Yesterday was International Women’s Day — join us by reviewing the first and second articles of our 3-part series on Clarity and Investing in Yourself during Women’s History Month and beyond.
Hewins created the Invest in Yourself Luncheon series last year to help educate women on key fiscal and personal strategies that can add great value to their lives. This event also serves as a helpful forum and place of support for women to connect with others from a professional and personal perspective.
The focus for my 3-part blog is Clarity. How can you achieve Clarity? In part 2 of my blog, we were looking at the importance of looking at finances from a different perspective and making wise decisions.
It is important that you are prepared for the future and have an investment plan and philosophy in place. Many times people put it off for fear of the unknown or fear of their own mortality.
“Things do not change; we change.”
Henry David Thoreau, writer and philosopher
I find the above quote compelling in that the inevitable will happen. We will get older, retire and eventually pass away. It is up to us to take the first step to ensure we have Clarity and put a financial plan in place: to ensure we take care of ourselves and our families.
Let’s look at some statistics from a study done by Ameriprise Financial and Harris Interactive on retirement planning and how women tend to think differently:
- Only 22 percent of Americans report confidence in reaching their retirement goals. Men are significantly more likely than women to express this confidence, 25 percent vs. 19 percent.
- Fifty-four percent of men reported setting aside money in their own investments, such as stocks and IRAs, compared to 46 percent of women who say they have done the same.
- Men are also more likely than women to report that they’ve determined the amount of income they’ll need in retirement, at a ratio of 31 percent to 20 percent.
- Men are significantly more likely than women to say they feel on track for retirement (41 percent compared to 34 percent) and express confidence in their overall financial future (22 percent compared to 16 percent). 1
Listed above are numerous statistics on retirement planning, and the differences between genders. It is startling to think that only 16% of the women participating in the study have confidence in their overall financial future! We work too hard not to ensure we will be provided for in our future. Take the first step and start assessing what you’d like to accomplish. You can start by asking yourself these simple questions in relation to your finances:
Where have I been? How did I get there? Where do I want to go?
You should also consider working with a Financial Advisor. A Financial Advisor can help you to visualize what you want and how to best aim towards achieving it; the Clarity of walking down a guided path, working together in Partnership, and providing Awareness into what the future may hold.
“The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.”
Sri Ramakrishna, famous mystic of 19th century India.
This is just the beginning of our journey together. It’s time for you to raise your sail, start your journey and adjust accordingly. We started with Clarity and will continue our journey with Partnership and Awareness. Stay tuned & Invest in Yourself!
