If you walked into the average bookstore, you'd think that women rule the roost when it comes to personal finance. From Suze Orman's now-classic Women and Money to the more recent (and more colorfully titled) Bitches on a Budget, there's no shortage of do-it-yourself financial advice tailored to women.
Apparently, though, when women make the momentous move from self-help to seeking professional advice about investing and retirement, things go rapidly downhill. A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group revealed that women perceived themselves as receiving wealth management services at a level of quality that is inferior to that received by their male counterparts.
According to the study, women are the key decision-makers when it comes to 27% of the wealth worldwide: that's $20 trillion! But despite the massive chunk of power they wield, 55% of the women surveyed in the study said they felt their wealth manager could do a better job of advising them. Almost a quarter of the respondents said private banks needed "significant improvement" in the services they offer to women.
"The dissatisfaction stems from the unshakable perception that men get more attention, better advice, and sometimes even better terms and deals," according to study co-author Peter Damisch. "We heard this sense of subordination time and time again in our interviews."
This perceived disparity in service arose from several key disconnects in the relationships and communications between women and their financial advisers. Manisha Thakor, Chartered Financial Analyst and women's financial literacy advocate, offers some steps savvy female investors can take to avoid being under-served by their wealth managers and investment advisers:
1. Find your adviser and get your financial education from women-run resources.
The financial services industry is dominated by males and therefore the "DNA is structured around the male experience," Thakor explains, adding that she sees many firms making an effort to change this. Most financial advisers are men, who may not inherently understand the whole-life nature of the average woman's financial plans and needs. They also may have very different communication styles than their women clients.
Thakor recommends women use women-created resources like LearnVest and DailyWorth to educate themselves in order to avoid the intimidation factor when talking about investment products with their advisers. She also encourages women to consult Garrett Planning Network, founded by Certified Financial Planner Sheryl Garrett, to locate a local certified financial planner who works on an hourly-fee-only basis. Taking these steps, Thakor explains, may alleviate the concern expressed by many women in the BCG study that they were not being taken seriously or talked to on the same level as male clients by their financial advisers.
2. Expressly state your ideal career trajectory, then ask how you should alter your investment plans accordingly.
In the BCG study, women stated that their investment advisers fundamentally misunderstood what was actually important to them, and recommended a too-narrow range of inappropriate investment vehicles as a result. Many said their advisers assumed they had a lower risk tolerance than they actually did, or that their advisers focused on short-term results and disregarded their long-term goals, which often included time out to care for a child or parent.
Thakor offers women a script of sorts to remedy this communication disconnect. "Go in and say: "I want to be a mom and I may take X amount of time out of the work force," she advises. Then ask, "How do we adjust how much I need to save and how I should invest to compensate for this?"
3. Start saving early.
It's almost impossible to have good saving habits without first having good spending habits. That's the problem that Burning Money, a new program from FoolProof aimed at teens, hopes to solve. Like the rest of the FoolProof series, Burning Money is an engaging series of real life issues that teens face, challenging them to complete a spending journal that will help them identify poor spending habits.
The free program is designed to be used in classrooms by teachers tasked with teaching personal finance, but Burning Money can also teach adults a thing or two about being a better spender – so that you can be a better saver. The program is distributed nationwide through credit unions and provides teachers with free tools and resources to teach students about personal finance in a real world manner.
Here's a look at one of the videos you'll find in Burning Money that helps teens understand how spending smarter translates into having more fun and doing more with their money.
As students work through Burning Money they'll be introduced to potential ways that they will "burn money" while making bad decisions that can come back to hurt them later in life. In the first section students get a first hand look at how late payments can hurt their credit score and what that means when they want to buy a job, get an apartment and more.
The program quickly jumps off into a reality game which tasks students with living on their own for one month complete with budgeting, writing checks and buying a car. The program walks students through the decisions and provides tips about how to write a check correctly as well as showing them the affect of their decisions on their bank account.
The first lesson students learn is that their car payment is $15 more a month because they have a bad credit score -- and so is their insurance premium; all because they didn't pay their bills on time. At the end of just the first month students are shown how their credit score, combined with some bad decisions have already cost them over $2,000 for the year in higher payments.
Since it's not just the big items that go into making smart spending decisions students will also face everyday choices like buying new jeans, that can be a money burning experience. The video below shows one way that Burning Money uses humor and video to get the point across.
FoolProof continues to be one of the most engaging and honest methods for teaching teens about money and best of all it is completely free. For the past several years we have seen a focus on preparing our kids for the new economy and as a college professor who speaks to graduates about personal finance the importance of learning good money habits early is illustrated to me every year.
I've seen everything from a student who had already been sent to collections numerous times for bad credit decisions which stemmed from the fact that all she knew about credit cards came from the companies offering them to her. On the other end of the spectrum I have three students right now who are some of the smartest spenders I have encountered with more in their investment portfolios than I do! These aren't "rich" kids, just students who know how to spend and how to save.
The best part about Burning Money and the FoolProof series is that it enables teachers and parents to teach teens how to make the right money decisions and good personal finance habits even if they aren't an expert. If you want to help your teens make smarter money choices, send this article to your teachers and let them know about this free resource for teaching teens about money.
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eric seiger eric seiger
If you walked into the average bookstore, you'd think that women rule the roost when it comes to personal finance. From Suze Orman's now-classic Women and Money to the more recent (and more colorfully titled) Bitches on a Budget, there's no shortage of do-it-yourself financial advice tailored to women.
Apparently, though, when women make the momentous move from self-help to seeking professional advice about investing and retirement, things go rapidly downhill. A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group revealed that women perceived themselves as receiving wealth management services at a level of quality that is inferior to that received by their male counterparts.
According to the study, women are the key decision-makers when it comes to 27% of the wealth worldwide: that's $20 trillion! But despite the massive chunk of power they wield, 55% of the women surveyed in the study said they felt their wealth manager could do a better job of advising them. Almost a quarter of the respondents said private banks needed "significant improvement" in the services they offer to women.
"The dissatisfaction stems from the unshakable perception that men get more attention, better advice, and sometimes even better terms and deals," according to study co-author Peter Damisch. "We heard this sense of subordination time and time again in our interviews."
This perceived disparity in service arose from several key disconnects in the relationships and communications between women and their financial advisers. Manisha Thakor, Chartered Financial Analyst and women's financial literacy advocate, offers some steps savvy female investors can take to avoid being under-served by their wealth managers and investment advisers:
1. Find your adviser and get your financial education from women-run resources.
The financial services industry is dominated by males and therefore the "DNA is structured around the male experience," Thakor explains, adding that she sees many firms making an effort to change this. Most financial advisers are men, who may not inherently understand the whole-life nature of the average woman's financial plans and needs. They also may have very different communication styles than their women clients.
Thakor recommends women use women-created resources like LearnVest and DailyWorth to educate themselves in order to avoid the intimidation factor when talking about investment products with their advisers. She also encourages women to consult Garrett Planning Network, founded by Certified Financial Planner Sheryl Garrett, to locate a local certified financial planner who works on an hourly-fee-only basis. Taking these steps, Thakor explains, may alleviate the concern expressed by many women in the BCG study that they were not being taken seriously or talked to on the same level as male clients by their financial advisers.
2. Expressly state your ideal career trajectory, then ask how you should alter your investment plans accordingly.
In the BCG study, women stated that their investment advisers fundamentally misunderstood what was actually important to them, and recommended a too-narrow range of inappropriate investment vehicles as a result. Many said their advisers assumed they had a lower risk tolerance than they actually did, or that their advisers focused on short-term results and disregarded their long-term goals, which often included time out to care for a child or parent.
Thakor offers women a script of sorts to remedy this communication disconnect. "Go in and say: "I want to be a mom and I may take X amount of time out of the work force," she advises. Then ask, "How do we adjust how much I need to save and how I should invest to compensate for this?"
3. Start saving early.
It's almost impossible to have good saving habits without first having good spending habits. That's the problem that Burning Money, a new program from FoolProof aimed at teens, hopes to solve. Like the rest of the FoolProof series, Burning Money is an engaging series of real life issues that teens face, challenging them to complete a spending journal that will help them identify poor spending habits.
The free program is designed to be used in classrooms by teachers tasked with teaching personal finance, but Burning Money can also teach adults a thing or two about being a better spender – so that you can be a better saver. The program is distributed nationwide through credit unions and provides teachers with free tools and resources to teach students about personal finance in a real world manner.
Here's a look at one of the videos you'll find in Burning Money that helps teens understand how spending smarter translates into having more fun and doing more with their money.
As students work through Burning Money they'll be introduced to potential ways that they will "burn money" while making bad decisions that can come back to hurt them later in life. In the first section students get a first hand look at how late payments can hurt their credit score and what that means when they want to buy a job, get an apartment and more.
The program quickly jumps off into a reality game which tasks students with living on their own for one month complete with budgeting, writing checks and buying a car. The program walks students through the decisions and provides tips about how to write a check correctly as well as showing them the affect of their decisions on their bank account.
The first lesson students learn is that their car payment is $15 more a month because they have a bad credit score -- and so is their insurance premium; all because they didn't pay their bills on time. At the end of just the first month students are shown how their credit score, combined with some bad decisions have already cost them over $2,000 for the year in higher payments.
Since it's not just the big items that go into making smart spending decisions students will also face everyday choices like buying new jeans, that can be a money burning experience. The video below shows one way that Burning Money uses humor and video to get the point across.
FoolProof continues to be one of the most engaging and honest methods for teaching teens about money and best of all it is completely free. For the past several years we have seen a focus on preparing our kids for the new economy and as a college professor who speaks to graduates about personal finance the importance of learning good money habits early is illustrated to me every year.
I've seen everything from a student who had already been sent to collections numerous times for bad credit decisions which stemmed from the fact that all she knew about credit cards came from the companies offering them to her. On the other end of the spectrum I have three students right now who are some of the smartest spenders I have encountered with more in their investment portfolios than I do! These aren't "rich" kids, just students who know how to spend and how to save.
The best part about Burning Money and the FoolProof series is that it enables teachers and parents to teach teens how to make the right money decisions and good personal finance habits even if they aren't an expert. If you want to help your teens make smarter money choices, send this article to your teachers and let them know about this free resource for teaching teens about money.
The Birmingham <b>News</b> Pink Edition: Supporting the fight against <b>...</b>
Reports on the work being done in our community to fight the disease and sharing the stories of breast cancer survivors.
Monday Morning Breakfast & Baseball: Roster <b>News</b> - Twinkie Town
Here's what's making news in Twinkie Town on Monday, October 4.
IMPORTANT: Bing <b>News</b> RSS feed has moved! (France National Soccer <b>...</b>
... FIFA World Cup™ problems which followed the sending home of Nicolas Anelka after his clash with Blanc's predecessor Raymond Domenech. Blanc banned the entire 23-man FIFA World Cup squad from his first More FIFA World Cup News ...
eric seiger eric seiger
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