The Importance of Financial Planning

This is a sponsored post on behalf of SheSpeaks and Prudential.

Did you know on average women have 30% lower retirement balances than men(1)? As a business owner that works out of a home office I am guilty of falling within those statistics. I have spent so many years focused on building my business that I failed to plan very far into the future. It is not uncommon for me to save for family vacations or set money aside to purchase my oldest daughter her first car, but when it comes to retirement that has been a foreign concept.

Women retire with 67% of the wealth of men, and they live 5-6 years longer than men do(2). I wish I could say that this statistic surprises me, but it doesn’t. As a woman I’m familiar with the wage differences between men and women. 

The average woman working full-time earns 79% of the income earned by her male counterpart (3). This is because of many issues – lower likelihood to negotiate salaries, time out of the workforce, differences in pay.

As a mom I have always put expenses for my children’s needs before my own future. For example, planning a family vacation is a safe investment that is guaranteed to give my children lifelong memories to cherish. We only get 18 summers with our children before they head off to college. That is eighteen summer vacations. It doesn’t seem like a lot when you look at it that way, especially when you consider at least three of those years they won’t even remember. Planning for my retirement is something I have always put on the back-burner. 

Women don’t invest to the same degree as men (4). Women’s discomfort with investing comes at a high cost for them: They are apt to delay investing, invest more in lower risk, lower return investments and are more likely to run out of money in retirement.

Prudential wants to help women educate themselves about these issues, so that they prepare and protect themselves. Prudential aims to empower women with financial solutions so they can be confident they are making the right decisions for themselves and their families.

My husband and I are lucky enough to own our home and land. We have recently started planning for renovations which has put the spotlight on finances. It has made me come to realize that planning for our future is important. As we complete home projects the value of our property will increase which means our taxes increase. It is something we must consider when planning for our retirement. 

My husband is counting down the years until his retirement so we can travel the world. We travel regularly now but he wants to explore other countries for an extended period of time. Planning for a secure retirement that can cover the cost of our home expenses plus allow us to travel is a priority. 

Thankfully we can connect with a Prudential Financial Advisor to make that goal become a reality.

How are you planning for your retirement? 

Sources:

  1. Source:  Prudential Retirement analysis reflecting defined contribution plan balances of Prudential record-kept plans as of December 31, 2015
  2. Source: Prudential Retirement analysis; National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 2015: With Special Feature on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Hyattsville, MD. 2016
  3. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables Table P-40: Women’s Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s Earnings by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2016
  4. Source: http://fortune.com/2016/05/11/sallie-krawcheck-ellevest-launch;

2 Comments

  1. That’s really interesting that women tend to delay investing. I guess that’s because they tend to be more risk averse. It’s ok to risk more money when you’re young and have more doubling periods in your life.

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