Elise Ryan is an Authorised Representative, GWM Adviser Services Limited, Australian Financial Services Licensee
I was reading an article entitled ‘More women will end up alone and managing their own money’ by Georgina Dent in The Age¹ and was astounded at the lack of confidence women have in their abilities.
It really struck a cord with me and I was trying to work out why and I think a quote from the article summed it up quite nicely
“women not only underestimate their own capabilities but they overestimate what is required to be financially involved.”
You shouldn’t need a man or spouse to provide you with a sense of financial security, your knowledge and understanding of your finances should be all the security you need. It can be as simple as understanding where your money is going and track your expenditures, it isn’t even hard these days you can do it on an app on your phone.
It is common in a relationship for one person to take the lead with the finances, like with a lot of household tasks. However, you are a partnership and should have an understanding of what is going on and not just leave it up to the other person so there are no surprises as to your financial position.
It is interesting that this trend is not changing with millennials, with the greater focus on women’s independence there is no trend in women stepping up and taking control of the finances, they are behaving quite primitively.
My experience from growing up is that the overall finances was a team effort. My Mum did the grunt work of paying the bills and banking but both Mum and Dad together with their Financial Advisor would look at the strategic side of things.
My relationship with my Fiancé is no different. James is happy for me to look after the day to day but he wants to be involved with the long term strategic planning.
Women should be paying more attention. We live longer, tend to have more gaps in employment and average lower pay throughout our careers.
This means that at some point in time we will need to be the ones in control and making the decisions.
Don’t know where to start, book an appointment with a Financial Advisor, find someone you can trust and identify with. They should help educate you and not make you feel dumb or silly for asking questions. Worrying about how much advice will cost or thinking that you don’t have enough money shouldn’t be a barrier for booking an appointment.
¹ The Age 17/06/2018, More women will end up alone and managing their own money, Georgina Dent.
Any advice in this publication is of a general nature only and has not been tailored to your personal circumstances. Please seek personal advice prior to acting on this information. The information in this document reflects our understanding of existing legislation, proposed legislation, rulings etc as at the date of issue. In some cases the information has been provided to us by third parties. While it is believed the information is accurate and reliable, this is not guaranteed in any way. Opinions constitute our judgement at the time of issue and are subject to change. Neither, the Licensee or any of the National Australia group of companies, nor their employees or directors give any warranty of accuracy, nor accept any responsibility for errors or omissions in this document. Before making a decision to acquire a financial product, you should obtain and read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) relating to that product. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. The information in this document reflects our understanding of existing legislation, proposed legislation, rulings etc as at the date of issue. In some cases the information has been provided to us by third parties. While it is believed the information is accurate and reliable, this is not guaranteed in any way
Share on social media
by 
