This episode kicks off a special four-part series on women and wealth! Click Here to register for the webinar and Click here to download the workbook!

In this series, we are going to talk about the financial power of women and also the unique challenges that women face in retirement planning; Challenges that men often don’t face or don’t face as often as women do.

We’re going to start today talking about some good news and some not so good news that women face during retirement and then as the series progresses we’re going to Get into some actual planning techniques that I think are going to help.

By the way, this podcast can be interactive if you like. We can send you a downloadable workbook with some fantastic information and empty spaces in this workbook that you can follow along and go back to listen to this series again.

If you are interested in downloading that workbook, we will put a link in the show notes that you can simply click and download or send us a quick email to info@mfswealth.com

Our main goal here is to teach women how to live rich and that does not necessarily mean money it means living a life in alignment with your values.

(1:30) Practical planning segment:

I mentioned in the opening segment that our goal here is to teach women how to live rich and that doesn’t necessarily mean money, it means living life in alignment with your values. However, we need money to have a great retirement, and one way we express our values IS through the use of money. We still need income!

So really, we have two goals in this series: #1 how do we identify the values that are most important to us and then live our life and alignment with those values. That is where true Peace of Mind and happiness comes from and #2 how do we develop an income that is going to sustain in the face of inflation, market turmoil, tax changes to last our lifetime.

By the way, that second goal has a lot of that has to do with getting organized and we are going to help you with that task in this series as well. In this episode, I want to set the stage of what women face in retirement that is different than men or can be quite different than that.

By the way, much of this information is derived from David Bach’s bestselling book “smart women finish rich.” This book has sold over 1,000,000 copies and Has spent over a decade on the bestseller list.

Some of you may recognize that name. It was turned into a PBS special that ran for years. So, I recommend if you get a chance to pick up that book it’s a great read.

(5:30) Let’s start today laying out some good news regarding women and money. There is a lot of GOOD (actually great) news about women’s accomplishments and financial success. Let’s take just a couple of minutes to look at some facts. ​

• The biggest FACT is this: YOU ARE AN ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE. ​

​

Think back to the year 1975. This was the height of Gloria Steinem and women’s liberation. Take a guess at the number of women-owned businesses in 1975. I’ll give you a clue; it’s a six-figure number. It’s 400,000.  Now, women own 10 million businesses with combined revenue of over $1.4 trillion and employ over 9 million people. They are the entrepreneurs of America today.  ​

• Women control over 40% of households with assets over $600,000​.
• 83% of purchasing decisions are controlled by women
• Women over the age of 50 have a combined net worth of $14 trillion​.
• Women are the primary breadwinner in 40% of families​.
• Women make up 48% of millionaires in America today​.
• Women are graduating from college at a rate faster than men in both undergraduate and graduate school.
• Women are about to inherit the bulk of what is expected to be $30 trillion in wealth transfers in the next 20 years. ​

So even with all this good news for women, financial planning is still more important for women than men, why? Because Women live longer! Here is a sobering statistic: The reality is that 80% of men die married. 80% of women die single.

This is why it’s so important to start developing a plan and get organized. Because if you do outlive your spouse then it’s all on you. You’re left holding the bag.

(10:30) So that brings us to some of the not so good news.

• Bear with me while I share some statistics with you. ​
• You need to know that on average women live five years longer than men.  The average age of widowhood is 59!
• It’s probably not much of a surprise to you that nearly half of marriages end in divorce, but you should know that women are typically left more financially challenged in divorce than men.  One of the key reasons (which we’ll solve today for you), is if you don’t know where all the money is when you’re married, and you get divorced, you don’t get your rightful share.  ​
• Women are also out of the labor force an average of 11 and a half years for child-rearing, which means lost wages, but also means less going into Social Security and pension plans.  ​
• A big new burden for women is the financial burden of parents on the daughter.  We don’t know why this is, but typically it’s the daughter, not the son, who is taking care of mom and dad.
• Lastly, I hate to even point this out, but if you’re married and your husband falls ill, many couples go through the retirement savings on the medical costs associated with supporting the husband.​
• Okay, so that hurt a bit, right?  But it’s important to know what we’re up against. From here on out, we are going to focus on what you can do about these things and show you ways to avoid these bad situations, so you are empowered by your money and your retirement.

So that kind of sets the stage for upcoming episodes where we are going to talk about identifying your values and what’s important to you in retirement and life. We’re going to understand where our income is going to come from in retirement. And we’re going to explain how to get organized.

(18:00) I want you to sign up for our next smart women smart retirement webinar. Click Here to register for the webinar and Click here to download the workbook! This is a webinar format that we will have scheduled times. And if you happen to miss you can always click the replay link. But don’t forget to request your copy of the workbook before participating!

Final Disclaimer:

“We appreciate you joining us today for this episode of The Fiscal Blueprint.

Fiduciary Disclaimer

Remember it’s not about the money but your life!

Having a mindset and living a life of abundance rather than scarcity will change the direction of your life forever!! Enjoy the Journey!!!

“Opinions voiced in this recording are for general information only and not intended to offer specific advice or recommendations to any individual. All performance references are historical and no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and not available for direct investment.”

• SOURCES: ​
• Women 10 million women-owned businesses:  https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/advocacy/Womens-Business-Ownership-in-the-US.pdf​
• 40% of households over $600,000 are controlled by women: http://shurwest.com/2017/03/14/financial-facts-womens-history-month/​
• 83% of purchasing decisions controlled by women: http://www.genderleadershipgroup.com/the-inclusionary-leadership-blog/210​
• Women over 50+have combined net worth of $19 trillion: https://www.bmo.com/privatebank/pdf/Q1-2015-Wealth-Institute-Report-Financial-Concerns-of-Women.pdf
• Primary wage earner in 40% of families: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/business/economy/women-as-family-breadwinner-on-the-rise-study-says.html​
• 48% of millionaires are women: https://www.buildbeyond.com/cornerstone-insights/women-wealth-and-investing/​
• Source: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/americans-financially-unprepared-for-divorce-widowhood-1011393397 Accessed Aug. 25, 2018
• Source: https://www.fa-mag.com/news/serving-widowed-clients-whatever-their-age-14829.html. Accessed July 9, 2018.
• Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-single/201702/what-is-the-divorce-rate-really. Accessed July 9, 2018.
• Source: http://shurwest.com/2017/03/14/financial-facts-womens-history-month/. Accessed Aug. 2, 2018.
• Source: Family Caregiver Alliance. “Caregiver Statistics: Work and Caregiving.” https://www.caregiver.org/caregiver-statistics-work-and-caregiving Accessed Aug. 25, 2018
• Women are graduating at a rate faster than men: https://collegepuzzle.stanford.edu/tag/women-exceed-men-in-college-graduation/​
• Women will inherit 70% of wealth $30 trillion wealth transfer: https://www.financialpoise.com/30-trillion-wealth-transfer-most-advisors-miss-this-critical-step/
• 80% of men die married, 80% of women die single: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-something-young-married-women-should-pay-attention-to-2017-04-28