This article is the latest part of the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign
The pandemic has transformed our relationship with money, nudging millions of people around the world to think about their safety net, examine their spending and start investing to fund long-term financial goals.
Yet as we approach International Women’s Day on March 8, the narrative about women and money remains deeply depressing .
The gender pay gap has widened; our pensions tend to be puny; we live for longer, spend more of our lives caring for others and all of this negatively affects our finances .
Now the cost of living crisis is adding to our woes, with inflation eating away at cash savings while volatility returns to global stock markets.
As someone who has been writing about finance for more than 20 years, I worry that focusing on the negatives is a further barrier to engagement. If the financial odds are so stacked against women, should we even bother?
In the spirit of the 2022 theme “Break the bias” , I want to present some inspirational ideas about money that could shift your mindset. In the seven areas below, hopefully there’s a practical takeaway that women everywhere can act on.
Thanks to the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign , this article is free to read and share — so if you’re inspired by the expert suggestions below, please pass them on — and feel free to add your own in the comment field below. 1. What financial independence feels like
For all the negativity surrounding women’s finances, I wish we could bottle the biggest positive — the feeling that financial independence gives you.
I would define this as moving from feeling overwhelmed by money to feeling more in control; making your own decisions, setting financial priorities; and developing effective habits like budgeting to help you achieve your goals.
“The problem is, traditional goals set by older generations [like buying a home] are not affordable for us,” say Margot and Alexia de Broglie, the 20-something co-founders of Your Juno , a new financial education app for Gen-Z women. Donate to the Financial Literacy & Inclusion Campaign here For the app’s users, financial independence is about “having freedom over your time”. The topics younger women most want to learn about are investing , negotiating a pay rise , becoming a freelancer and starting a business — and they want to learn from each other’s experiences.
“The element of community is so incredibly empowering,” says Alexia. “So often, money is a source of shame and stress, when it should be a source of freedom, empowerment and security.”
During the pandemic, many more of us shared our financial fears and experiences online. From Reddit threads to “FinTok” and social media “finfluencers”, women can recognise themselves, finding role models that the traditional financial world fails to offer.
While these personal interactions cannot replace regulated financial advice, real-life stories remind us that nobody is perfect. Knowing that others are experiencing the same challenges can be a source of strength and inspiration, as the huge growth of the online debt-free community has shown. It is also a reminder that we shouldn’t confuse financial independence with financial privilege.
Lynn Beattie, who blogs as Mrs Moneypenny, started a viral thread on Twitter last month [February] called “Can we all be a bit more honest about how we paid for our first homes?”
Viewed by over 2mn people, her tweet prompted thousands to confess they had only achieved this milestone by coming into an inheritance, receiving gifts or loans from their parents, or having a higher earning partner — as opposed to cancelling Netflix and their gym membership. 2. More women are investing — and so can you
During the pandemic, investment platforms and trading apps reported a new wave of female customers. Getting started is the easy part. As markets turn choppy, thinking about your investment strategy and understanding how tax breaks can boost your investments can help newer investors hang on for the ride.
“We spend so much time working hard earning the money, but not enough nurturing our wealth,” says Charlotte Ransom, founder of Netwealth. “For me, the challenge is all about getting people closer to their money.”
Unusually for a wealth manager, half of Netwealth’s clients are female. “Women tend to have much higher cash holdings [than men], so rising inflation is going to hit them harder,” she says. She is convinced that one reason women tend to hold so much cash is because “they find it harder to engage with the personal […]
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