One area where gender bias isn’t discussed enough is in financial planning. Financial planning for women must be different than for men.
What do women need to know when planning their financial future?
Women work fewer years than men
Even though men are more involved with domestic duties than in previous generations, typically women take time off after childbirth more often than men take paternity leave. When children are young, mothers are more likely than fathers to work part-time or to stop working entirely for a few years.
Women’s pension savings tend to be smaller than men’s, due to fewer and shorter work years. Compound this with the difficulty of advancing in careers due to working part-time or non-consistently, and the result is that many women have less money saved than their male colleagues.
Women live longer
Statistically, women tend to live longer than men, meaning they face more years of needing to support themselves after retirement.
I often see widowed women who are financially illiterate because their doting husbands handled the finances. Unfortunately, this means that these widows are helpless when their husbands pass away, and may not even know what assets they have at their disposal or what to do with them.
Take the reins
If you are working, or even if you are a stay-at-home-mom, make sure to put some money aside into savings. Be involved in your family’s financial decisions, rather than leaving it all up to your spouse. Financial communication and knowledge are essential to a good marriage.
Although gender equality has come a long way, I have found that women, especially elderly women, often have taken a backseat in handling their finances. If you’re nervous about managing your money, call my office (02-624-2788) to find out what options are available to you.
To learn more about financial equality for women, check out this video.
Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, is the Director of Profile Investment Service, Ltd., which specializes in helping people who live in Israel with their US dollar assets and American investment and retirement accounts. He helps olim meet their financial goals through asset allocation, financial planning, and using money managers.
Published January 24, 2017.