It has been almost 60 years since women started taking charge of their finances, but in that time women have not become as independent and confident when it comes to managing their money as they should be.
As recent studies show, Canadian women are 10 per cent less likely to invest in stocks than men and are seven per cent less able to distinguish between a risky and secure investment. Globally fewer women than men feel comfortable seeking financial advice and are therefore less likely to get a second opinion on their finances.
These statistics, taken from the Angus Reid Public Opinion poll in January, TNS Finance’s Personal Risk Assessment and Risk Literacy Survey released this February and a survey of 12,000 women worldwide published by the Harvard Business Review in August, show a worrying trend among women.
While much has been made about women’s increased ability to buy products and shatter corporate glass ceilings, it is evident from the results of these studies that most women have not taken control of their financial future.
In results released in 2008, Statistics Canada projected women would continue to outlive men by an average of five years. This means that women should plan better for retirement and not leave it to their spouses, experts say.
Unfortunately, because of the traditional role women have played as homemakers and dependents, women tend not to have a firm grasp on the family’s finances and are often left bewildered by their financial situation should they find themselves widowed or divorced.
This was the topic of American finance guru Suze Orman’s 2007 book Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny.
In the book, Orman writes about the plight of women who have found themselves destitute after taking a back seat to their husbands in tracking the family finances. She implores women to get a better understanding of household spending, have their own bank accounts and to save in case of an emergency. These suggestions may sound simple, but it is astonishing how few women actually follow them.
Orman’s book is just one example of the vast array of financial knowledge available to women. Closer to home, Canadian finance expert Gail Vaz-Oxlade has also written about women and finance in her book A Woman of Independent Means.
There are more and more sites available online that provide financial advice to women. There are also blogs such as, Fabulously Broke in the City, devoted entirely to personal finance, which track the financial decisions of individual bloggers.
For women who want to receive advice face-to-face, most banks offer personal finance consultants that customers can talk to about mutual funds, GICs, RRSPs and other money issues.
In Ottawa, there is the Ottawa Women’s Credit Union in Centretown, which is run by women and offers services specifically catered to women. Elaine File, loan manager at the credit union says she often sees women who are digging out of financial problems after a divorce and need support from people who can understand their unique needs.
There is also the Ottawa Women’s Business Network that caters to the needs of women in industry and provides workshops on financial issues of interest to women.
With all the help now available for women there should be no excuses for not taking control of their finances.