9/18/2023 0 Comments Women and finances![]() ![]() But you still need to make sure you have a grasp of your complete financial picture. The latter is an important distinction to make: if your personal preference is to leave the planning and decision-making to your partner, then that is your choice to make, and it should be respected. Articulate your desire to be more involved with the family finances, or at least to be better informed. If you have a partner, sit down and have a conversation about your finances. Whether you choose to work with an advisor or go the DIY route with your financial plan, it’s critical to take action today. I’ve heard many complaints about advisors who direct questions primarily to the male half of the relationship while advising the woman-often in the guise of a joke-to cut back on her shopping. If you’re in a relationship, it’s also important to find a financial advisor who is inclusive when working with couples. If you’re a mom, for example, your financial plan needs to map out the transfer of wealth to the next generation, supported with a strategy for helping your children manage the gift, and potentially the burden, of their inheritance. Working with a financial advisor to create a financial plan is a step in the right direction, but it’s important to choose the right professional-one who will listen, not dictate, and who will build your plan through a holistic lens. High-performing women already do this in their business or profession, and it’s a big part of what makes them successful and effective leaders. Finding the right advisors and partners-and being willing to delegate and share in the decision-making-is key. The happy paradox of taking command of your finances is that you don’t necessarily need to have all the answers or do all the work. It’s time for women to take charge of their finances or, when there’s a spouse or common-law partner involved, at least be equal partners in the decision-making. In a Statistics Canada study based on data from 2014, researchers found women scored lower in financial literacy when their partners handled the long-term management of the family finances. This may be due, in large part, to a lack of practice. While studies suggest financial literacy increases as incomes rise, women still tend to be less confident about their financial knowledge than men. ![]() For the first time in her life, she had to figure out our family’s finances, and we all struggled during this difficult time. When he died at age 50 with no will or estate plan, my mother had no idea what assets or debts he left behind. My own mother-a very strong, intelligent and capable woman-did not have the financial knowledge nor the belief she could handle money matters, so she deferred completely to my father. Sometimes, women are compelled to learn money management by a sudden change in life circumstances, such as divorce (grey or otherwise) or widowhood. There’s also the matter of financial literacy and confidence in making money decisions. Sometimes, women who are more financially successful than their partners choose to relinquish oversight of the family finances as a way of equalizing power in the relationship. In many households, male partners assume it’s their role to take charge of the family finances-including budgeting, spending and investing-and letting them do so may seem like the easier, conflict-free path. They don’t have the time nor the energy to manage the money, too. Many high-performing women are burned out from the stresses of long hours at work and, in a lot of cases, having to put in a “second shift” when they get home, caring for kids and maybe aging parents, as well as doing the bulk of housework. At work, they’re definitely the boss-so why aren’t they also the boss with their personal finances? Our client roster includes many highly successful women, most of whom run their own businesses or are top-performing professionals. It may surprise you that high-earning women aren’t in charge of, or at least sharing equally in, household financial decisions, but these findings align with what we see frequently in our wealth and family office practice at Rubach Wealth. An unequal partnership: Why women defer financial decisions to their spouses And more than seven in 10 women say they have neither the interest nor the time to participate in financial discussions. In addition, more than eight in 10 women defer to their spouses because they believe they lack the knowledge. A 2021 survey of high-net-worth individuals by UBS Group, a financial services firm, found that just one in five couples make financial decisions together. But when it comes to our finances, women appear to be less in control. ![]()
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