Faced with a choice between a guaranteed £50,000 or a coin toss for £1m, the vast majority of Britons would take the cash – and women are far more cautious than men, a YouGov poll of 4,600 adults has found.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) said they would pocket the £50,000, while just 21% would gamble on the 50/50 chance of £1m. The remaining 6% couldn’t decide. The gender split is striking: 82% of women opted for the certainty, compared with 63% of men.
“73% of Britons would take guaranteed £50k over a coin flip for £1m, with 82% of women choosing certainty.”
That chimes with wider research showing men are twice as likely to invest in stocks and shares, and women more likely to hold cash ISAs. Sarah Coles of investment firm AJ Bell says the results reflect a deep psychological bias. “The thrill of potentially winning £1m is felt less strongly than the fear of giving up a guaranteed £50,000 and ending up with nothing,” she said.
For many, £50,000 is life-changing in itself – £10,000 more than the median full-time annual earnings in the UK. Yet younger people are more willing to bet. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 28% would flip the coin, compared with just 11% of over-65s.
Coles notes that the same principle applies to investing: you’d have had to put £50,000 into a typical global fund nearly 38 years ago for it to grow to £1m. “We are hardwired to go for the guaranteed £50,000,” she says, because losses feel more acute than gains.