You share your secrets with your friends about everything from the boardroom to the bedroom while carefully avoiding the shilling discussion.
Competing priorities can make it harder to manage your money, what with the cost of living adding to your woes and inflation eating away at your savings.
The gender pay gap has widened and your pension is probably minute. Then you live for longer and spend more of your life caring for others, further burrowing into your already dented finances. Is there any way out of this?
We’ve compiled six things we think every woman should know about money:
- What does financial independence feel like?
So often money is a source of shame and stress when it should be a source of freedom, empowerment and security.
Financial independence is having freedom over your time.
Move from feeling overwhelmed by money to feeling more in control, making your own decisions, setting financial priorities and developing effective habits like budgeting to help you achieve your goals.
- More women are investing and so can you
Ignorance in finances is not bliss. Take small steps in financial knowledge by setting aside as little as 10-15 minutes every week or month to read and learn about money.
Set tangible long-term goals such as target income to aim for in retirement rather than buy a product.
You spend so much time working hard earning the money but not enough nurturing your wealth.
- The financial impact of having a baby
Much of the damage to your earning potential occurs when you become a parent but financial planning can help lessen the impact.
Find out what you and your partner are entitled to in terms of maternity pay and parental leave.
The cost of childcare is always the biggest surprise that catches people out.
Ask your employer for a schedule of payments ahead of time so you can see exactly how much maternity pay you will receive and when and budget around this.
- How to hustle
Look for investors everywhere.
Don’t just think about going to women’s groups for investment, there are many men who want to invest in female businesses.
- What does your partner earn and where is the money?
Do you know the answer to this question?
Before having a conversation with your partner, have one with your peers.
Meet your friends over dinner to start a conversation about finances such as pensions, life insurance and wills.
Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to have all these conversations at once, tackle one topic at a time, perhaps over dinner, to make it more enjoyable.
- Flexible working is not just for women
Before the pandemic men wouldn’t dare approach their bosses about flexible working through fear of looking weak.
That is now eliminated so these conversations need to be held at home. More men should ask to work flexibly to better share childcare.
Sources: Forbes, Women and Money, ft, glamour, Science Direct, Vogue
