According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2010 marked the first time in U. S. history that women comprised more than half (50.3 percent) of the workforce. Fifty-seven percent of all current college students are women, according to the American Council on Education. Thirty-eight percent of all working wives earn as much or more than their husbands, as of the 2009 Shriver Report. Nearly 16 percent of wives are the sole family breadwinners. Meanwhile, women continue to do the bulk of the housework (97 minutes per day for married women, versus 29 minutes per day for married men, according to a 2009 study by Vanderbilt University). Despite these employment trends, women still make
roughly 80 percent of what men do for the same work. Com- plicating the situation, when it comes to making financial deci- sions, many females still tend to be fearful, naïve and disem- powered, according to financial health guru Suze Orman. “Women have been thrust into an entirely new relation- ship with money that is profoundly different than anything we have ever encountered before… Yet when it comes to navigating the financial ramifications of this new world, they are using old maps that don’t get them where they want to go,” writes Or-
man, in Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny.
Orman notes that only 12 percent of women feel confident about retirement and many continue to either leave their financial decisions in the hands of a male or ignore them altogether. This may be due to feeling embarrassed about their lack of knowledge, or a sheer lack of time. New female graduates are facing a brutal job market;
many laid-off women find themselves in a mid-career job search and widows and divorceés are facing retirement with a smaller-than-expected nest egg. All these women want to know, “How can I confidently embrace my new role in the evolving economy in a way that leads to financial indepen- dence?”
First Steps to Solvency
Understand the Underlying Emotions
Few heard in high school economics class that our relationship with money is intricately intertwined with emotion, comments
Julie Murphy Casserly, a Chicago-based certified financial plan- ner. Some of us are spenders, whipping out the credit card at the mall to ease some inner pain. Some are givers, picking up the tab at group events in an effort to feed a need to be liked. Others—perhaps those who grew up in poverty—are hoarders, holding on so tightly to their money that they cease to enjoy it or make it grow via sound investments. Recognizing which type we are, and when our emotions are sabotaging good financial decisions, is an important first step to attracting wealth. A tip for spenders and givers, who both tend to end up carrying debt, is to cut up credit cards and start using cash. “There is no emotional connection with sliding a debit or credit card, but when you physically hand over $200 in cash, you feel that,” says Casserly.
Create a Life Map
With her Dunkin’ Donuts job behind her and a blank slate ahead, Smith took a serious self-inventory. When she conclud- ed that she wanted to work with animals, she called a kennel and agreed to groom dogs a few hours each day in exchange for an education in dog training. Within a few years, she owned a lucrative dog training and boarding business. “Our lives are the stories we narrate for ourselves,” she
says. “If we don’t like the story our life has become, we can tell our self a better one… and act on it.” Smith recommends making a “Treasure Map to a Rich Life” out of poster board as a visual reminder of what’s important to us (e.g., travel, fam- ily, a career in a spe- cific field). When life circumstances derail those aspirations, which often hap- pens, we can take a reminder peek. Say our
For the first time, half of all U.S. workers are women, and that changes everything. Not just for women, but also for spouses, families, bosses, coworkers and
society. ~ The Shriver Report
leading aspiration is getting out of debt. Imagine what the day would look, feel and taste like absent that nagging credit card bill. Would we start saving for a son or daughter to go to col- lege or quit that second job? Write it all down and post the in- tention in full view. “Surround yourself with all the things you
May 2010
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