A Man is not a Financial Plan!
‘A man is not a financial plan.’ Read the bumper sticker in front of me at the traffic light. And yet a lot of women still leave the financial decision making to their husbands or marry to ensure financial security.
On average women earn a lot less than men. They take at least nine years of their working life to raise children lessening the amount they will earn in their lifetime versus the average male. They earn less to begin with and then work fewer years so they also lose out on retirement portfolios having less to retire on and yet women live longer according to statistics.
The current high ratio of divorce and widowhood means that most women are going to be solely responsible for their financial well being for some part of their lives and need to plan for a longer retirement than their male counterparts.
Retirement saving requires regular investment to secure the best return but with the need to draw on retirement funds often being an issue of survival lately, even though first world countries offer safety nets for the unemployed, world wide women need to look at different savings plans.
Whilst it’s important to know that housewives and self-employed women can invest in retirement funds what is more important is anticipating just how much you’ll need to sustain that retirement. Begin with what you can afford.
Most employers offer retirement packages and whilst you may participate in employer plans it is wise to actively participate in a private plan too. Don’t let the money sit in cash because you are too afraid to invest. Get it to earn for you. A single monthly pension scheme will seldom provide sufficient retirement security.
One way of achieving this is via the ever increasingly popular investment clubs. Investments clubs are great if you are new to investing and help you feel more comfortable as you rely on collective knowledge and investment instead of going it alone.
Investment club surveys show that they produce sustained profits and allow you to own a wider range of shares than possible on your own. It also provides you with safely in numbers spreading the risk and providing collective brain power and experience to guide you in your decisions. More importantly the cash outlay is affordable allowing you to build up your portfolio carefully.
Increase what you are currently saving for retirement, even if it’s just by a few pounds or dollars a month – you’ll be surprised at the difference it makes.
Dig out any old policies you may have taken out in earlier years and find out if they have lapsed. If so ask if you can re-kindle them. Policies you had in younger years are often worth adding to and many women have forgotten about the ones they had before they left work to have children. Ask the question, you may be pleasantly surprised.
To retire successfully you need to begin to invest in that retirement now.
“One of the greatest misconceptions about investing is that is takes a lot of money to make a lot of money. That’s simply not true. What it takes is some money and a lot of time. Time is the crucial component of investing..”
Suze Orman: Women & Money
So, my advice? Start today, even if it’s just a few pennies in a jam jar.
Anco van Velsen
Jane van Velsen - The Right Writer
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Ginita Wall
August 28, 2009