Mistake young women make that could see them miss out on thousands of pounds

For whatever reason, the way men and women approach the world tends to be different.

Overall that's a cause for celebration, with different perspectives offering insights that you would miss alone.

But it's not always a good thing, and in the wrong circumstances can lead to problems getting worse - not new solutions.

With figures showing women have tens of thousands less in savings on average by the end of their lives, investment firm Schroders decided to take a look to see if there were any behavioural reasons holding women back.

Diving into the results of its investIQ behavioural bias test, which is designed to help customers make better decisions with their money, it found some worrying trends.

The trends aren't limited to women, but they are more common among them (Getty)

They discovered women were far more likely to be influenced by the thoughts and behaviours of those around them than men, with younger women even more likely to be influenced this way.

Women are also more likely to worry about making the wrong choice than men, again with younger women showing this tendency more prominently, and more likely to be influenced by short term movements.

And that can lead to mistakes.

Schroders personal finance director Claire Walsh said: “Herd bias can be responsible for driving classic investment mistakes – such as, buying high and selling low or chasing potential investment bubbles like Bitcoin."

Worse, it can mean they simply don't make any decisions at all.

Fear is holding more women back than men (Caiaimage)

"Most young women don’t invest, so if they are talking to friends they are likely to reinforce that behaviour. The result being that they may be more likely to keep their money in cash," Walsh said.

"Over the longer term, not investing – in things like stocks and shares - may mean that women are missing out."

And it's especially the case that this can hold you back if your needs aren't quite the same as those around you.

Professor Nick Chater, co-founder of Decision Technology, said: “Biases such 'herding' can be problematic if our personal needs are unusual; or when the entire herd takes a wrong turn."

The good news is that this tendency to follow the herd decreases as people get older, while women also get more confident in their decisions as they age.

In fact, by the time you it 65, women are more confident in their decisions, less worried about the impact of getting it wrong and less influenced by short-term trends than men.