactly. But it’s also reasonable to point to the gender pay gap as a possible explanation.
For years, men have traditionally earned more money than their female counterparts. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that every single male employee earns more than every female. What it does mean, though, is that men are likely to earn more than women in the same roles, and with the same career experience.
In fact, the U.S. Government Accountability Office says that in 2021, women earned $0.82 for every $1 earned by men. And so it’s easy to see why men may have had an easier time building savings last year.
How to increase your savings in 2023
No matter what gender you identify as, the reality is that you may be unhappy with the amount of money you saved in 2022 (even though it’s easy to see how inflation may have thwarted your plans). And so you may be motivated to boost your cash reserves a lot more in 2023.
The good news is that we’re starting off the year with inflation having cooled off in December compared to November, so you might already be starting to see the cost of certain expenses shrinking. But even so, if you want to ramp up your savings in a meaningful way, a good bet is to get yourself on a budget.
A budget will give you a clear sense of what your bills look like and where your money goes every month. And from there, you may have an easier time pinpointing expenses to cut.
At the same time, automating your savings could be your ticket to meeting your goals this year. Rather than wait until the end of the month to add money to your savings, arrange for a portion of each paycheck to land there from the start. That way, you’ll automatically remove the temptation to spend the cash you want to save.
It’s unfortunate that women seem to lag behind men in the savings department — at least in terms of progress made in 2022. But there are steps anyone can take to be more successful at saving money in 2023.
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