Retirement Considerations for Women, Ep #159

In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, we bring you a special episode of Financial Symmetry. The theme of International Women’s Day this year is #BreakTheBias which is fitting since we find that there are plenty of biases surrounding women and money. 

On this episode, Grace Kvantas, Haley Modlin, and Darian Billingsley join me, Allison Berger, to explore several of these financial biases. You’ll learn how you can break them or how they are simply not true. Listen in to discover how you can accelerate women’s equality by overcoming or breaking through these biases. 

Bias #1 - Women are afraid of investing

This first bias is simply untrue. Actually, women are more likely to take calculated risks than men. Women are also more likely to hold an appropriate amount of investments when compared with their cash savings. 

Men and women are equally fearful at the beginning of their investing journeys. However, since women are more cautious about things that they are unfamiliar with they often become more educated about investing so that they feel more comfortable. 

In the long term, women’s investments often outperform those of men. This could be due to women having more intentionality, self-control, and a higher savings rate than men. Since women are often playing catch up with their investing, they are usually excited to get started. Investment and retirement planning is especially important for women since there are so many preconceived notions that surround women and money. 

Bias #2 - Overcoming compensation bias

On average, women make about $0.84 to a man’s dollar. This is often due to the way compensation is structured. Women often ask for less, negotiate less, or don’t negotiate at all. This means that women have less to contribute to their retirement savings. 

Knowledge is the power to overcome this bias. To improve your salary it is important to understand the average salaries for your area of the country and, specifically, for your field. Use websites like Glassdoor or Salary.com to help you research. Don’t be ashamed to discuss this topic with friends, family, and colleagues to learn more. 

Once you’ve done your research, consider your next salary negotiation. Set a range that works well for you and shoot for the top of that range. Remember that you are selling yourself, so consider the value that you have added to your role. Come up with a list of your accomplishments. Listen in to hear all the tips that this bright group of women brings to the table. With a bit of preparation, you may be pleasantly surprised by your next salary negotiation. 

Bias #3 - Women are big spenders

We’ve all heard this myth perpetuated; however, spending doesn’t have a gender. Either partner in a relationship can be the big spender, but since women are often the ones buying for the family, it can seem like they spend more than men. 

Budgets are an important part of the financial health of any relationship so that both partners understand how much they can safely spend. Typically, one partner is more of a saver and the other is more of a spender, but the ideal is to strike a balance between the two. 

Since women have been shut out of the financial conversation for so long, they often don’t know where to begin the conversation. Here at Financial Symmetry, we encourage both partners to come to the table, even if it takes an extra conversation to understand and address all of the issues or concerns. 

As you approach International Women’s Day, consider whether any of these financial biases have come up in your life. You can research more biases surrounding women by using the hashtag #BreakTheBias. 

Outline of This Episode

• [1:39] Are women really afraid of investing?
• [5:15] Addressing compensation bias
• [9:18] Women are big spenders
• [14:56] The progress principles

Resources & People Mentioned

• Glassdoor
• Salary.com
• #BreakTheBias

Connect with Allison, Grace, Haley, and Darian

• https://www.financialsymmetry.com/podcast-archive/ 
• Connect on Twitter @csmithraleigh @TeamFSINC
• Follow Financial Symmetry on Facebook

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