It is often said that women are natural multi-taskers, though I sometimes struggle. But did you know that we outrank the opposite sex when it comes to juggling multiple savings goals?
Women are also reportedly better than men at keeping track of their finances, with new research revealing they are more likely to say they “keep a close eye on their expenses”.
A lot of women who are in relationships are joint financial decision makers, though many still have a worrying tendency to delegate money-related matters to the senior male in their home.
Women are generally very good at budgeting and running the household, but when it comes to putting money aside for themselves they often put other priorities first.
There is nothing wrong with managing day-to-day expenses with your family or partner, but women should be taking greater control of their finances so they can plan and provide for their own comfortable retirement.
The fact that many women give their superannuation plans very little thought is concerning, especially when considering the gender wage gap and other financial disadvantages we face in our careers.
Women currently retire with around half the savings of men and as we tend to live longer than men on average, we need to pay greater attention to our personal wealth.
Women often find investment decisions more stressful and difficult to handle due to low confidence and lack of financial knowledge. This goes back to old cultural habits.
It also happens to be a bit boring so a lot of women find it uninteresting to discuss and learn about financial matters. This highlights a need for people such as myself to develop ways to educate without being boring and build plans that are tailored to each individual’s circumstance.
Getting through life whilst building for retirement is difficult, but simple things like having a safety net for unexpected health expenses, making extra loan repayments, making extra contributions to super or checking the performance of your current super fund can make a big difference. Don’t put everyone else first, your long term happiness matters.
This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice which does not take into consideration any of your personal circumstance. All strategies and information provided in this article is general advice only.
Ritchie Advice Pty Ltd ABN 12 150 128 448, is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Dover Financial Advisers Pty Ltd, Australian Financial Services Licensee No. 307248.
