Kendal-based Moore Wealth has put together some key financial tips aimed specifically at women this week to mark ‘International Women’s Day’ on Monday 8th March.
Director, Joanne Moore (pictured), is one of only a handful of people invited onto the St. James’s Place Wealth Management ‘Advising Women Committee’ – a forum created to look at the way financial advice is delivered to women to encourage greater engagement in their financial planning.
Make your job work for you
Did you know there are more than *250 million female entrepreneurs around the world and growing? *One in every three small businesses are owned by women, which isn’t necessarily surprising as many women choose self-employment to give them more flexibility around home and family life. But this is also an area of concern as many self-employed women don’t have suitable retirement planning in place. If you’ve taken the bold step to be your own boss, you need to be just as bold and proactive about planning to enjoy your retirement. *WEALTHiHER ‘The Changing Faces of Women’s Wealth. Oct 2020.’
Financial disparity – the elephant in the room
According to The Institute of Fiscal Studies 2020, women work 156 more hours a month than men, in support and care of the family and household. That’s approximately five hours more every single day. It shouldn’t fall on one person’s shoulders to do everything at home just like it shouldn’t fall on one person to manage the finances and plan for retirement. Even if you’re not the main breadwinner, it is still hugely important that financial wealth – much like chores – can be shared within a household. A financial adviser will make sure your joint finances are in proportion to make your money work equally.
Are women more likely to embrace risk?
We wouldn’t want to start a battle of the sexes but is there perhaps an argument that women are better at making investment decisions? Our experience at Moore Wealth is that women aren’t necessarily averse to risk when it comes to making investment decisions. They want to consume as much information as possible to really understand their finances, believing the more they understand, the lower the overall risk feels. That’s why its so important to seek out help and advice from a financial expert who will cut out the jargon and explain investments and trusts in plain English.
Don’t undervalue yourself
According to the ‘The Changing Faces of Women’s Wealth’, report by the WEALTHiHER network (Oct 2020: 1,200 responses), 75% of UK women have ‘average’ or ‘below average’ self-esteem – a figure that’s actually up 5% on 2019. This undervaluing of ourselves inevitably carries over to our finances and underestimating our wealth. Remember, you don’t need to have a big bank balance to have financial wealth. You might have gone from renting to owning your own house – that’s financial wealth – and you’ve worked hard for it. Our job as financial advisers is to make clients feel and understand their own self-worth.
Focus on your financial wellbeing
Lots of things are out of our control in the world right now but your finances don’t have to be one of them. Don’t let money worries take over your daily thoughts. If you don’t take control, your productivity will suffer at work and your health – mental and physical – will suffer at home. Start simple by creating a list of your monthly outgoings and don’t forget to add small costs like after-school club fees or school meals. These all add up and need to be paid from some little pot of money…and usually it’s Mum that funds these additional costs.
Coping with milestone events
“Women are experiencing a double emergency – economically and as they shoulder the brunt of caring responsibilities.” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary General & Executive Director of UN Women. As we are all living longer, many of us will get to a point in life where we’ve never found ourselves before. We’re thrown in at the deep end and expected to make huge, milestone decisions that affect other people such as looking after extended family or working out how to get the best long-term care for them. That pressure alone is immense before you add the financial burden of estate planning and complex tax implications during what is already a vulnerable time. Think about speaking to a financial expert to help prepare for future milestone events before they arise.
To receive a complimentary guide covering wealth management, retirement planning or Inheritance Tax planning, contact Joanne Moore of Moore Wealth Limited on 01539 756222 or email joanne.moore@sjpp.co.uk
