• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

PowerSuiting

Career coaching with heart.

  • Career Coaching With Heart
  • How It Works
    • TRANSFORM
    • TRANSFORM DIY
  • About PowerSuiting
    • Contact Me
  • Blog
    • Career
    • Life
  • Client Testimonials

Examining Financial Advice for Women: Do We Need Our Own Rule Book?

November 10, 2018 by Wendy Toth Leave a Comment

Is financial advice for women, specifically, something we need?

financial advice for womenEven though I have a whole support network centered around my life as a working woman: a physical therapist specializing in working moms with postpartum pain; a chiropractor for the same thing; my own mom, who picks up my kids when I have to work late, etc, etc. I hadn’t really considered the specialization, until speaking with Bridget Venus Grimes, CFP, a few weeks back.

I love reading investment articles and books, learning about investors, and consider a Friday night with my Mint dashboard a success. But until I talked to Bridget, I had been considering the whole topic of finance more academically. I’m into the principles of money, and love the occasional case study, but I hadn’t really drilled down into the nuances that she opened my eyes to.

As the founder and president of WealthChoice, a firm focused on helping women turn their professional success into financial success, this is Bridget’s jam. I was almost alarmed when asked if I knew the biggest financial-planning obstacles standing in the way of women— executive-level women specifically. I hadn’t thought about it.

What else to do, but turn the tables? I asked Bridget to familiarize me with the basic financial advice for women that she shares most often.

Financial Risk for Women

PS: What are the distinct financial risks women face, women executives even more so?

BG: There are a host of financial risks women face: longevity; higher health care costs later in life; additional expense when filing as “single” (whether related to divorce or the loss of a spouse) which costs them significantly; They work an average of 12 less years than men due to taking time off during their career for family obligations, which means they have less saved for retirement; they’re often paid less, and more.

Women executives also face the issue of not having professional advocates, which leads to challenges related to getting paid what they’re worth, and getting the roles and promotions they want in their industry. By making less, they leave on average $1 million on the table.

This is often the result of not negotiating pay, not getting raises, not being able to save more, lost growth of portfolio, and working fewer years. Women execs have a confidence gap, which gets in the way of career and business advancement.

They are excluded from critical male networks at their firms and in industry, that are necessary for business and career success.

Financial Planning for Women

PS: Why doesn’t traditional financial planning address these risks, and what unique advice do you have for filling this void?

BG: Traditional financial planning is focused on saving for retirement, for the future. It’s about putting off life now for life later. We need planning to focus on the many competing needs women and women executives have.

Many women execs plan to continue to work in some capacity later into life, and planning needs to focus on this. Planning also should be around how to help a client leverage their business or career, not only from a compensation standpoint, but also from a quality of life standpoint.

And planning really needs to include an emphasis on budgeting. Many make a good amount of money, but have little to show for it. By working with clients on cash flow management, you can help them choose how to allocate money to the goals that are more important to them. Lastly, if we know that women have distinct financial risks, such as longevity, we need planning and investment management to take this into account.

Habits for Financial Planning

PS: What are some of the main practices or habits you recommend that busy women develop around financial planning?

BG: For my clients, budgeting becomes a new habit, along with an awareness around where you spend your money. The sense of empowerment around these financial habits is critical as well here because you can choose where your money goes. I also think engaging with their plan often is important. It’s why we have a one-page document that distills everything they are working on.

They can reach for this during the month to keep themselves on track. We also recommend becoming part of a network of women you resonate with. This provides peer-to-peer mentoring, support, and sharing of best practices. It truly helps fill the voids that our companies and our jobs create. And we encourage all clients to think through, in great detail, what their goals are.

This drives everything we do, so knowing what you want and when, helps create the action steps needed to actually reach those goals.

BRIDGET VENUS GRIMES, CFP® is the founder and president of WealthChoice, a firm focused on helping women turn their professional success into financial success, and author of Corner Office Choices: The Executive Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom. She is also a cofounder of Equita Financial Network, Inc., a network of independent, women-led financial planning firms that share best practices and common goals. As an advisor to top-earning female executives, business owners, and attorneys, Grimes draws on more than a decade of experience to create customized financial solutions that help her clients achieve the life they long for. Based in San Diego, California, she enjoys cooking, entertaining, and spending time on the water in the company of her husband and children. Learn more at www.wealthchoice.com.

Filed Under: Finding Balance Tagged With: finances, interview, system

Reach your full potential.

powered by TinyLetter

Featured Articles

Gifts That Start With A: An A-mazing List!

Gifts that start with A can be handy for everything from a themed “A” party to a white elephant gift exchange with your work friends. The letter A holds special meaning for many people. Giving gifts starting with the letter A is a creative way to show how much you care.  There are tons of […]

11 Positive Psychology Books for Newbies

In this article, we’ll cover: What is Positive Psychology Common Positive Psychology Topics Personal Growth Books Best Books for Positive Psychology Best Books on Positive Psychology The best books for positive psychology are the ones you’ll read! Seriously, this growing field of research is perfect for anyone who wants to live a more fulfilled life […]

Spotting Hammerhead Sharks in the Galapagos

I have a glamorous travel journalist friend who once let me tag along with her on assignment to the Galapagos Islands. This was before marriage. Before kids. Before having more than a couple of employees. I was always game for such adventures. Fast forward to now. I’m reading a “Magic School Bus” book about the […]

Why 90% of Us Hate Networking, and What the 10% Know

When you boil it down, networking is having relationships. Having friends. Then why does the very concept make most of us FEEL uncomfortable? So icky. Are you cringing a little, right now, just thinking about it? For this, you can thank your Social Survival Mammoth. This guy kept popping up, relentlessly, in my mind while […]

How to Romance Your Career

Anyone who claims they aren’t emotional about work is lying. Rather than ignore it, romance your career! It will love you back with the things you want.

how to hold people accountable

The Magic Email: How to Hold People Accountable

The Magic Email from the book Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss, really works. About the book itself: An ex-FBI international kidnapping negotiator opens each chapter with a crazy-but-true hostage negotiation story. Then he takes whatever tactic was used and applies it to regular life. You […]

how to care less about work

How to Care Less About Work (and Why)

“How to Care Less About Work (and Why)” is an eye-opening guest post from Corrie Shanahan, the author of Do it, Mean it, Be it. The Keys to Achieve Success, Happiness and Everything You Deserve at Work and in Life (Career Press).  I was speaking recently at a large financial institution that operates in Latin […]

shirts in closet

How to Build an Emergency Outfit that Will Work in Any Situation

Yes, this post describes how to easily build an emergency outfit, but I thought about calling it “Never make your family late again.” Or “Never nag your family about WHAT TIME WE HAVE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE for four hours, and then make them late… again.” In it, you’ll find a quick system I use to […]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

About PowerSuiting I’m Wendy, a long-time journalist and career coach. I started PowerSuiting to help other creative women get ahead, without giving up who they are. Wondering if I can support you in a career transition? Book a FREE call with me.

Win a FREE Career Coaching Course!

Transform DIY

Get a fresh career development tip (it’ll be fun, I promise) each month

AND

Be entered to win TRANSFORM DIY for FREE!

powered by TinyLetter

*One winner is chosen quarterly.

Topics

accessorize anxiety be helpful books career closet cleanout essay finances gifts humor interview makeup quotes shopping system What's Your Power Suit?

I’d love to connect with you!

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in