Despite the impact of the recession, the proportion of Canadian women who define themselves as financially successful has increased in the past year, a recent poll by TD Waterhouse reveals.

TD Waterhouse’s 9th Annual Female Investor Poll, which interviewed nearly 1,500 Canadian women aged 45 to 64 in September, found that 62% define themselves as financially successful, up from 58% in 2008. The most popular definitions of financial success, according to the poll, involve paying bills on time, being prepared to deal with unexpected emergencies, being debt-free and having enough money saved for a comfortable retirement. “Having money for the finer things in life” was associated with financial success for only 20% of survey respondents.

“Canadian women have a very pragmatic view of financial success, which is very interesting, but not surprising given the recent recession,” said Patricia Lovett-Reid, senior vice-president of TD Waterhouse.

Canadian women take a variety of different steps to achieve financial success, the poll showed. The most popular steps include following a budget to manage spending, paying off credit cards in full to avoid interest charges, participating in an employer-sponsored group pension plan and contributing regularly to an RRSP. Other steps include saving through an automatic saving or investing plan and contributing to a tax-free savings account.

In order to be considered wealthy, survey respondents indicated that it takes an average of $542,000 in household investible assets. But this benchmark varies across the country. Females in Alberta have the highest standards in Canada, with an average of $668,000 in assets required to be considered wealthy, while Quebec women cited the lowest number in the country, at $393,000.

The survey found that the more women already have, the more they think they would need to be wealthy.

“Being wealthy means very different things to different people, but what remains consistent is the need to define financial success on your terms and then figure out what you need to do to get there,” said Lovett-Reid.

When asked to impart advice on being financially successful, the top three recommendations were:

1. live within your means;
2. start investing as early as possible; and
3. keep out of debt

Of the survey respondents, 65% agreed that women should be completely financially independent from their spouse. But the majority of women polled said they share financial planning and investment decisions: 55% of all respondents, and 84% of those who are married or in a common law relationship fell, into this category.

Women who are not married are much more likely to say they manage the household investments than women who are married, at 76% of those who are not married, versus 45% of married respondents.

But of the women who are married, 71% have some savings or investments in their own name. Forty-eight percent of married women who have their own personal investment portfolio are fully responsible for making decisions about their investments, while 38% make decisions jointly with their spouse or partner and 14% defer to their spouse.

IE