According to the results of TD Investing’s Women Investor Poll, released in time for International Women’s Day tomorrow, women view financial success as being financially independent from their spouse or partner, while men view financial success as being able to retire early.

Women (42%) are also more likely than men (35%) to seek investment advice from a professional adviser.

Ladies are also the better savers of the two genders, according to a recent report from Halifax. They squirrel away the equivalent of 41% of their average annual gross earnings, whereas men save just 23%. This is despite women in England and Wales earning £13,500 a year less than their male peers.

Stuart Welch, CEO of TD Direct Investing, said: “Everyone seeks independence in some aspect of their life, but it is very interesting to see that women are the ones striving for financial independence, whereas men are simply looking to retire early.

“It seems that women want to protect their future – whatever it may be – and because nothing is certain, this attitude to finances is in fact very healthy and reassuring.

“With this in mind, it is still essential to talk about finances together.

“There is no problem with having separate goals, but if men and women have differing views on what financial success is – and 46% of couples in the UK discuss finances less than once a month – how do you know if you are actually successful, or indeed if you and your partner are helping each other to reach your goals?”

Men also tend to rely on self-education when it comes to investing – they are more likely than women (44% vs. 36%) to increase their financial knowledge by reading the financial pages of a newspaper, following finance and/or investing blogs/forums, watching investment-focused TV programmes as well as following the stock market.