We partnered with Prudential and SheSpeaks to bring you this sponsored post. We also attended SheSummit for the Prudential panel. All opinions are my own.

My grandfather was a key force in my life when it came to money. On Sunday mornings I would sit with him while he would check his stocks. It was so exciting to see if the stock went up or split. Knowing the basics were enough for me to get hooked. He would also explain how he did this so grandma was taken cared of when he was gone. I didn’t understand at the time what a privilege it was for me to receive this information from the man of the house. I didn’t realize at the time that this was not something that was passed down to the girls of the family.

Although I sat with grandpa, it wasn’t something I talked about with anyone else so I never learned more than “The Basics.” When I finally had a job that offered a 401 K, I picked quickly and didn’t understand what I was picking or why. I looked at is as gambling and put 70% on high risk and 30% in a safe place. I didn’t want to ask questions and it wasn’t a topic my girlfriends and I would chat about.

In my mid-20’s I wanted to know more and be in more control of my money. My grandfather was no longer here but I knew he set me on a path and I needed to get back on it and follow it. I read books, started playing with penny stock, and taught myself as much as I could. I still find that money is not something everyone can talk about, especially women. We don’t like to talk about personal finances, savings and investing topics.

I now love to talk about money and hope to hear tips about stocks from girlfriends. I travel a lot and I don’t plan on stopping when I retire. I want to find adventure around every corner and not worry about running out of money.

As women, we have unique challenges in gaining confidence and control over how we feel about and the actions we take around money. I was inspired to start taking more control and to start talking with friends about money after attending the Prudential Panel at SheSummit. The panel really broke it down and had you nodding with agreement with everything they said!

We need to own our financial security!

If you have a vision board, the three words #OwnMyFuture should be prominently displayed so you can see it everyday! Let’s talk about how a Prudential advisor can help us.

Woman and Money

Women that engage in financial planning do as well and sometimes even better than men. 60% of women are in the workforce and 40% are in management positions. Women control 11 trillion dollars of the nations investable assets. Women are coming a long way. But there are areas we have to work on.

There are four key challenges that are impacting women’s finances.

Wage & Income Gap: The average woman working full-time earns 79% of the income earned by her male counterpart.¹

Women don’t earn as much as men. There are reasons for this. We don’t get to that first managerial job as quickly as men because we often don’t push as hard to get to the next job. We also to have life interruptions when we are care givers or we stay home to raise children.

Investment Gap: Women don’t invest to the same degree as men. ² 

Women’s discomfort with investing comes at a high cost for them: We also don’t run to invest as quickly as men do. We focus on lower risk and lower long return investments and are more likely to run out of money in retirement.

Women are Living Longer and Living Alone:  5-6 years is the approximate number by which women outlive men.⁴

Women’s Social Security benefits are 27% less than men. We need a financial plan that is tailored to us. Our income slows down at different times in our life and peaks earlier. The good news is financial institutions are now starting to understand this and can now help better with our needs.

Time Gap: Women may feel they do not have enough time for financial planning. On average, women in the U.S. spend 28 hours per week on household chores – 65 percent more than the average for men.⁵

It’s never too late to start the path for our financial future. Prudential wants to help women educate themselves about these issues, so that they prepare and protect themselves. Prudential aims to empower women with financial solutions so they can be confident they are making the right decisions for themselves and their families.

To help get started on your own journey schedule an appointment with a Prudential advisor. 

 

Sources:

1. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables Table P-40: Women’s Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s Earnings by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2016
2. Source: http://fortune.com/2016/05/11/sallie-krawcheck-ellevest-launch;
3. Source: US Census Bureau 2015;
4. Source: Prudential Retirement analysis; National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 2015: With Special Feature on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Hyattsville, MD. 2016
5. Source: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, October 2016, http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=54757