Not planning early enough for retirement and neglecting to have three months of expenses saved is something of which both men and women are guilty. In everyone’s defense, it is often challenging to have the time and the perspective to map out our financial lives. Difficult too, is the ability to allocate income to investments when the unexpected job loss occurs. Being prepared for eventualities takes dedication.
While being negligent about securing finances for the future knows no gender-bias, women in particular are vulnerable when it comes to their financial lives. Some aspects are errors on their part, but many are due to elements out of their control.
In an interesting Blackrock Blog article posted in March of 2016: “According to BlackRock’s 2015 Annual Global Investor Pulse Survey of more than 4,000 Americans, women are more likely than men to have no savings or investments, and by some measures, women’s average account balances are dwarfed by men’s.”
Reasons Out of Their Control
- Women live longer
- They tend to become the primary caregivers for others
- Females are typically paid less than their male counterparts
How To Make More Money
In this same article, Blackrock cites: “Women make 79 cents for every dollar made by their male counterparts, and the average full-time working woman loses more than $460,000 over a 40-year period in wages due to wage inequality, corresponding to 12 additional work years.” What else do we know?
- 1. Numbers don’t lie and facts are facts, but are behaviors can make the difference. Women need to assert more confidence when it comes to the criteria of a new job opportunity. It seems that men tend to apply whether or not they fully meet the criteria and women, only if they meet all the requirements. Confidence in their abilities to take on a more robust role in their chosen industry and belief that they can adapt to the needs of the new job’s demands is a quality women must cultivate – if they are looking for higher paying jobs.
- 2. Women are also less likely to request a raise than men – according to Blackrock, it is a 47 percent vs. 60 percent difference.
- 3. Double standards – we’ve heard it all before, but these innate qualities are bottom-line impacting. When promoting oneself, are men considered assertive, but women, aggressive? Is that how women are perceived when they exude the self-assurance it takes to request a raise? Apply for that next level job? Lobby for the promotion and the coveted corner office? If women see their roles as set in stone, then it is not a glass ceiling above them, it is a forcefield of rock.
How Not To Relinquish Control
In more gender-defined tendencies, in Fidelity Investment’s 2015 Retirement Fact Sheet states: “…while couples tend to make the bulk of their day-to-day financial decisions jointly, women are less likely to be the primary decision makers.”
Acquiescing to a spouse or significant other causes the money that fuels their future to be out of their control. Women who are compliant, need to take an interest, get educated on investment plans, and assume an active role in a financial strategy. This empowerment will contribute to more rewarding golden years for women.
The information contained in this article and any other article do not reflect the views of rapid! PayCard®. The opinions, conclusions and other information expressed are neither given nor endorsed by rapid! PayCard® or its representatives, but provided for the sole purpose of presenting updates on current research in this sector