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National survey reveals Gay and heterosexual personal financial decisions may differ

National survey reveals Gay and heterosexual personal financial decisions may differ
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - According to a recent nationwide online survey, Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual (GLB) adults may differ from heterosexuals when considering their personal financial needs - especially decisions on investing, spending and working with financial institutions.[1] For example, when U.S. adults are asked how they likely would use some or part of $100,000 they earned due to investing, approximately eight out of 10 (82 percent) Gays and 73 percent of heterosexuals say they would reinvest the money into tax-free accounts. Similarly, eight out of ten (80 percent) Gays say they would reinvest the $100,000 in checking, savings or money market accounts (vs. 68 percent of non-Gays). Not surprisingly, given the higher incidence of children in non-Gay households, heterosexual adults (68 percent) are more likely than Gays (24 percent) to say that they would put money aside for children or grandchildren. In addition, if reaping windfall earnings such as $100,000, over half of GLB respondents (55 percent) say they would be somewhat or very likely to treat themselves to ìa luxury itemî such as jewelry, clothes or a car, compared to 44 percent of heterosexual adults. The new survey also asked both GLB and non-Gay respondents whether they agree or disagree with a number of statements about their financial health and the financial institutions that serve them. Trusting and welcoming institutions remain a far higher priority to GLB adults than to non-Gay respondents. Seven out of ten (71 percent) GLB adults and 59 percent of non-Gay respondents say, ìIt is important to me to know that a financial institution does not discriminate. Only three out of ten (30 percent) Gays also say they trust financial institutions to respect customers like me (vs. 36 percent of non-Gays). And GLB respondents (34 percent) say they are dissatisfied with the assistance provided by their financial institutions (vs. 24 percent of heterosexuals). These are a few highlights of a nationwide survey of 2,322 U.S. adults, of whom seven percent (158) identified themselves as Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual. The survey was conducted online between May 4 and 10, 2005 by Harris InteractiveÆ in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a strategic public relations and marketing communications firm with special expertise in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and transgender market. Perhaps underscoring how Gays believe trust plays a role in choosing a financial vendor, if there is little difference on price, quality and function of a product or a service, Gays (48 percent) would prefer to bundle their financial services and products from one financial institution or broker/representative while one in four (25 percent) Gay adults say they prefer different financial institutions for each financial product (such as insurance, investing, general banking, etc.). Managing, protecting and growing financial assets are important to everyone. It is growing clearer however that Gays and Lesbians share these concerns but have different attitudes toward investing and toward forming trusted relationships with financial institutions,î said Jake Stafford, senior communications strategist at Witeck-Combs Communications. These data provide many insights financial institutions may use to successfully reach out to their current and prospective Gay customers in a direct manner that meets their needs as individuals and families. A full set of the data may be found in table format at www.witeckcombs.com/news. Harris Interactive