Women & Money: The Math

You don’t have to be a woman to read this. You don’t even have to know a woman to read this 🤣

But there are some really interesting trends in the financial world right now, and some of those trends revolve around gender 👨/👩

Let’s look at the numbers first, and then at what those numbers mean for you and your family:

• The average woman earns $0.82 for every $1.00 earned by the average man. (This gap is larger for women of color.) All other things being equal, if a man works 40 years and retires, a woman needs to work 49 years to earn the same amount as the man 😲

• Women are the breadwinners in 40% of American households 🏆

• By the end of 2020, women will control almost one third of America’s wealth- a whopping $72 trillion 💰

• Women work fewer years than men and earn less… but live longer 👵🏼

What It Means

The pay gap is decreasing. Excellent news! 🎊

However, it may still be years for the genders to receive equal pay, and even after they do receive equal pay, the Pink Tax is real. The Pink Tax refers to the fact that women pay more than men for many products, from personal grooming to clothing to dry cleaning to cars. And, while health care is not higher priced for women than for men, women will often need to spend more on health care over a lifetime than men 👨= 💲, 👩=💲💲 😢

Another interesting trend is that, with more women in the workforce and a decreasing gender pay gap, more women than ever are breadwinners or co-breadwinners for their households. This also means that women are taking either the driver’s seat or the co-pilot’s seat when it comes to financial management and financial decision-making, and many women are extremely interested in learning more about financial management. Thank goodness the Internet exists, with its plethora of information and options! 👩🏻‍🏫💸

As a side note, it also means that more men are stay-at-home dads than ever. This seems like a pretty satisfactory state of affairs for families. Personally, I’m pretty sure that my husband would love for me to be able to support him in the style to which he would like to become accustomed 🤣

The trends are looking good, for both genders! Remember that women having more wealth does not mean less wealth for men. It actually means the opposite- when a single woman has more wealth, her children & family do not suffer poverty themselves. When a woman has more wealth and is in a relationship, her partner benefits as well 👩💲

More wealth for women means more wealth for everyone 😁

That’s great news, but long-term financial planning considerations are also different between the genders. For example, women need to work longer to earn as much as a man, but they also need to save more because they will live longer; women will need more money for retirement than men do 🤔

On the other hand, men are more likely to do silly things with ladders. That means that women may need less life insurance coverage than similarly-aged men, and their life insurance will be less expensive. Woohoo! One whole thing that’s less expensive for women than for men! 🤨

Whether you are planning the financial future for your household or for yourself, it’s okay and advisable to take gender into consideration when making decisions. You are not being unfair to yourself, your partner, or your family by examining multiple points of view, or adjusting your financial path to accommodate those considerations. In fact, you are being fair, balanced, and wise to do so ⚖️

Now That’s Smart Money 🧐