Let's Talk Money

We're not talking about money enough!

Here are a few quick facts about women and money from ElleVest:

We’re punished financially for having children: Women see wages drop after having a child, men do not: Mothers on average are paid 71 cents to every dollar paid to fathers”

We have incredible value as leaders: Companies with more women in executive leadership are more profitable.

We’re left behind when it comes to money management: A survey by investing app Moneybox, last year, revealed that seven out of 10 millennial women say they have never been taught to manage money.

One of the hot topics when it comes to gender inequality in the last few years has been the massive pay disparity across almost every sector when it comes to men and women, and this disparity only worsens when you factor in race. Beyond that, I think it’s important for every woman and young lady to examine their relationship with money. Much like your friendships and romantic relationships, the way you treat money is heavily dependent on how you were raised to see money; I’ll leave it to you to determine whether that was good or bad and the correlation with how you treat money now. However, if you were not involved in conversations about money growing up, or perhaps you grew up in a situation where you struggled with money, and rent day always caused issues, then the thought of facing your own finances, might fill you with dread and anxiety as an adult, understandably.

Our experiences outside of family life also shape how we feel about money, as a teenager living alone in a different country, I had to learn very quickly how to budget and survive on a limited amount of money. As an adult, conversation with my friends and colleagues about salary and pay raises has been crucial to making sure that I and the women who come after me are paid fairly and that we continue to set a trend for salary transparency in our industry going forward.

It’s especially important to remember that the way we handle our finances means different things to different people. Some people may want to clear their credit card debt or student loans; for others, it means reaching a certain saving goal or even saving up for a good holiday. Whatever your goal is, I’m pleased to say that there are apps and strategies and words of advice from other women who have gone through this. You can achieve your financial goals too.

Please remember that even the experts amongst us struggle with getting their finances together, so please be forgiving to yourself! I remember reading an article where a top financial journalist – who is a woman, confessed that she had lost her savings despite knowing the ins and outs of Wall Street and was currently swimming in debt because she just hadn’t dealt with her personal relationship with money.

My final point about money is that you should not deprive yourself of your needs or wants; should we be careful, sensible and reasonable, yes? Will we always be all of these things? Absolutely not! Some of us have an affinity with items that aren’t always within our tax bracket or that have a price tag that would be better saved or invested. If you want that perfume or want to take that trip, sometimes it’s fine to spend it, you can save again next month! Being financially independent doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself of the good things of life. Be kind to yourself even when you fall short.

Ultimately, let’s not shy away from having these important conversations about money as women; it’s a great place to start!