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Happy International WomXn’s Day, every day!

WomXn are everything from being individuals to being mothers, sisters, daughters, employees, entrepreneurs, and investors.

Despite the progress society has made in the treatment of womXn at home and at work, the truth is that we still have a long way to go towards true equality, diversity and understanding. Example: In 2020, only 3% of Venture Capital funding went to female founders. Yikes!

Every day — not just today — we should be recognizing the achievements and contributions of womXn. Each womXn is unique and womXn face distinct and varying situations throughout their lifetime that have significant impact on their financial wellbeing.

Here are just four financial realities unique to womXn and corresponding ideas and solutions.

#1 RISK.

WomXn have all sorts of risk appetites — from risk averse womXn to risk taker womXn and every preference in between that risk spectrum. It would be a disservice to assume that all womXn are risk averse all the time — perhaps, a prevailing house view in the investing world.

So, now what?

Well, for starters … let’s not assume any thing that ‘generally specific’ about womXn! Let’s show womXn all sorts of different investment ideas across the full spectrum of risk taking. Let’s help each person identify their unique and current risk tolerance or risk appetite, so that we can help each person select good-fit investment solutions based on individualized risk-taking preferences and goals.

#2 GROWTH.

American womXn on average have a longer lifespan than their male counterparts by about 5 years as per the CDC. In the investing world, 5 years is a pretty long time — given that 10 years is considered to be a long-term investment horizon.

So, now what?

WomXn have time on their side, which means they will need to seek growth — not just stability and income — through their businesses and investments. They will need to see a variety of growth-oriented ideas because their retirements will be longer and therefore, they will need to make their money last longer. WomXn need to make their money work harder for them.

#3 SPENDING, SAVING, INVESTING.

WomXn in the workforce get compensated less than their male counterparts — specifically, American womXn today get paid 18% less than men for the same full-time job. Yikes! This gender wage gap has been slowly closing; however, the current gap is said to be costing American womXn a $700,000 to $2,000,000 shortfall over their working lifetime. Wowza! That’s a huge gap in pay parity that is compounding an even larger gap in net worth parity over time.

So, now what?

Ladies, ask around and if you find a glaring gender gap in how you are compensated, say and do something. Bring it up as an important conversation to be had with your employer. Remember how much staying silent is costing you in actual dollars over your work life. If the gaps aren’t automatically closing for us by the system, then we must shed light on the gaps and try to close them ourselves. Choose your employer, business partner, capital funding streams, and your investment advise professionals very carefully, so you have support in this area.

Ladies, you have to spend less, save more, invest sooner and better than your male counterparts — just to try to make up for this pay parity difference and shortfall over time. Surround yourself with people who support you in this! No time to waste.

#4 WOMXN ARE CRUSHING IT!

Wealth of American womXn and around the world is growing despite all adversities! Not just wealth, womXn are making a tremendous impact on the economy. In fact, I read today that “womXn now control a third of U.S. household financial assets — more than $10 trillion. By 2030, womXn are projected to control a majority of the $30 trillion in financial assets.” Woo Hoo! Despite…

• The constant juggling of roles and career interruptions (during this pandemic, womXn in the 25–44 years age range have been three times more likely than men to stop working due to childcare and family assistance needs!)
• The persistent gender pay gap
• The systemic generalizations and marginalization of womXn from being excluded from advanced or sophisticated money or business matters, inequitable VC funding, etc.

So, now what?

Show up as an advocate and support system for womXn in every walk of life — every day.

Educate, share, and be competitive in a healthy way with womXn. Exclusion, mansplaining and patronizing are unhealthy ways to treat womXn at home and at work.

Help the womXn around you grow their intuition, confidence, and conviction about the topics of pay, saving, investing, business, and economics.

As a womXn, keep focused on these things:

• Your Income,
• Your Growth,
• Your Savings,
• Your Investing Goals,
• Your Time Horizon, and
• Your Risk Tolerance.

The rest will follow!

WomXn, keep slaying — nevertheless.

PC: BankBazaar