Let’s Talk About Women and Money

Have you heard? I’ve started a free weekly LinkedIn newsletter called “Money Mondays with Suze” and want to invite you to subscribe.

In addition to this weekly blog and my twice weekly Women & Money podcast, you can now start your work week off on the right financial foot with my LinkedIn newsletter.  

Here is this week’s “Money Mondays with Suze” LinkedIn newsletter about one of my favorite topics, women and money.

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With International Women’s Day coming up this week, I wanted to dedicate today’s newsletter to shed light on the topic of women and money.

Encouraging women to step into their power with money is so important to me that both my previous book and current weekly podcast are named Women & Money. It is my truest wish for every woman to be strong, smart, and secure. And I believe in order to do that we need to understand the realities of women and money today.

Women today make up almost half of the total working force in this country. Over the past 40 years, women’s earnings have more than quadrupled, and continues to climb. Women in the U.S. are the decision makers for about 40 percent of invested money and women-owned businesses make up almost 40 percent of all companies in the United States. There are more women than ever before who are executives and top-earners.

We should celebrate and be proud of our continued progress. I am so honored to witness this revolution in my lifetime. I only wish this was the complete picture.

Unfortunately, there is another side to this story. Over sixty percent of women are worried about not having enough money to last through retirement. Another survey reports that just one in five women say they are confident they can make smart financial choices. Nearly one-third of women expect Social Security to be their primary source of income in retirement—but do you know the typical monthly social security check is less than $1200? And then there is the fact that the poverty rate for women at least 65 years old is about 40 percent higher than the rate for males.

I have talked to thousands of women about their lives and their financial lives. I hear, see, and feel their fears, insecurities, and troubles. In my weekly podcast, Suze Orman’s Women & Money, I have frequently come face-to-face with this painful truth: for all the advancements that women have made in the past 40 years– and there is no doubt they are remarkable accomplishments – I am stunned by how little has actually changed in the way of women and money, and how far we still need to go.

Incredibly smart and strong women have shared with me they felt powerless about money. They have kids, but no life insurance. A good salary, but no sizable emergency savings account in the bank. A retirement account, but no clue whether they were on track or not.

It is my hope this #IWD that women are wanting to once and for all truly take control of their money. It is so vitally important—but often overlooked—that how you relate to money is a window into your sense of self.

It does not matter how much money you make. Being powerful with money is all about making smart choices. You can make $35,000 and be far more money smart than someone who makes $350,000.

Doing what is right, not what is easy, is money smart.

Saying no out of love for your yourself rather than yes out of fear someone won’t like you when you are asked to provide financial assistance is money smart.

Living below your means but within your needs is money smart.

Protecting your tomorrows today is money smart

Being powerful over your own money how you think feel and invest it is money smart

And always having your own credit cards, savings and retirement accounts and say over your money when married is seriously money smart

None of that requires a certain income, it just requires you to step in and own your power. And when you own your power, you control your destiny.