Not Planning Ahead: Millennial Women Aren't Saving Nearly As Much Money As Their Male Counterparts

Getting first jobs (where you'll likely be underpaid) and chipping away at those student loans you took out to finance college are becoming more and more a right of passage for many Gen-Y guys and gals alike.

But a new study shows that Millennial women are much less likely to save money during their 20s, making them much more susceptible to financial insecurity down the line.

According to research conducted by Wells Fargo, young professional women are failing to create savings at the same rate as their male counterparts.

The study yielded that while 61 percent of Gen-Y men had started squirreling away funds for retirement, only 50 percent of Gen-Y women had begun to do the same.

Although many women are failing to save, at least many acknowledge that their money habits are off; 41 percent of Millennial females surveyed said they were satisfied with their savings level, whereas 58 percent of Millennial men said they were confident with how much they had saved thus far.

While many 20-something women may not be aware of the proper saving behavior, there are also some structural barriers getting in the way of them putting money into that rainy day fund.

First of all, there's the pesky and persistent gender gap: Women, on average, make less than men. The Wells Fargo study found that the median annual household income for Gen-Y was $77,000 compared with $56,000 a year for women of a comparable age, meaning they have less to save at the end of the day and after paying their necessary bills.

But the most troubling indicator of this discrepancy is that these women are just less financially literate than their male counterparts.

If young professional women are less likely to save and spend responsibly when they first start making money, they're inevitably harming themselves in the long run.

via Today, Photo Courtesy: Gossip Girl