Tag Archives: women financially

Krawcheck Bolsters Women on Finance and Investing

Leave a reply

In her best-seller, Own It:  The Power of Women at Work (New York:  Crown, 2017), author Sallie Krawcheck directly addresses The Best Career Advice No One Is Talking About in Chapter 9.  If you missed my synopsis of that book, it is available to you at 15MinuteBusinessBooks.com.

Here are some of the key points she makes for women about money, finance, and investments:

(1)  Invest money, rather than holding it in cash

“Women report that money is their number one source of stress, and so we avoid dealing with it….In fact, the stress is so significant that research shows it can cost us two weeks of productivity annually at work.,  Even more money left on the table!” (p. 127).

“Just as we can take control over our career in the workplace by giving ourselves permission to play the success game our way, so, too, can we take control of our money by giving ourselves permission to approach investing our way” (p. 131).

(2) Myths: (pp. 132-134)

  1. Women are not ‘as good at math’ – and mathlike things – as men.
  2. Women need more financial education to invest.
  3. Men are better investors than women.
  4. Women are too risk averse to invest.
  5. Women need more hand holding to invest.
  6. Women just aren’t that interested in investing.

(3) Financial mistakes women make (pp. 135-137)

  1. Letting your husband or partner manage the money without your involvement.
  2. Signing your joint income tax return without reading it.
  3. Using your husband’s or partner’s financial provider, even if you don’t know or can’t stand him.
  4. Not asking for jargon to be explained.
  5. Not taking into account your greater longevity in your investing plan.
  6. Not buying long-term care insurance.
  7. Not taking enough smart investing risks.
  8. Waiting until a less risky time to invest…or procrastinating.

(4) The basics: (pp. 137-139)

  1. Pay of your high interest debt, such as credit card debt.
  2. Make sure you have an emergency fund in place.
  3. Once the emergency fund is built, save. Save as much as you can.  The guideline that has been shown to work best is to save 20 percent of your salary.
  4. Invest.
  5. Target saving 11 to 15 times your salary for retirement.
  6. Buy insurance.
  7. Put together a will.
  8. Don’t just hope for – plan for – the things you want in life.