An Analysis of Gender, Marital Status, and Financial Confidence in Shaping Financial Risk Tolerance: Insights from the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances

Ashlyn Rollins-Koons; Congrong Ouyang; Megan McCoy; Joanne Wu

doi:10.2478/fprj-2026-0001

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An Analysis of Gender, Marital Status, and Financial Confidence in Shaping Financial Risk Tolerance: Insights from the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances

Financial Planning Research Journal

Volume 12 (2026): Issue 1 (January 2026)

By: Ashlyn Rollins-Koons, Congrong Ouyang, Megan McCoy and Joanne Wu

Open Access

|Feb 2026

Abstract

This study investigates how gender, marital status, and financial confidence relate to financial risk tolerance. The analysis revealed single men exhibited greater financial risk tolerance than married men, while both single and married women were less risk-tolerant than married men. Financial confidence was positively associated with financial risk tolerance; however, overconfident married women and single women with appropriately high financial confidence had lower risk tolerances than married men. These findings explain how gender and marital status work in conjunction with psychological factors like financial confidence when evaluating clients’ risk preferences. Implications for financial practitioners include adopting gender-informed frameworks to better tailor risk assessment and communication.

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