Women and Wealth: 7 Action Steps for Taking Control of Your Finances
Author’s Note: Reinforcing the importance of supporting women throughout their financial journey, Forum engaged in several events in October to further the discussion about women and wealth. Forum was invited to the first Women & Wealth Summit at Dimensional Fund Advisors in Austin and joined a class of more than 50 female financial professionals from firms across the country. At the Forum West conference in Santa Monica, Forum hosted advisors from 15 states for a two-day educational event. The Forum conference featured sessions on women and wealth and the power of building your community. In the following post, we share our perspective on women and wealth and provide an overview of the approach we take when helping women build a financial plan and reimagine what is possible.
How We Approach Financial Planning for Women
Significant changes will occur over the next 10 years as more women become involved in managing the finances for their household. That is why we focus on financial planning elements that are unique to working with women, such as longevity, the gender pay gap and women in the role of primary caregiver for family members.
We listen first to understand the overall situation (financial, personal and professional) when someone is sharing their concerns, values and dreams and then follow up by asking powerful questions such as:
- Where would you want to start to better understand your financial situation?
- What does the term “financially independent” mean to you?
- What is most important to you in your life, and why?
The questions above are meant to get to the heart of your views on money, values and financial goals. We advocate the idea of exploring your “why” as described by Simon Sinek in his 2009 book on the question. You may discover that it is easier to visualize your financial future when you have the opportunity to consider big-rocks questions with plenty of space to expand upon your answers.
Our goal is to guide our clients toward their goals. In this pursuit, we further our ability to support women by continuing to educate ourselves on the current and future landscape of women in the industry.
The Ever-Changing Landscape of Women and Wealth
The recent statistics highlighted here tell a story about the ever-changing roles of women in the United States.
“$30 trillion in investable assets will be possessed by baby boomers by 2030, much of it controlled by women.”1
“American colleges and universities now enroll roughly six women for every four men. This is the largest female-male gender gap in the history of higher education, and it’s getting wider.”2
“In 2022, women ages 25 to 34 earned an average of 92 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group – an 8-cent gap. By comparison, the gender pay gap among workers of all ages that year was 18 cents.”3
“On average, women pay 7% more than men for similar products.”4
“While almost four in 10 respondents say they have been excluded from meetings, decisions, and informal interactions when working in a hybrid way, this proportion is considerably lower than it was in 2022 (nearly 60%).”5
When Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Seven Action Steps for Taking Control of Your Finances
- Review what you already know and fill in gaps with a reliable knowledge source
- Acknowledge your feelings about money and that others may have a different perspective
- Understand your personal risk tolerance (being risk aware does not mean being risk averse)
- Think about your community and note if anything is missing that you could add to enhance your life
- Formalize your charitable intentions through charitable gifting strategies within an overall financial plan (one inspiring example would be MacKenzie Scott and her philanthropic approach to charitable giving)
- Draw up an estate plan (for which you may need assistance from an attorney) and plan to modify it every few years to make sure it is up to date
- Establish financial goals (as many have said, hope is not a strategy)
Every action you take is a step toward greater financial independence. Contact us at hello@forumfinancial.com.
SOURCES
1 “US Wealth Management: A Growth Agenda for the Coming Decade.” McKinsey & Company, February 16, 2022.
2 Derek Thompson, “Colleges Have a Guy Problem.” The Atlantic, September 14, 2021
3 Carolina Aragao, “Gender Pay Gap in U.S. Hasn’t Changed Much in Two Decades.” Pew Research Center, March 1, 2023.
4 Dunja Radonic, “12+ Pink Tax Statistics You Should Be Aware of in 2023.” Moneyzine, February 10, 2023.
5 Michele Parmelee, “Empowering Women at Work.” Deloitte Insights, April 25, 2023.
LinkedIn Photo: Forum Financial Advisor Elisa Schvaneveldt, Forum Partner Karma Forrestal, Forum Financial Advisor Barbara Ray, Forum Chief People Officer Laura Norek, Forum Financial Advisor Heidi Verbiscer and Forum Chief Marketing Officer Laura Latragna attend the Women & Wealth Summit at Dimensional Fund Advisors in Austin on October 5, 2023.
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