Here’s why I care about Women’s Money Week and why you should too

 

To kick off the new year, the WomensMoney.org website featured articles from various financial experts during Women’s Money Week, and guess what?!

 

I was one of the financial experts they featured!!! (Woohoo!) I’m super excited! They featured not one, but two of my articles!

 

Check out my articles on the WomensMoney.org website:

Article #1 – Baby Boomer Women Wished They Had Saved More Money for Retirement

Article #2 – Take Care of Your Loved Ones by Updating Your Beneficiary Forms

 

The reason this is so exciting to me is because I want to make an impact by telling my story and sharing financial information so that other women don’t have to suffer the emotional turmoil of struggling in their finances like I did.

 

One thing I’ve noticed in the last twelve years of working with women and helping them create a financially secure retirement is when women feel financially empowered, their confidence goes up, which shows up in other areas of their life as well.

 

Another thing I’ve noticed is that often times it takes some sort of a financial hardship for women to finally step up and take their relationship with money seriously.

 

“You will never be powerful in life until you are powerful with your own money.”

~Suze Orman

 

Sooner or later, at some level, there’s a financial wake-up call in every woman’s life. (I know it was true for me. I’m guessing it’s true for you as well.)

 

Your financial wake-up call may come as a result of one of the following life events:

• Divorce
• Widowhood
• Suddenly on your own
• Excessive debt
• Living paycheck to paycheck
• Not having enough to pay bills
• Financial disorganization or drama of some sort
• Feeling insecure about not having enough money for retirement

 

Notice how the first three life events listed above actually put women in a position to have to suddenly figure out financial matters on their own while they’re already dealing with the emotional upheaval of the life change itself.

 

Since eighty to ninety percent of women will be solely responsible for their finances at some point in their lives (National Center for Women and Retirement Research), I feel justified in insisting that financial literacy for women become a priority.

 

Not only will the majority of women become solely responsible for their finances at some point in their lives, but, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, older women are fifty percent more likely than older men to live in poverty.

 

Most likely this is due to the fact that the average woman spends fifteen percent of her working years outside of the workforce, caring for children and elderly parents compared to the average man’s one percent (1.6%), according to Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement. Which means women contribute less to their retirement savings and therefore, have fewer financial assets to live on in retirement.

 

This is why I feel so passionately about women’s financial literacy.

 

“From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents, from 18 to 35 she needs good looks, from 35 to 55 she needs a good personality, and from 55 on she needs cash.”

~Sophie Tucker

 

The mission of Women’s Money Week is to help women start the New Year off strong in reaching their financial goals. The purpose of the WMW campaign is to create social awareness, and help women release financial shame and other baggage around money, so they can start positive action toward their money goals.

 

“The world will be saved by the western woman.”

~Dalai Lama

 

Financial empowerment for women is not only a good thing, it’s absolutely vital to the stability of our social economy moving forward.